Music Trade Review

A UGU ST
THE
25, 1923
MTJSIC
TRADE
45
REVIEW
, INlF\i:W~~~N@» ]
CONDUCTED BY V. D. WALSH
RADIO BROADCASTING CONDITIONS IN GREAT BRITAIN
- -
SONGS THAT SELL
The First of Two Articles Telling How the Brit is h Go vernment, the British Publishers and Brit­
ish Artists Are Meeting a Condition G reatly Similar to That in This Countr y
In vi ew o f the g row ing intere st in radio
broa d cast in g in th is co un t ry, and pa r t ic ularly
the ti c ':elopments le la ti ve to th e observa nce of
th e ri g ht s ()f copy ri ght ow n ers and thei r in s is t ­
en ce t ha t broadca sters offer p roper compe nsa­
ti on for t he use of pro tected materia l in ent e r ­
tainment p ro l.,rallls, Th e R evic\\ takes plea s u re
in present in " a synops is of the s itu a ti o n as it
exis ts in E ng la nd , where t he re is a t pre se nt
a broa dcasti ng monopoly under government li ­
ce nse, s ubj ect t o t he cont rol of the post office
d e pa r t m e n t.
In E n g land, as in t h e U n ited Stat es , ;J lea din g
qu estion see ms to b e t ha t of d e t e r lll inin ii
wh e th e r or n ot broa dcaste rs m a y be com pc ll ed
to pay ro \;t1t y [ee< for th e u <:e of copyri g h ted
IlIll ' ic an d ot l,e r ;11 ;tlc rial and. i f so, w ha t s ucl l
fcc ., "houl d b e.
I n Fn e,J and befo re the war b roadca s tin b h ad
Qa in cd li t t le g ro un d and th e governme n t had
p ract ically no trou ble in h and li ng t he lice nsee s.
.\ f1:er the war , howeve r, th e hobby became m ore
and 1Il 0 r e pop ular a nd t he r r·gis trat io n fe es soo n
mou n ted t o propor t ions wh ich me ant co n s id e r­
ab le reve nll e and attracte d th e a tt e nti on of
g r o up s of fin a n ci e rs w h o v is ua li zed t he po ss i­
bilities of a ra d io ente rtai nme n t se r vice.
S cie nce and Agreemen t
T hcs r int e"e, b r ep rese nt ed to the autho ritie,
1, 0 " th e raclio revc nu e might be mate ri a ll y in­
(I'\·;" " d ;-on d. as a r es ult , under an a ~ r ee m ent
dal ed Jan u ~ ry 18, 1923, t h e B roadca st in g Co.,
I.tti., w" " gra n te d a li ce nse b y t he postllla' Qc ncra l fo r the purpos e o f f'sta bli s iIin g eig ht
radio-t ek g rap h ic s ta ti ons a nd t h e transmis s io n
of Illat ter t he ref rOIll for g e ne ra l r e cep tio n. The
text oi an agree ill en t also ""a s laid dow n ,,·it h
r espect t o the b r oa d cast in ~ of ne \·\ ; a nd gencra l
in i o rn"ltio n. The li cense, w hi ch covers the pe­
r iod f ro111 .Novel "b c r I , 1<)22, t o J an ua r y I , 1925 ,
is g-ra n ted cubj ect to Illore or less ditio ns o f co n t r ol and in spect ion and the post­
ma s t er-gene r al reserves th e r igh t t o suspend th e
com pany's operat io ns, in w h o le or in part , in
'pcc ifi e d c irc u lllsta nces. T h e CO lllpa n y h as to
pay a roya lt y o f £50 pe r ann u m in r espect of
each sta ti o n.
The compa ny is to allow any perso n bona fid e
carrying on th e bu s iness o f a m anu fac tu rer of
I.
i
"TILLIE OH BYI OH BYI GEE"
destin ed to
me rit, mel ody
a n(l harlllo ny w ith f ull of s nap a nd go.
A
Ilo.ndy
Nov elty
sweep the coun t ry.
FOX-THOT,
It
pos~esses
" ARGENTINE"
Th e se n ~(lt i onal Spanis h hit which i ~ going­
bi g;;er a nd big-g-er every day.
Ev erybody is
b(;gin ni ng- to lik e it be tt er each cl ay.
