NBC Transmitter (Jan-Dec 1938)

MAY, 1938 19 KNOW YOUR COMPANY No. 14 Artists Service Department — Part I Georce Engles It’s an old, old story. At some time or another, you’ve heard a singer, and someone near you has made the remark: “Why, I can do better than that!” It’s nothing new. They’ve said the same thing about jugglers, trapeze artists, magicians, actors, opera stars, comedians— practically everyone who has ever faced an audience. The difference is this: The professional has created a demand for his talents. Creating a demand for talent is the job of Artists Service, a department of the National Broadcasting Company. The organization, which is the largest of its kind in America, sells $7,000,000 worth of talent every year to more than 5,500 talent buyers throughout the country. Head of Artists Service, and an NBC vice president, is George Engles. He is ably assisted by Daniel S. Tuthill in his job of managing Artists Service. Together, they head a staff that handles more than 350 artists, ranging from Kirsten Flagstad, who was sold to pictures last year at the highest sum ever paid a single performer, to Dunninger, the “Mentalist,” who will read your mind or expose a spiritualist for you, at the drop of a coin. The Artists Service, as Mr. Engles explains it, is like a huge department store. “Just as a store manager displays his wares on the counter, we try to display our wares,” Mr. Engles says. “The only difference is that we make use of radio as a sales counter and show window.” “But like every other salesman,” he goes on, “we must get our merchandise somewhere. And our products must always be fresh and new. So, to help us find these people we have our Audition Division.” This division is headed by Robert E. Smith. Usually, the people that come to him have had some sort of professional experience. However, if your cousin Bertie from Buffalo thinks he has talent and wants an audition, tell him to put it in writing and drop it in the mail. Tell him not to do as some people who call up Artists Service long distance and sing over the telephone — that’s been tried. And tell him not to stand in the street, as one woman did, and sing so loudly that everyone can hear him. NBC Artists Service is calloused to stunts and ruses. They even had a fellow barge in their offices one day who attempted to sell them exclusive broadcasting rights to a revolution he was planning to start in South America! Last year, out of 1,987 auditions, only three singers and one team made the grade. The ones chosen for stardom were Thomas L. Thomas, George Griffin, Jean Ellington and Lucille and Lanny. You’ve heard them on the air many times because the Artists Service is in the process of building them up. Thomas L. Thomas got his audition through the mail: he was a member of a large chorus on a commercial show. George Griffin is an example of how an artist can fail to pass an audition and still be picked up later and given another try. Mr. Smith happened to visit the Little Church Around The Corner one day and heard him sing. He gave him an audition, even after finding out that another member of Artists Service had turned him down a year before. Jean Ellington got her chance after making good on the Air Breaks program. Lucille and Lanny had already established themselves on WNEW before they were taken under the Artists Service wing. “The difficult job of the Audition Divi sion,” said Mr. Engles, “is finding someone different. There are too many performers who sound too much like some star already big in the business. What we want is novelty — something new to offer.” Invariably, when a program or performer makes good. Artists Service has a flock of imitators knocking at its doors. Last year, when Minnie, the singing mouse, was a radio sensation, people flocked to them with talking parrots, singing cats— even a talking dog. The dog’s master turned out to be a ventriloquist, and the dog was strangely silent when he wasn’t around. Nowadays, with Charlie McCarthy topping the radio polls, they’re besieged with dummy acts. Runner-up is the “Quiz” program. Practically every one and his brother has submitted a “sensational” idea for this type of show. Then, too, they’ve been bombarded with 57 varieties of the “sidewalk interview” type of broadcast. Of course, it’s easy to detect an imitation. Finding something new — and getting a sponsor to buy it — is something else again. Gertrude Berg’s “The Rise of the Goldbergs” is an outstanding example of this. Sponsors were convinced that a ( Continued on Next Page) NBC Artists Service receives more than 4,000 requests for auditions every year. Out of these, more than 2.000 are actually heard. It is sometimes possible for NBC’s 1134 New York employees to listen in, for often an auditioner’s voice is transmitted, to loudspeakers in every part of the building. Seated in the control room listening to the audition above are, left to right. Daniel Tuthill, Assistant Managing Director of Artists Service, and Robert Smith, head of Music Auditions. One of Mr. Smith’s assistants. Philip Jeffreys, stands behind him while his other assistant, John Collins, remains in the studio to instruct the singer.