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Wcdneodaj* April 6, 1949 ASCAP AT THE CROSSROADS ORCBESTRAS-JMnTSlC RCA^L OB RPM Promotioiial Binge in Fight to the Fmish Bbth RGA-VIctor and Golumbia-f Becords burst into large-scale na- tional advertising campaigns last Friday i.t), the former to promote its new 49 rpm recordings and players, and Columbia heralding a cut in pop and masterworlcs. prices, unquestionably timed to take the edge off Victor's 45 debut. The ad 'clash by the two titans was expected and it piles more coin costs atop the ' incalculable' amount the battle of the RPM's has so far cost the two network- backed manufacturers, rival disk- ers, distributors, dealers, and all down the line. There's no doubt in the minds of recording men from the studios on down to counter salesmen that the battle of technical progress, Which the engineers of both prefer to call the current clash of rpm developmentsr, has done great harm to the record business and caused It great financial. loss. Dealers firm^ believe that the recent deep slump in sales has been caused by indecision in the public mind over the rpm fracas. They have read/ they have heard,, and they have been told by the uninformed so many variations of the truth concerning the two new speeds of reproducing records, as against the standard 78, that confusion is still rampant. Regardless of whether the public eventually gets it clear that the Columbia development is a long-playing disk, turning at rpm's and that Victor's is a seven- Inch disk not long-playing in the same sense, but turning at 45 rpm's and emphasizing fidelity and the speed of its changer equipment, the situation isn't likely to clear up quickly. There's still the basic clasii of three: different speeds and the , equipment needed to play them, being marketed at a time when money is short. Regardless of how low prices sink for the new players of either system, it is still an added expense for record buy- ers^lf they go for either or both. Victor and Columbia are com- mitted to battle one another to the finish. Capitol is taking Victor's side. Mercury is with Columbia. Decca and M-G-M are so far riding With the 78s. None of it is now doing the record business' any good. Dealers hope and so do the recorders that the technical adr vances eventually will help the biz^ But, as the late Jack Kapp, DeccB president, said in one of his speeches, "technical prog- ress doesn't and won't sell rec- ords.^' His obvious implication was that it takes artistic, not engineer- ing brains. Decca's current list of hits, all on 78s, which are more or less smothering the best-seller lists, bears that out. H'wood-Empire Shutters; Jazz Bloom Dies on Vine Hollywood, April 6. fhe Vine street jazz renaissance •eems to be over. Hollywood-Empire room, opened In December as a hbt Jazz shrine, shuttered Sunday (3), following Billy Berg's and the Morocco into oblivion. Spot, operated by Gene Norman, KFWB disk jockey and Jazz concert promoter, had an uneven life. Louis Armstrong's trumpet blew the requiem as the spot folded. Armstrong, in at $4,000 weekly, was one of the few attractions that proved to be a draw for the Hol- lywood-Empire. Others were Billy Eckstine and Woody Herman. But coin was lost on Louis Jordan, Slim Gaillard and Roy Milton. Only on>3 booking was affected by the shuttering. Charlie Ven- tura's 10-piece bebop crew had been inked for a two-week stand, at $2,000 per frame, beginning April 19. Ventura quickly shifted to Ciro's, Frisco, for the same period. Dreyfus London-Bound Louis Dreyfus, head of the Drey- fus publishing interests in England, sails from New York today (Wed- nesday) for London. Dreyfus has been in the U. S. fairly consistently since before Xmas, with one short visit home, and his current trip to London is expected to be equally brief. He'll be aboard the Queen Mary. AFM Boosts TV Scale to 90% Of Network Rate American Federation of Musi- clans secured a boost of salary scales for radio musicians doing tel- evision work, concluding negotia- tions last week with representatives of the four networks. New deal is for one year as of last Wednesday (1) and calls for tooters to be paid 80% of regular AM radio scales for local tele shows and 90% of the existing AM scale for network TV. AM radio scale is now $18 up to one-half hour and a minimum of $7.50 per hour for rehearsals, which must consume four times the length of the broadcast, or a. two-hour rehearsal for a 30-minute program. That comes to $33 per man for radio for a half-hour show, and the tele rates will therefore reach $26.40 per man for a local show and $29.70 for a network job. AFM's initial scale for tele, es- tablished last year, effective May 1, called for 66%% of the AM rate for local TV and .75% of the AM rate for network video. That plan was extended for one month by the AFM last March 1, while the AFM and broadcasters got together and established new rates. Ames Bros. Take Legal Steps to Stop National From *Amory' Reissues Ames Bros., vocal quartet now on the Coral label, Decca subsid- iary, have begun legal action against National Records. Ames boys seek to stop National from issuing recordings they made for that company before signing with Coral, under the name they now use. Originally, the group was known as the Amory Bros. Under this tag they made a number of sides for National. When Lou Levy, their manager, signed them to Coral he changed their name to Ames Bros, deliberately to offset