Pay-for-play radio bribes cost Sony

MUSIC group Sony BMG has agreed to pay £5.7 million and stop bribing radio station employees to play its artists' songs.

The agreement is to settle a New York State probe into the way the world's second-biggest record label influenced which songs were played on the radio, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said.

He called the practice "pervasive" and suggested other music giants could face similar penalties. Pay-for-play "is driving the industry, and it is wrong", he said.

Mr Spitzer added his investigation showed Sony BMG even paid for holiday packages for radio programmers. E-mails showed top officials were aware of the payments.

Sony, whose various labels include artists from Elvis Presley and Aretha Franklin to Beyonce and Britney Spears, said some of its staff had engaged in "wrong and improper" practices.