Variety (Dec 1935)

Wednesday* December 25, 1933 MUSIC VARIETY 39 ASCAP HOLDOUTS GIVE IN Parker Report Slap at CPRS; Suggests Restoring 1931 Fees, Appeals Tribunal Toronto, Dec. 24, Seen as a victory for the ainuse^ ment industry in its varied branches and a severe set-bacic to the Cana- dian Perfoiming RUehts Society, collection agency In Capada for the American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers and the Brit- ish Performlns Rights. Society, Is the establishment of an appeal tri- bunal to determine disputes arising put of performance tariffs. It will bo provided for In legislation before the end of the. year, following the recommendation of Judge Parker of Toronto in his report of the Royal Commission Inquiry into aictlvlties of the Canadian. Performing Rights Society. In . favoring the appeal tribunal, which, under legislative powers, will approve subsequent, tariff-tilting be- fore such levies become effective, Judge Parker found that the 1936 rates for theatreia are prohibitive and that the 1981 schedule should be restored as giving ia fair return to CPRS; also that tariffs levied on the broadcasting industry are too hlsh. The federal Investigation followed charges that CPRS was unduly withholding licenses, proposing to collect excessive .fees, and was otherwise conducting its operations In a manner detrimental to the in- terests of the Canadian'public The legal battery included counsel for Motion Picture Distributors & Ex- hibitors of Canada, F&mous Players Canadian, -Musical Protective So- ciety (musicians' union), Canadian Radio Commission, Canadian Ka- tlbnal Exhibition, Canadism Associa- tion of Broadcalsters, Allied Exhib- itors, of Ontario and Hotel Associa- tion of Canada. 'CPRS Dommaerlng* In pointing out that 'the Canadian Performing Rights Society was at times domineering in Its attitude and perhaps a little hasty in resorting to the courts for the enforcement of Its legal rights,' Judge Parker, in askihg for the establishment of an appeal tribunal, says: 'The position now is that the • Society, having a monopoly of the performing rights in copyright music, has also the right to Impose whatever fees it chooses. Where other monopolies have existed, it has been found nec- essary to have some independent body analyze and pass on tariffs that may be charged; e. g^ fi-elght rates, express rates, telephone rates, etci If the Society can continue to dictate its own terms and pursue, a policy of tTeatly increasing those terms, then finally the community will be prevented from listening to Its music. The Royal Commission Is In accord with the recommenda- tion that there should be an amend- liient to the copyright act to the effect that either the various tariffs as filed by the Canadian Performing Rights Society should first receive the approval of some Independent board, of to the effect that if any users felt that they were being charged unfair or exorbitant fees they would have a; right of appeal to an independent body.' Branding the 1935 theatre tariff as 'unjust and unfair' and favoring a return to the 1931 rate of 10c a seat. Judge Parker in his report says: 'Up to October, 1934. the max- imum charge in the United States was 10c. E. C, Mills (ASCAP),. hav- ing concluded that the experimental period for .collecting fees for per- forming rights in the United States was over, increased the rate, effec- tive after Oct. 1, 1934, to; theatres with a seating capacity of 801 to 1,599. I5e a seat, and theatres of 1,600 or over, 2Dc a seat; leaving the small theatres of 800 seats or less as they were In the previous tariff. Still Experimental It should be remembered that in the United States the American So- ciety Of Composers, Authors & Pub- lishers had been carrying on the business of selling performing (Continued on page 41) 'Santa's' Comeback Chicago, Dec. 2:4. Begins to appear that''Santa Ciaus Is Coming to Town' will develop into a standard catalog song which will rise into coin and prominence each Christ- mas season. Song, wlilch first broke into print last yeso*, has come back strong this winter and in the last three weeks has bounced back Into heavy plug and sales position. Last week it rose to third place in sales in the midwest, placing just behind 'Red Sails in the Sunset' and 'On Treas- ure Island.' ASK NEW SCALE FOR COPYISTS, ARRANGERS Appeal against the new scale for arrangers and copyists, which is slated to go into effect Jan. 1, has been made by the music industry through the Music Publishers Pro- tective Association. John G. Paine, MPPA chairman, and Samuel Ta- bak, a member of the executive board .of tl>e New York musicians' union, will meet the latter part of this week to discuss thie Issue. Ap pointment was made at Palhe's re- quest. Publishei's' main argument against the increased scale is that it comes at a most inopportune time, or just when the industry requires all the money it can spare to fight the passage of the Duffy copyright bill Paine, who is directing opposition to the measure for the publishers, has asked Uir American Federation of Musicians for its support on the ground that passage of the bill would seriously affect the employ ment of musicians. It is Palne's contention that the provision In the Duffy bill which exempts places using mechanical music, unless there is an admls slon charged, will impair