Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Payment of a party, especially a disc jockey or radio station, for the promotion of a product or service, such as a commercial musical recording, without making the legally required disclosure of sponsorship.
  • noun The money used to make such payment.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun US A bribe given in exchange for a favor, such as one given in exchange for the promotion of goods or services (originally one given to a disk jockey to play a record).

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a bribe given to a disc jockey to induce him to promote a particular record

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Probably pay(off) + -ola, suff.; see crapola.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Perhaps Blend of pay and Victrola.

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