There's a Bungalow that's
Waiting
Another w() nderf ul No velty F ox-T rot which i~
cr'eating a great sensation. GOODY HOLD E N
says it·s a k nock-out. Dea lers a nd Jobber's:
P l ca~e,
place your o rders in early as
of b~ing- overl oaded with ord ers
un a ble to g-uarantc(' dc-liVeries.
:1
W0
fe;:ll~
n(l will be
Lewis Frederick Stafford
& Company
344 South Avenue
Syracuse, N. Y.
I
appa rat us in Br itain to becom e one of ·i t s mcm­
ber s u po n exec u t ion of a p r escribe d agreeme nt
alld the acq ui s itio n of at least one share i n th e
company. 1.- n clcr this agre e m en t the ma nu fac·
tu r e r s who beco me m emb e r s are to manu fac­
t ure appa rat us in Grc-at Brita in on ly and a re
not to se ll or d ea l in appa rat u s mad e e lsew h ere
an d no t appr ove d b y the po s tm aste r -g<" nera l.
Thi s prov is ion wi ll , h owev er, cease to appl y if
a nd w hen th e po<.:tll1 ce nse apparat us man u fac tur e d e ith e r at ho m e o r
"b ro a d by non - m embers of t h e company.
This cO li lpany--the Brit is h Broadcastin g Co.,
Ltd. - - ha s t wo so ur ce s of r e\·e nue. Cnd er t h e
a ,; rc e ll lc n t lI1 e nti oned earlier in t h is ar ticl e, be ­
t \\'ce ll the po s tma-ter - benera l a nd t h e com pa ll)"
th e p ost offi ce c h a r ,: cs 10/ · p er yea r for an cx­
peri m en t er's lice ns e o r fo r the broadca s ting r c ·
(' pt ion lic e n se , j : - of t hi s a m o u nt goi n g t o the
Ilroi\dC;I'tillg Co. T h e position is, th e n, t ha t
;,nO' o ne ma y lo r 10 '- p roc u r e from t he n ea r est
h ead po s t office a pap e r s t r ongly rC S(' tllb lin g a
cloo:' li ce nse, whic h w ill pe rm it him to set u p a
rece ivin C" s ta ti o n, provid ed t hat h e uses appara­
t us lI1:u-k cd n. n. C
The seco n d source of
reve nLle is in t he fO rlll of ro ya lt ies (a, PCI'
;t1)Qve sc h cdu le ) o n br oa clcasti ng sets made a nd
so ld by it . ; Il Hlllbc rs. I n t hi s m a lt e r th e inter­
ests of the 13. B. C. a rc s afeguard e d by a c lau,c
print ed 011 t he ba c k of tb e 10'- li cc ns e forlll,
whi c h is t o t he clTec t t hat a n y a pparat us lI S"d
un der t hi s li cen ~ r l11u , t bea r th e B. B. (' Illark.
0 11 whi c h ro ) allies mu s t be pa id to t h e U. B. C­
()Il tfl e o t h e r halld th e ho ld er of all c>epn i­
11)(: lIt c r' 5 li ce nse is fr ee to usc a n )- appa r a tu ,
ile lik es ; h e can bu y it or w ake it, a lt er o r ad d
to it as h e pleases, provided he co nf o r l1l s t o 011 C
o r t wo Sillipic co nd it ions specificd o n t he li ­
ce nse, des ic;necl to pr eve nt interfe re n cc wi th
o ther li , t ene r s- in.
Brie fl y, th en, t h e two sou r ces of rev e n ue ar c
these:
T h e h olde r of th e broadcast li ce nse
contri bute s to the n. B. C. t hr o u g h hi , li ce nse
fcc a n d thro u g h th e pur cha se pr ice of his se t,
while t h e expe rim e nta l li cense h o lder contri b:
ute s 5 '- o nl ) t h ro u g h h is lice nse fcc.
The Ente rta inm ent Questio n
{ Tnd e r th e somewhat sp ecious pr e text, also.
t h e excuse th a t th e fcf' s w ere co llec t ed as a
nec essa ry r e illlb ur SCI1l(,1I1 of expcnclit\lr~ of pu b­
lic mo ney was p romul ga t ed , and by thi s mea n s
t h e BI:oadca s t inv Co., a big comme rcial CO n­
cern, was ab le t o exp lo it the w ir e less mark et b y
enjoy in g a mo nopoly o f rad io e n ter t a in ments .
