Coin Machine Review (& Pacific ...)

AFM Hopes for $1 Discs
NEW YORK.- According to information
uncovered by Down Beat the American F ed-
eration of Musicians hopes to collect a tax
from 50c to 65c on records destin ed for use
on automatic phono graphs.
"The proposed method of taxing auto-
matic phono graph records calls for th e
preparation of special labels, which are to
be pasted on each record. The locals would
sell these lab els for 65c on the 35c label
records and 50c for the 50c label- thus
making the price of all r ecords for use on
automatic phono graphs, one dollar. Then
the records would be rented to the locations
at $3.00 a week for evenin g use and $1.00 a
week for daytime use. R emote control loca-
tions would keep track of each playing,
and pay 1lhc per tim e," according to the
news releas e.
"The AFM suggested that the ' take' thu s
derived would be split in th e followin g
way: 1% to the musicians making th e rec-
ord, 1% to the manufacturers of th e label,
5% to owners and op erators to cover book-
keeping, 15% to the F ederation for legis-
lation and distribution costs, 63% to the
locals for inspectors' salary and costs of
enforcement, and 15% to the locals' relief
funds.
"Interesting item is that the musicians
who make the records get only 1 % of the
total, whil e musicians generally are given
only 15% through th e r eli ef funds-not
even totally applicable since not all the
AFM's musicians are on relief by a long
shot."
Shellac Substitute Found
NEW YORK- George H. Clark, a New
Jersey inventor, has develop ed a .substance
for r ecords that includes no shellac, accord-
ing to an announcement made here on Au-
gust 16th.
.
Although they seem to be having a hard
time defending them, it is no military secret
that the Japs captured practically all the
Tachardia lacca bugs in existence when
they swept down through Java a few months
ago. And the "lac" insect is the mite which
is (or was) ground up to make shellac from
which all phonograph records h eretofore
were made.
It is stated that the new Clark substance
produces a record which stands up under
the most grueling tests, not only weari'ng
longer, but not breaking as easily as the old
records did.
Petrillo Edict Disapproved
NEW YORK-If James C. P etrillo hopes
to convince the public of the justness of
his ban on phonograph recordings he has
another think coming, for in a report issued
by George Gallup on August 26th it was
shown that the American public thoroughly
disapproves of Petrillo's edict.
In answer to the Gallup question "What
is your opinion of P etrillo's ruling? " it was
found that 75,% of those ques tioned were
unfavorable, and 17% expressed no opin-
ion. Only 8% approved.
Queried as to whether the government
should take legal action to stop P etrillo,
73'% of those questioned approved, 15%
were undecided and 12% disapproved.
* *
-i< -i<
-1< -i< -i< -i<
-i<
i< ' * *
* * * *
M U ~ I [ * * * * * * * *
"
Petrillo Query Ordered
Press Lams Petrillo
WASHINGTON (Special)-On the
4th Sen ator Burt Wheeler, Chairman
of the Senate Interstate Commerce
Commission, named a subcommittee
of five to investigate the American
Federation of Musicians, James Ceasar
Petrillo, and the acts, moves and meth-
ods of b oth. Senator Clark of Idaho,
author of the Senate Resolution 2 8 6
calling for an investigation of AFM
and Petrillo on Augus t 27th, is chair-
man.
Subcommittee exp e cted to hold a
preliminary hearil1.g s tarting on the
14th before making a report to the
Senate . Committee will q u estion the
effects of the recording b an on na-
tional welfare and for public morale.
Department of Justice suit seeking
t o remove Petrillo's order, chlJrging
violation of the Sherman Anti-Trus t
Act, is set to get under way in Chicago
in the Federal District Cou rt on Sep-
tember 16th.
LOS ANGELES.- The bans, edicts and
pronunciamentos of J ames Caesar P etrillo,
president of the American F ede ration of
Musicians, have evoked a resoundin g and
virtually unanimous di sapproval from th e
nation's press. Moreover, the issues which
P etrillo has created have occupied editorial
attention second only to the direct phases
of the war itself.