prior record- ings under the Amory tag. How- ever, now that the group has made some strides via Coral sides, Na- tional also changed the name tag on the recordings it has by them, from the Amory Bros, to the Ames Bros. Neither Coral nor Levy like the idea and they feel they can legally put a stop to it. In recent years many artists who began recording for indie labels and subsequently moved to major companies, have been bothered by the marketing of the indie mate- rial in competition with things later made for the major company. There'is nothing illegal or unethical about the indie moves in nine out of 10 cases because the majority of times the artist involved was able to move to the major because of the rep he or she made with the indie and changing names would be silly. In tlie Ames case things are different. Their original con- tract with National is under the Amoi^ tag. * FIICETVJTe Next six months or so will be a crucial, period for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. There's nothing that threatens the Society's existence, but the problems confronting it will, in the minds of its board members and executives, have great bearing on the future opera- tions of the organization. Foremost at the moment, of course, is television. ..Thereafter there are the moves being made both in New York and in Washing- ton to work out an amicable settle- ment of the situation in which ASCAP is barred from collecting fees for the exhibition of music in film theatres over the country. Whatever is agreed upon between the Society and the Department of Justice, and between the Society and N. y. theatre men, must be placed in alignment with the thoughts of Judge Vincent L. Lei- bell, who made the decision which decreed that ASCAP should retail .film, exhibition rights (to its reper- toire, but could not sell those rights. As for the video problem, it's ad- mitted that so far the two factions have been unable to form a clear picture. It's obvious that the tele- people must strive to obtain music rights at the cheapest possible costs to them in view of tele's red ink. It's also obvious that ASCAP must be aware of the probable low- ering of radio income while it is dickering a video deal, despite any, possible desire to do its best to. go along with tele operating costs and income of the moment. ASCAP has been assured by the men it is negotiating with on a video deal, .that the Society's revenue for the current year from AM radio .will not be appreciably lower than the 1948 income to the Society of close: to $7,000,000. In its dealings with tele people on a contract, ASCAP has other worries; Video men* look at the situation on a dollar basis; so does ASCAP and its publishers mem- bers, to some extent. But, the So- ciety's- top writer ' members, with whom .it had the .most trouble in securing the assignment of repre- sentation rights, look at the prob- lem mostly from an artistic view- point. These top writers firmly are convinced that video is not the same as radio from an interpretive viewpoint and their thoughts can only be concurred with by all con- cerned on the ASCAP side. They see video getting a great deal more out of the commodity, that ASCAP holds the rights to and they believe that tele should pay proportion- ately more. They see music, espe- cially the more valuable copyrights which are concentrated among the holdings of the topmost group of ASCAP writers, being much more valuable to tele than they were to radio because of the sight nature of the newer medium. At any rate, ASCAP's immediate problems are perhaps the most im- portant the Society has faced in recent years. VAUGHN MONROE WINS ARMY'S SONG CONTEST Washingtortv April 5., First prize in the Army's initial song contest was copped by Vaughn Monroe, who was awarded $1,000 Savings Bond for his en- try, "Men of the Army." Runner up was Thomas J. Filas, Chicago musician and composer^ who got a $500 bond for his "It's The Army." A $100 savings bond for third went to Jimmy Highsmith, New: York musician. Fourth, a $50 sav- ings bond, went to Mrs. lola Nancy Warran, Chicago housewife, for her "Three Cheers for the Army." Mrs. Lillian S. Fawcett, Los Angeles singer, now a civilian employee with the army in Japan, got fifth with "We're the Army." It took a $25 savings bond. Chuck Foster's orchestra gets its first crack at the Biltmore hotel, Los Angeles, May 26, opening for eight weeks. Foster's is a midwest- cm band. Majors' Price l^ishing on Pop Disks Puts Indies in Tough Spot JD Set to Resame Jimmy Dorsey expects to get back on the bandstand at the Stat- ler hotel, New York, some time this Week, perhaps by tonight (Wed- nesdayk He's been out ill since the middle of last week. He spent part of the time in a N. Y. hospital, but returned to the Statler over the weekend. Much- of his condition is due to nerves, stemming from the'worries over the. fire, that destroyed his To- lucca Lake, Gal., home and the severe burns suffered by his wife, Jane. •'. ■ Bop City, Artie Shaw hito J.Y. —But Nixes Bop Artie Shaw returns to the wars April 14, when he goes into the new Bop City, New York, spot on the site of the old. Harem. : But, as usual, he's doing it uniquely. He's organizing a semi-symphonic or- chestra of 40 men, which will play the bop music spot for one Aveek only, using material by Maurice Ravel, Aaron Copland, and similar composers. It emphatically will not be a bop band, despite the policy of the spot it will play. Idea is for Shaw