It t hus be ca m e a se rio u s co mp e tit or of t he
e nt e rt a inm c nt ind us try, pa ying no I' nt e r tainme nt
taxes. T h e anoma ly of t he extraord in ary po ;;i­
t io n becoili es clea r " he n it is exp la ined th a t,
with th e mOllo po ly it has obta illcd irom t h e pos t
offi ce , t he bulk of it s t ra din g is bo und a t pres­
ent to be a t t h e expen se of ot h er people 's pr op­
erty r ights. \ Vith the excep ti on of a s u bsidy
to va riou s p reSS agencies for ca bl es, etc., it may
use theat rica l entertain ment s a nd conce rt mat­
te r wi th out payme nt. T his is m it igated tei s om e
ex t ent by t he Copyr ig ht Ac t of 1911 , w h ich pro­
te c ts author;; ' an d co m po se r s ' riQhts, b ut , ev cn
,0, li p t o the prese nt no ~ec tio tl of t h e e n te rt ain -­
l\l c n t in d ust r j or owne rs of cop yri;;ht s e ntitl ed
to roya lti es have r ece i\-c d pay ment for t h e
w hole sa le in fr ingement s w h ic h th e e n terta in ­
m ent indu s t ry a ll eges to have taken p lace. T hi ,
is in ab so lute contras t to the system in Am e r­
ica, w h e r e broad cast ing is more un ivers al and
w h e r e the GO\'e rnm ent h a s mos t w is e ly givell
no one fi r m a m o nopoly. T h e resu lt is t ha t th e
Down Among the Sleepy Hills of
Ten-Ten-Tennessee
Indiana Moon
That Old Gang 01 Mine
When You Walked Out
Someone Else Walked Right In
I Love (My Heart Is Calling You)
You Tell Uer-I Sluiter
YouKnowYouBelong
to Somebody Else
( SO
Why Don't You Leave M e Alone 7 )
-
Dearest
-
-
-
( You·re the Nearest to My Heart )
Ala Moana
Nuthin' But
By the Shalimar
Crinoline Days
From [rvin g B e rl in 's Ne w :i \fusic Bo x lt c " u .
Lady 01 the Evening
Fro m I rvi n g B e rlin's N e w :l\I u s ic )Jox R e vll(
Pack Up Your Sins
and Go to the Devil
-
F ro m Irving- H e din 's Ne w JIu!'>ie ll o x U e VIl (
-
Will She Come from the Eastl
F rom I r v i n g B erlin 's Ne w l\Iu s i c D ox
n.e vu~
IRVING BERLIN, Inc.
I
1607 Broadway, New York
B r oadcas ting Co. is appare ntly regul a rl y infr ing­
in g th e righ t s r eprese nt ed by th e Perform ing
Rights Society, whose r epertoire lI1 c1 ud es a n
eno rmo us number o f po pul a r Eng li sh works a n d
:.11 the co p y ri c: h t mu;;ic repe rt o ire of E ur ope.
Parliamentary Inve stigat io n On
T h e whole q ues ti on of broa dcas t ing is at preS ­
ent be ing invest igated by a stro n g P a rli amen­
ta r y Commi ttee, wh ic h is co n si d e rin g n ot o nl y
th e q u es tion of licen ses, but th e d esi rability o j
th e ex ist i n c: contrac t b etween the governme nt
d n d th e I3rit is h Uroa d cas t ing Co., Lt d . The
p erso n ne l of th e co mm itt ee is made up of th ree
memb e rs of t he Ho use o i Com mons, t wo o r
t h r ee me mb er s of th e expert staff of th e pos t­
mas t e r- ge ne ra l, a member o f th e British Ra di o
Society a n d a n offiCial o f t he B riti s h B r oa d cast­
in ;:; Co. Everybo d y c onnecte d wi th th e wir e­
less indu s t ry, to say nothin g o f abo ut h a lf a
milli on listen e rs- in , is keen ly aw a it in g t he find­
ings of the co m m it tee.
"SMILlN' THROUGH" BROADCASTED
\s , how in g lh e place in th e regard of t h e
n:1.tioll t hat .'\ rt hur A . P e nn 's lit tle c lassic of
a s on g, " Smi lin' T hrough ," h a s t a ke n, it is
~ i g-l1ifican t and of gre at in te r es t to no te tha t
t hi s num b er was in c luded in th e specia l music a l
pro g ra m broad cas te d hy t he J(i\nsas City S t rece ntl y.