the. income of musicians as well as that of copyrights owners. If the record ings turned out by such outfits as ERPI and RCA Victor we^-en't so good, there would be little cause for the musicians to worry about their Jobsi But with the perfection now prevailing in these high fidelity stencilings, the chances are that hotels, caf6s, beergardens and other like places will be Inclined to use thorn freely without having to apologize to their patrons. Dance combos of the name and near name variety have already istarted to cut down on their ar- ranger payrolls. These claim that the new scale will mean a 30% boost for them, and, rather than continue to make extensive use of complete special arrangements, they plan to get along with partial re- scorings of stock arrangements. Ex- pected to be hit particularly hard by the tilt are the organized combos and freelance conductors that have made long term contracts with net- work commercials. Only alterna- tive open to this element Is to ap- peal to the sponsor for an increase In their salaries to cover the added costs which the new union regula- tion will entail. CAIXOWAY IN COAST CAFE Cab Cajioway and his band open at Sebastian's Cotton Club in Cul- ver Sity, Cal., Jan. 29. Les Hite, current combo, swings to Balboa ballroom, short distance! away. 50% for Performances, 50% for Availability-Seniority Adopted as New Basis for Split-Up. at Fischer and Schirmer*s Insistence—- Berlin, Marks, Feist, Rob bins Also In S-YEAR DEALS The six major music publisher- holdouts have agreed to . sign with the Ameiican Society of Com- posers, Authors Sc Publishers for five-year renewals. They are Ber- lin, Fischer, Marks, Schirmer, Feist and Bobbins. The latter , two were actually not holdouts, being on the fence but preferring iiot to renew unless assured that none of the others would be accorded any spe- cial terms. As a concession to Induce the Fischer and Schirmer firms to re- new, it. was agreed to spllii up the royalty melon on. a new basis of 50% for tliiB number of perform- ances, and 50% for availability and seniority. The actual breakdown of the 50% for availability and senior- ity will be determined by a com- mittee. The concession of 50% only for the number of performances is deemed equitable because the popu- WB Firms Give 42 Employes Half Day Off for 'Xmas Shoppii^' and Then Give 'Em Air; No &iecs Out Jam Anthiem 'The Music Goes Round and Round' soimds like tlie jam bands' new national anthem. It iTiay be another 'Tiger Rag,' the hot lick boys all haying theii* own versions and playing it for tiieir own amazement, with an outside chance of becoming another 'Bananas' if the putr- Ijc goes for it like the mu- sicians. In any case, it's a cinch the time will serve Hodgson, Far- ley and Reilly as bo\v music for some time. ,Why They Signed What actually caused the boldout publishers to capitu- late and signature five-year membership c o n t r a c t S'with ASCAP was a two-fold warnr Ing. They were told that if they didn't sign the Society would not be able, to function after. Jan. 1 and thereby would subject . Itself to immediate liquidation .proceedings. Also that the writer members were prepared to step into the gap and issue licenses to radio and other users through the Song- writers Protective Association. Such a step would result in court suits that might event- ually overthrow the small riglits structure and find the publishers by legal decision holding their rights by suffer- ance of the writers. Holdout pubs were further warned that they would be reckless to lake a chance at this time with an adjudication of the small rights ownership issue, and the more tlie writers were kept in line by concerted action within the Society the less chance would the pub- lishers have oif imperiling the top position they now hold with regard to those rights. .Julian Abeles, counsel for the Metro music interests, who attended the Thursday (10) meeting as a Feist director, declared that if the other hold- outs remained adamant there was every possibility that Warner Bros, would immedi- ately .sign up with broadcast- ing, with the result that the Society mi ht find'itself out in the cold. ASCAP CUTS UP 850G ADVANCE MEON Per annual custom, the flttal quar- terly dividend of the American So- ciety of Composers, Authoi-s & Publishers was declared before Xmas, although the actual ac- counting won't be ready until Jan. 10. As result, an arbitrary melon of $850,000 has been cut by ASCAP which equals the sura" distributed for the third quarter of 1935.. Amount that will actually be split among ASCAP members is $765,000, with the difference constituting the 10% usually set aside for relay to f<»-elgn performing society af- filiates. The $850,000 brings the year's total melon distributed to $3,100,000. Tills pars the anticipated $4,000,000 or more gross revenue for 1935. The $1,000,000 difference Is accounted for by the 25% cost of operating the Society. The past year's yield to top- bracketed publishers from the So- ciety has ranged between $60,000 and $80,000, due to the unit sys- tem of payoff. Topflight songsmiths have earned slightly in excess of $10,000 on the year from ASCAP, In addition to their other sources of income. lar firms concede that It would un- iicocssai-liy handicap the .standard firms on the number of radio plugs. Heretofore it wiaa