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Dick Asher, Veteran Music Executive Who Fought Radio Payola, Dies at 92
Dick Asher, the veteran music executive at Columbia and PolyGram Records whose battle against radio payola featured in the book 'Hit Men,' has died.
Dick Asher, a veteran music-business executive who was president of PolyGram and Columbia Records and worked with artists ranging from Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson and Bon Jovi to Bob Dylan, has died, his family confirms to Variety. As detailed at length in “Hit Men,” during the same period Asher began to tackle the growing influence of independent radio “pluggers,” who had gained a monopoly on airplay and were charging labels exorbitant fees that reached into the millions each year — and in some cases were connected to organized crime. “The Network” was ultimately brought down after Congressional hearings in the mid-1980s, by which time Asher had moved on to senior roles at Warner Communications and, in October 1985, president/CEO of PolyGram Records, which was about to release two of the biggest albums of the decade with Bon Jovi’s “Slippery When Wet” and Def Leppard’s “Hysteria,” along with hits by Cameo, John Mellencamp, Scorpions, Cinderella and many others.
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