Music Trade Review

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
JUNE 23, 1923
THE
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
37
CONDUCTED BY VI D. WALSH
ASK MECHANICAL ROYALTIES FOR BROADCASTING SONGS
Contracts Sent to Independent Publishers Calling for Assignment of Mechanical Royalties for
Broadcasting Their Compositions—New Move in Controversy Widely Discussed
The committee of the standard publishers
which recently recommended to the Music Pub-
lishers' Association of the United States that
broadcasting stations be allowed to render
copyrighted works without fee so long as the
program stated the title of the number ren-
dered and the name of the composer has
granted, considering the trend of events, such
permission without an assurance of any com-
pensating return.
While the committee recommendation was
going forward the American Society of Com-
posers, Authors and Publishers maintained its
position of requiring a nominal license, accord-
ing to the territory served from all broadcasting
stations. The broadcasters, in return, threw
down the gauntlet to this latter organization
and their plans of preparing programs without
the use of the Society's compositions will re-
sult in the standard publishers, after all, receiv-
ing little or no publicity for their numbers
through the aid of radio.
For the broadcasting stations proceeded to
line up all amateur songwriters, small publish-
ers not members of the Society, into an organ-
ization, guaranteeing to those songwriters and
publishers who join their ranks that their songs
would be widely exploited. Later the broad-
casters' association forwarded letters and con-
tracts not only to the small composers and pub-
lishers, but to members of the Music Publishers'
Association of the United States, by the signing
of which the writers and publishers were to
assign to the broadcasters' association all
rights in full for mechanical royalties, including
those derived from talking machine records and
player rolls.
While the standard publishers have received
this letter there is hardly any likelihood that
any one of them will sign such an absurd con-
tract. It will, however, awaken them to the
Active Sellers
BURNING SANDS
unmitigated gall of those in the broadcasters'
association charged with gaining the co-opera-
tion of music writers and publishers. Further,
it will enlighten them as to just what they may
expect in the way of exploitation of their num-
bers through radio.
There are several hundred small publishers
in the United States and probably several thou-
sand writers who issue numbers fjrom time to
time. Many of them do not devote their whole
time and energies to the music publishing busi-
ness. It is often a sideline with them—a means
for satisfying their own vanity by having a
work published, or a number of works pub-
lished when they are not conceded of sufficient
merit or value to be accepted by either a stand-
ard or popular publishing house. Most of their
works, heretofore, have received no exploitation.
Therefore, they had no sale and, not having
any sale, the publishing of either single or sev-
eral issues was quite unprofitable. To such
writers or publishers, therefore, the proposal of
the broadcasters' association to exploit such
compositions by the radio in consideration for
any and all mechanical royalties that may later
follow will be acceptable. They have nothing
to lose and however little or much they gain in
the way of sales of sheet music will be a sub-
stantial increase in returns from what was re-
ceived heretofore.
Exploiting hundreds of numbers of writers
and small publishers by the means of radio will
make it impossible to include any fair amount
of copyrighted works from standard publish-
ing houses. The broadcasters will be under
obligation, and also with an eye to profit, to
those with whom they make contracts to ex-
ploit numbers in return for any mechanical roy-
alties derived. Therefore the standard copy-
lightcd works will receive less radio exploita-
tion than was the case prior to the forming of
the broadcasters' association.
Originally the standard publishers recom-
mended that radio stations be given permission
to use copyrighted works. They labored under
the impression, however, that, in return, stand-
ard copyrighted compositions would become a
fair proportion of the musical programs. This
will not be the case if the present arrangements
of the broadcasters' association are successful.
Any additional exploitation the standard pub-
lications receive other than that which has been
possible heretofore adds new channels of pub-
licity for such works and was, undoubtedly, the
prime reason for the standard committee's rec-
ommendation. However, in not obligating the
broadcasting stations to play a fair percentage
of such compositions, they have given permis-
sion to use property without a compensating
return. It brings up a new question for the
standard publishers to consider and one of quite
some importance. It would appear that, in
return for the permissions granted there should
be a compensating obligation.
A contract
should be to mutual advantage. Under the
present plans of the broadcasting organization
the standard publishers have granted everything
and may receive little or nothing in the way
of publicity.
Undoubtedly, the association of broadcasters
is lining up the smaller writers and publishers
for the purpose of gathering evidence that will
be helpful to them in any legal battle with the
American Society of Composers, Authors and
Publishers. If they can go into court showing
that they have several hundred writers and al-
most as many publishers who value their means
SONGS THAT SELL
You Know You Belong
to Somebody Else
(So Why Don't You Leave Me Alone ?)
Down Among the Sleepy
Hills of Tennessee (new)
Dearest
—
(You're the Nearest to My Heart)
You Tell Her—I Stutter
When YOB Walked 0«t Someone Else
Walked Right In
(new)
Indiana Moon (new)
Pickles (new)
That Old Gang of Mine (new)
L o v e (My Heart Is Calling Yo«) (new)
Ala Moana (new)
I Wish I Could Cry Over Someone (new)
Home (new)
Some Day Yov'll Cry Over Someone
Homesick
Nuthln' But
By the Shallmar
Open Yoar Arms, My Alabamy
Ivy (Cling to Me)
Some Little Someone
Some Sunny Day
Come on Home
Just a Little Love Song
Yankee Doodle Blues
—
Universal Dance Folio for 1923
IRVING BERLIN'S NEW
Music Box Revue
Crinoline Days
Lady of the Evening
Porcelain Maid
Pack Up Your Sins
and Go To The Devil
Will She Come From the East?
The Little Red Lacquer Cage
Bring On the Pepper
—
IRVING BERLIN, Inc.
1607 Broadway, New York
of exploitation, and who in return concede to
them all royalties derived from talking ma-
chine records and music rolls, they will have
gathered evidence to show that they are of
benefit to the trade, rather than a detriment
to sales.
Of course, it is hardly possible that they will
have any real successful publishing house as
that sort of evidence. The successful publisher
knows the value of mechanical royalties and
the letters from the broadcasting association
in that regard have been a source of much
amusement in successful publishing circles, both
standard and popular, and to both those who
have heretofore granted broadcasters permis-
sion and those who have not. In fact, the suc-
cessful publishers look upon the proposal as
(Continued on page 38)