ABSTRACT
The "cultural gatekeeper" determines what information is transmitted. Social scientists have come to look for gatekeepers in the media and its reporting of the news, and to a lesser extent in the dissemination of cultural artifacts. In popular music there exist two primary types of gatekeepers: the radio programmer and the record reviewer in the rock press. Gatekeepers in the music industry are the Berlin Wall between the manufacturer and the audience. The foundations of this barrier are multiplex in that each medium has its own unique set of value systems which color the perception of the gatekeeper. The advent of the "exclusive" and the "freebee" underlined the industry's recognition that a new institution, with power, had been created. A cultural gatekeeper stood in the path of a record’s success. The payola scandals provide an important glimpse into the mechanics of music marketing and the function of gatekeepers.