to do three 45- minute concerts (no dancing) night- ly, with r5,";ular printed programs of selections di.stributed to patrons, with footnotes by noted critics such as Irving Kolodin., No drinks or food will be served while Shaw is performing his symphonic works. In addition to Shaw, Bop City will use the bop band of Machito, recently at the Clique Club, N. Y., and Ella Fitzgerald. They will-work separately. Injections of Risque Tunes at Annual ASCAP Shindig Annoys Members Many members of the .American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers were a bit annoyed last Tuesday (29) evening at the So- ciety's annual dinner at the Wal- dorf, N. Y., by the rather risque tunes sung by Josh White. Latter was part of the entertainment whipped up for the 600-odd Society members and special guests and no one': knew, of course^ what sort of material White would use. Milton Berle, who rushed over to the meeting after' his weekly Texaco TV show, broke it up with his routines. He took over, the minute he stepped onto.the dais and didn't let go. Afternoon's business meeting, with writers and publishers and the Society's execsi was also rather quiet. A clash occurred between members over Pinky Herman's resolution : to . weigh - only , those votes cast , on issues - that jgo to membership ballot,' instead of counting uncast votes as negatives, ran into a squall. Pros and cons culminated in a brief clash be- tween Herman and songwriter Charlie Tobias, but the measure will be put to a vote of the entire membership. ^ Columbia Records' reduction of prices on shellac pop and Master- works disks as of last Wednesday (30) produced the expected result of throwing the entire platter- making picture out of focus tem- porarily. Columbia's confirmation of reports that it would drop prio** coincident with the debut of TtCA-" Victor's new 45 rpm records and players launched a scramble of ideas with and against similar moves. M-G-M immediately said ■ that it^ would match Columbia's move, Decca and Capitol just as quickly affirmed a stand with current price levels. RCA-Victor came out with a flat statement Monday (4) after- noon to the effect that it would not disturb present prices. Wording of the communique was a bit un- usual and vague in that "there will be no general .reduction in sug-^ gested retail list prices... under current plans." It was signed by Jim Murray, Victor division presi- dent, and no one-at Victor could or . would explain that "suggested" word. Of course, the "under cur-i . rent plans" could mean anything,^ Where Columbia's move had « , iftore resounding effect was on the lower-priced indie recording com- panies, such as Eli Oberstein's Varsity disks. Spotlight Records and Signature's new Hi-Tone disks. Though the record business has - been such lately that none of these outfits have been doing the land^ office business that many claim, they have been moving substan- tially enough because of the ob- viously superior, economic angle ot ■ a low-priced recording. With the ' majors dropping closer to them, however, the indies' situation be- ; comes that much less-secure. - Oliepstein, : whose recordings had been selling at from 43c to: 45c including tax (depending on re- tailers), immediately dropped his basic retail price to 35c. Signature has been at that level from the : start some weeks back and Spot- light is in a comparable bracket. It's improbable that these indies : can drop any lower, if it's possible-'. for the majors to do so. In fact, top labels cannot see how Colum-!-. bia can dispense its 10 and 12-inch . pops for 60c and 85c respectively, and its 10 and t2-inch master- works at 85c and $1:00 and still: make a reasonable profit. Manu- facturing costs have not dropped to any appreciable extent, though all of the compaiHes have cut costs : by reducing personnel. LAKE COMFOUNCE RESUMES Hartford, April 5. The 104th season of Lake Com- pounce, amusement resort at near- by Bristol, got underway Saturday (2). Russ Schurer orchestra started 150G Piracy Suit Claims 'Near You' Infringement Top recording companies in th« industry last week were named de- fendants in a $150,000 piracy suit brought in N. Y. federal court by Thelma Hester Jones: She claims her 1934 unpublished tune, "Just an Old Fashioned Mother and Dad," was lifted by the firms by publishing and recording "Near< You." Named defendants are Supreme Music, Decca Records, Capitol Records, Columbia Records, RCA, Victor Recording Laboratories and Bruno New York, Inc. Miss Jones charges the melody of her tunej as reproduced in ''Near You " Was not original with the latter song's', writer, Francis Craig. Besides' the $150,000, she wants an injunction, and an accounting of the profits. Answering the suit, Supreme and Decca ask dismissal of the ac- tion since the complaint allegedly fails to state a claim; Papers also point out that the plaintiff had rftl knowledge of the facts in 1947 but for unknown reasons waited 19 months before filing an infringe- ment action. MUNDEIX LOWE'S lEIO ,^ ^ ^ , , Mundell Lowci former guitarist its 11th season for Saturday night ■ with Dave Martin's band at Cafe i Society, N. Y., his formed a trio Effective Easter Sunday (17), I with bass-player Joe Shulman, and i park's name band policy gets un- pianist Dick Hyman. i derway. Ray McKinley orchestra Sherry Shadborne, who recently ' opens, followed (24) by; Johnny appeared in the legit, "Inside Long and Vaughn Monvoe. ' U. S. A.," will be the vocalist.