Radio was seen as piracy too, but became a publicity engine
But more than just being a source of fees, radio was also a huge publicity engine for music, and eventually this became so obvious that at one point record labels were giving radio stations and disc jockeys “payola” under the table to promote their music. And now we have come full circle with Neil Young’s comment:
I look at the internet as the new radio. I look at the radio as gone. [...] Piracy is the new radio. That’s how music gets around.
via gigaom.com