decided to split the melons on the ratio of .65% for perfonnanccs, 20% availability and. 15% sonloi-ity, 1>ut the standard firms lake the position that the .smalJcBt popular publisher could swamp Ihe airways with a highly concentratPd plugging campaign on a modlocre dance tune, whereas the sturdier and worthier standard .stuff takes'longer .to establish like- wise Its longevity ia in proportion. At an ASCAP meeting Thursday ("19) Nathan Burkan, a.ttoi'ncy for the Society, told all pi-f,«ent that with the Jan. 1 dcajllin.o appi'oa.cli- ing it was high time everybody stopped stalling and expressed their Intentions. Julian T. Abeles, attor- ney for the Feist and Bobbins firms, likewise endorsed the thought and a plan of compromi.se was worked out all around to induce quick sig- naturing. Committee for Chanoes It was also agi-eed that any changes In the classlflcatlon Hystem of the publieher-mombership can be made only by a committee com- prising four popular and three .standard publishers. The .Society recognizes sundry problems now facing music users since the Warner Bros, schism. Badlo is in the best position, con^ ccdodiy to s,trlke off at the source just which songs ai-e Warner Brps.- controlled (1. e. Harms, T. B. Ilarm.s, New World, Witmark and Pvcmiek copyrights) but the hotels are in a l-lckllsh position. The leaders wiii have to make dally charts of tabu numbers (providing thr-y haven't signed up for the WB music) and perhaps explain why they can't perform a Harms show tunc or a Remick publication of a Warner filmuHlcal number. It's been suggested also that the hotels got up chai-ts of which songs can't be performed, t>ecau8e the hotels haven't signed with WB as well as A.SCAP. However, it's just as likely that music users will con- tract for licenses from both Ai^CAV and the WB music group.s. Warner Bros, has prepared itself for • a complete break with radio after Dec. -31, by giving notice; to 42 employes In the profes-slonal and arranging departments of Harms, Inc., T. B. Harms, M. Witmark & Sons .and Remick Music Corp. The letouts constitute over .50% of the personjiel ■ jointly employed by the publislilhg group and include pi-o- fessional maniagers, song pluggers, piano players, arrangers, stenog- raphers and counterboys. Payroll and rent siaivings will amount to $6,000 a week; Only possibility of these publlBh- Ing houses returning • to their for- mer operating status would be if Warner should get together with the networks on a licensing con- tract. Even were a deal to be mado With individual stations, ther» would be little need, as the parent company has It figured, of main- , taining more than skeleton staffs. Wholesale dismissal waff inter* preted as a tactical move on War- ner's part to demonstrate to broad- casting that it was ready to rselgn Itself to a lockout period as far as"* the air was concerned. In a state- ment issued J'riday (20), the same day that the employes received their two weeks' notice, Warners explained that the personnel re- duction had been made necessary by the loss of the income which had been derived from the American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers, and the decision to quit systematic song plugging and plac« the publishing group on an inde- pendent and self-sustaining basis. Toppers Remain Practically all the top men. In the New York and branch offices were retained. Sweep In New York, ap- plied to 15 men and five girls, with George Mario, head of the Remick professional staff, included. Among those staying are Rocco Vocco, Remick gen mgr., and George Plantadosl, Harms professional mgr, while Norman Foley and a piaho player are all that remain of the Witmark retinue. Larry Spier at. T. B. Harms Co. also unaffected. In Chicago the holdovers consist of Harold -Lee, Witmark, and Bob Miller, Harms, while the Los Ange- les office will find Arty MehUuger and Lucky Wilbur operating Wit-- mark. Harms and Remick between them,. Detroit, Cincinnati, Cleve- land and St. Louis offices have beea' ordered completely shut down, while in Boston two got their notice and Prank Rice was retained to represent the three catalogs. Others ailfected in the New yorjt office by the notices were Murray Wizel and George Simon of Harms, Abe Glazer of Witmark and Eddie Wolpin of Remick. Day before they got their no- tices the staffs were allowed a half day off to do their Christmas shop- ping. ClieckifiB Broadcasts Employees retained in the pro- feslonal departments of the Warner Bros, music Ann are being assigned to the . task of checking oh prograihs broadcast after midnight I>6c, 31 to determine whether any tmauthor-. Ized uses of WB tunes are includedi .Spotting will not only be done in Ne%v York, Chicago and Los Angeles, but in other key points where ^ WB reps are still main- tained. The professional contacteers will also make the rounds of the hotels, cafes and nite clubs to <>aution the r)perator3 against usln?; Warner Bros, music unlesR they have ob- tainpd the n<».ces.sary license f)om the latter source. JOE STTLLIVAlf'S BAND Los Angeles, Df^c. M, New band i.s being fomiort hero by Joe S'ulllvan, former KHJ pianist and recording artist. Crew, will be nade up of'iocal looters. .SulJIvan has done the ivoiT Job for all Blng Crosby broadcasts and is currently iii 'Rolling Along,* ITarry lil<-))man pIcLui-e at Cqlu^bL-x.