Here are some of the comments :
San Francisco Chronicle: We do not
associate the rank and file of the American
F ederation of Musicians in this contest.
This is because th e rank and fil e musicians
have nothing to say about the case. They
are helpless in the hands of P etrillo. He
operates under a constitution, fram ed at his
dictation, which explicitly provides that he
may, a t any time, and at his sole will,
change a ny portion of it that he wishes.
"Do you call that a consthution ?" ex-
claimed a U. S. Supreme Court Justi ce, on
hearin g that provision read. P etrillo is lit-
erally the musicians' Czar. He gives the
orders; if any musician dar e protes t,
P etrillo can deprive him of a livelihood.
Appeals are useless with a man like
P etrillo. Th e case is one for law enforce-
ment officers. The injun ction suit should
be pressed. It is time we found out whether
on e individual is superior to the Govern-
ment and people of the United States.
Columbia (S. C.) R ecord : Some dav
J ames Petrillo will be taken down a peg
or so a nd this may be the occasion of his
de pegging. He runs up against th e radio
stations and as the American Society of
Authors and Composers can tell him th es ~
fellows ca n take care of themselves pretty
well.
Grand Rapids Press: The sole reaso n
offered by P etrillo in hi s defense of hi s pro-
hibiting recording engagements is that 60
per cent of the 138,000 memb ers of his or-
ganization ar e unemployed. It is his quaint
idea that if his men do not make records
he will force th e juke joints and other es-
tablishments dependent upon recorded mu-
sic to em ploy live musicians. The idea is,
of course, absurd. Virtually non e of the
places using r ecorded music could afford
to employ one li ve musician, let alone a
group of four or five. The end result of
P etrillo's order . . . would be to deprive
millions of the pleasures of music.
New R epublic : This is one of the fl attest
attempts to halt technological progress in
th e whole h istory of trade unionism, and it
will be extremely inter esting to see th e
outco me. Mr. P etrillo says he wants to get
work for union musicians in bars, juke
JOints and other institutions wh ere records
a re now played. But this is nonsense.
Ninety- fi ve percent of such institutions can' t
afford even one live musician, to say noth-
- - - - - -- -
TURN PAGE
Broadcasters Rap Petrillo
NEW YORK- A backlog of adverse ef-
fects upon the public and upon the indus-
tries which depend on phonogra ph records
and other musical recordin gs was piled up
du ring the first full month of the J ames
Caesar P etrillo ban against r ecordings , ac-
cording to Nevill e Miller, president of the
National Association of Broadcasters.
Reviewing the effects of the ban whi ch
went into operation on August 1, Miller
said August 30th :
"So far as can be ascertained, not a
single work completed after the r ecording
ban went into effect has been published,
and such works as have been acce pted are
bein g held back in th e hope th at the order
will be rescinded. Consequently, the com-
poser has already directly felt the first im-
pacts of the ban.
"As fo r the union musicians, those of
them who looked to the making of record-
ings for all or a part of their compensa tion
have during August been deprived of this
source of income.
" Fortunately for the public, all record-
ing companies had manufac tured quantities
of records during th e 6O-day period between
issuance of P etrillo's order and its effective
date. Neverth eless, the publication of music
is no longer keepin g abreast of th e inspira-
tion of the composer. Music publishers are
of necessity drawin g upon works for which
they had previously contracted and most of
which were recorded befo re August 1.
These publishers are today unable to ac-
cept and properly to exploit fresh works,
even those of a pa triotic nature.
" The detrimental effect u pon th e a.rt of
music and upon radio will be in creasingly
evident."
WESTERN HEADQUARTERS rOR KEN-BAD TUBES
Co'mplete Stock of Tubes ON HAND FOR IMMEDIATE DELI~ERY. Quick
Service. Low Prices. Write for List on Tubes and Other Supplies TODAY!!
SHE .... EY RADIO COMPANY
184 1 South Flowe r Street
LOS ANGELES. CALIFORNIA
Mention of THE COIN MACHINE REVIEW is your best introduction to our advertisers.
COIN
MACHINE
REVIEW
17
fOR
SEPT.
J942