Sony to pay up in radio music probe

Sony BMG Music Entertainment agreed to pay $10 million and to end "pay-to-play" practices with radio stations to resolve an investigation of the music industry, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer announced today.

Sony BMG, the world's second-largest music company, acknowledged it had engaged in "improper" conduct, a statement issued by Spitzer's office said. Sony BMG, created in 2004 from the merger of the recorded-music units of Sony Corp. and Bertelsmann AG, also agreed to disclose all items of value it gives to radio stations, the statement said.

"This agreement is a model for breaking the pervasive influence of bribes in the industry," Spitzer said in the statement.