The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1924-01-14
TO
HOLD UP
SONGS
Music Publishers, A. S. c. A. p.
and Radio BrOadcasters Must
: Now Buy Licenses.

WV
The American Society of Com
lposers, Authors and Publishers,
New York city, has announced
that ten of the leading publishers
Of standard music, who hereto
fore have not restricted the pub
lie performance Of their copy
rights by radio, have now filed
application for membership in
"a. S. c. A. p"
This means that nearly all
music will now come under the
same restrictions heretofore ap-
piled to popular music and that
broadcasting stations not licensed
by the society will be compelled
to limit their programs to old
non-copyrights and to the very
small amount Of so-called popular
music published by the small
firms that do not belong to the
society.
Charges for Licenses.
The names Of the ten publishers
who put in their applications were
not given.
The license fee charged by the
society to broadcast stations ranges
from $3.50 to 5000 according to
the size of the station and It's esti.
mated audience. The society fig
ures a station is regularly and
clearly heard a distance Of fifty
miles regardless Of static and other
conditions. and calculation Is made
OF the probable audience within
| that area.
The fee is also partially deter
mined by whether or not the sta
ton is operated by q concern in
the business Of selling radio ap-
paratus or only by a department
store or other concern as a good
will advertising proposition.
Twenty Eight Are Paying.
Twenty eight broadcasting stations
are now paying royalties to the
American Society Of Composers,
Authors and Publishers.
| The radio situation was presented
from another angle a few days ago
by E. C. Mills, chairman Of the board
| Of the Music Publishers Protective
Association. He points out in the
following quotation that actors,
| musicians and talent generally are
becoming more wary Of performing
| free of charge, that the general tend
ency is to demand payment for serv-
ices performed before the micro
| phone. as well as on the stage. He
says:
THE radio situation is approach
ing q point where, IL the great pur-
pose which this new science can
serve is going to be developed to its
utmost capacity with minimum Of
wasted time in experimentation, the
prevailing policy Of let George do It
| will have to be replaced by actual
attention by those most interested,
the manufacturers Of apparatus and
the receivers of entertainment.
To-day q purchaser walks into a
radio store and spends from $40 to
| $500 for a receiving set. 1t is implied
in the course Of the transaction that
| after buying the set he is going to
receive for all time a free service of
| entertaining programs from nearby
and distant broadcasting stations.
He buys the set in good faith and no
warning is given him that service to
his set will depend upon the con-
tinuance Of boadcasting operations
by the various stations.
Many Are Disseminating.
But a great many stations
throughout the country are iiscon.
tinuing broadcasting, and as the
demand for better and better pro.
grams grows more will discontinue.
OF course, no one is suggesting that
all broadcasting will be diScontin.
ued, but those who do broadcast are
receiving from the listener no H.
nancial support whatever, and, in
fact, now he has grown 30 blase
and used to the service that he
expects 1t as matter of vested
right,
THAT is just the point at this
moment-the warranty implied at
the time a set Is sold, that there
will be service to 1t, whereas there
is no other incentive to those who
are now broadcasting to continue
that activity, except to such extent
as profits realized from the sale of
instruments or Of advertising JUST.
flies operation.
"It must be apparent that this is
an unsound economic situation, and
| that the listeners themselves must
| be the ones to suffer. They now
have service greatly inferior TO
that which they would receive IL
the stations were employing talent
and buying the best for their
audiences. Never does one hear
Kreisler, Rachmaninoff, Jolson and
| others that would be heard IL the
| artists were paid. Occasionally real
talent is heard through stations like
WEAF, which sells its broadcasting
| service at the rate of something.
like 5000 an hour to advertisers, and
those advertisers present highly paid
talent like Lopez and his orchestra.
Predicated on Perpetuity.
But the whole thing is unsound in
that 1t Is predicated upon the rendi-
ton in perpetuity Of free service.
Actors Equity has adopted resolu
tons prohibiting it's members from
making free appearances at radio
stations; the Keith circuit has ike
wise forbidden its artists to make
gratuitops appearances; the mu.
sicians' unions are now contempIat.
ing adoption of resolutions COVERING
new scale for work where broaH.
casting is done; the composers AND
authors OF music are demanding
payment for the use Of the works
The broadcasting stations know that
in time they win have TO nav Sor
Aservices or else DO - thay are now.