The Real Story Of How Pink Floyd’s Music Was Held Hostage

Music is far more business than entertainment. Every second we spend listening to a song, dollars are overflowing to those who control them. At one point, even famous artists like Pink Floyd were a victim of this, when an experiment was done to prove something terrible but the true façade of the music industry.

YouTube content creator Vinyl Rewind takes us back to when Pink Floyd’s The Wall album was held hostage by the Top 40 radio stations in Los Angeles. Putting consideration of its massive success, the song “Another Brick in the Wall (Pt. 2)” became a radio staple in the US – except in one place: Los Angeles. And there’s a reason why.

When the then-president of CBS records Dick Asher began to run an experiment to see if being a popular artist meant that you don’t need the power of the top 40 radio stations in a certain city, he put the music of Pink Floyd at risk, given the band’s massive popularity. He considered them since Pink Floyd’s popularity strived more on album sales than hit singles. (Clonazepam) That is, if he could make Pink Floyd remain massively popular in Los Angeles, he wouldn’t have to pay the illegal bribes or “payolas” during that time. However, Mr. Asher lost, and only when he brought in the money did these radio stations begin spinning Pink Floyd’s hits all over.

You can watch the video below.