Variety (Dec 1940)

Wcdnesdayv December 25, 1940 RADIO 25 . It is reported, that as result of ASCAP's regular attorneys, SchWartz & Frohliph, idvising its client th^t .they'll 'have no part bf/ahy tbnsent . decree,^ Thurman Arnold, the Government's trust-busteri has been' . iettihg hot under, the collar in Washington, cialling the Society 'welch-.' ers' and 'double-crossers',. prhe Dejpt, of Justice official in charge ol antirtrust . prosecution, nOt knowing the inside, is reported to be pltihty "BTrrnea at Lieut.-G6V*rh6t Chatles Pbletti. of.'Nevv YorK. State" who "Is regular, counsel to Milton-Dliamond's law firm, and was ■called in by him to 'negotiate the best possible deal for ASCAP' ' . What Washington doesn't know is ■ that' Schwartz & Frohijch and- many. of the rank-and-flle music publishers, arid writer-members of AiSCAP never (iould see. the consent on the grpuhd. it's 'cptifessihg to • a guilt Which we've denied yight along'. S6m« members 0|f ;thie board ■ ..are fpr .it, .as iare others, who ;.d6n't 'think .any consent decree nowadays : is as onerous as it sounds, pointing to the picture industry' .'Big Fivie' as hot being above accepting one. Poletti. is supposed to have worked out a 'quite satisfactory' under- . standing with Arnold on a consent, uptil the regulVr ASCAP attorneys, took,umbrage'at Diamond, Rabin, B'otein & Mackay (Poletti bf coun- . Bel) being caljed in;. Dijamorid is Herman Starr's personal attorney and Starr is head'bf the Warneir: tiros, music firms-riiembers of ASGAP be.sides chairmahing the radia riegp ' Sch\yartz & Frplich are repPrted to have had heated words with Gene:Buck and. John G- Paine, president and g.m; of ASCAP over the idea..of-hot; being closely conisulted, on. the consent moves. .Xt was' finally decided -to 'leave it all:up to Genes Buck,' with likelihood the decree will be dropped .entirely.. I^ttcky Sfrib's Hit^ t^de to on Va riou« Outsidera HaVa Of- fered Miedrntibh Services But ASCAP Thinks De- cision Must Be Clear Cut -Win or Lose---r^ Armistice ' . Seen as Helpihjj BMI ^ AT DEADLINE ers Lewis-Howe W Dorsey Orchestra Wasted on Merchandising Folderpi • Probable trend away from the money, giveaway prbgirams which now thickly Stud the network com- mercial schedules Is seen in the in^ dicated move; by the Lewis-Howe Co. to' eliminate, the hew song contest phaise of the "Tommy Dorsey shovf ,and devote the hialf houjf ph the NBC-blue Thursday nights to straight, legitimate entertainment. The bill-payers fpr the. stanza are reported as-having come 16 the real- ization that they would be getting more put of their investment if they ceased cluttering, the presentation of one pf the country's leading name bands with the dubiously entertain- tng output of amateur song writers. Perhaps hb .small factor in Lewis- Howe's cbntemplatiohs about policy change is the listener rating that the program has been garnering. What most tickled the interest of the spon- sor when, the prpigram's formula was present was the merchandising angle: Amatextr song writers had to pick up th^ir entry blanks at drug- stores. There, have been jplenty of entries but the choice of listenable material has been extraordinarily thin, even though only one amateur song a week was required for the program. (The inflow of manuscripts Is cleared through Broadcast Music, Inc., which becomes the assignee, of •11 numbers submitted.) Plan which Levvis-ilpwe has under cohsideratiph would deprive, the drug manufacturer of Only one pro- gram that makes .hoopla' ovei: cash giveaways. ..It would stiil have. *The. Pot p' Gold' and 'Treasto .Chest.' tatter two . hetWork programs jilug Turns, while the Dorsey inning is -linked with N-R Tablets. Loew Station WHN is Expected to Go ASCAP; Other locals HoM Off With Loew-Metro'f three music Arms, Robbins, Feist and Miller, re- newing for 10 years with ASCAP, it's expected that WHN, the Lbew station In New York managed by Herb Pettey, will license from the Society ' forthwith. This, In turn. Is expiected to chase WMCA, WNEW, WINS, and the other record-usfng stations in pronto. Dope is; that WmGA is waiting oh WNEW, and vice verSa, these being the closest In competition with their all-night-long disk programs^ . . Sam Slate^ formerly -with Phil Lord and . Henry .S6uvaina is now with the Anderson, Davis & Platte advertising agency. Aj' the deadline,: (Dec. 31) for the break between the raidib industry and the American Society of. ComT posers, Authors and Publishers ap- proaches, the atmosphere within the latter camp seetrts tp have taken on. for" the time being, the aspect of a dead.calm.7 The idea oif. entering; into a consent decree with the U. Si' De- partment of Justice, has faded into the distance, and . the intervening week, will be ■ devoted .tb tightening lip ;ASCAPs proposed i^afipnal me:- chahics. for , checking, oh infringe- ments and. filinjg such suits, as they may provide. From within ASCAP came the te- port that it had been approached by prorhineht broadcasters about, agree- ing to a month's- armistice, during which period the broadcasters' emo- tionalism over the issue might cool off to the point where the two sides could sit down and talk a deal. Pres- ent .■ indications ■ are that no such armistice will b6 granted by. ASCAP. The dominant feeling in the organi- zation is that. nothing can be gained by this device and that, unless there Is an actual sigh.aturing of contracts by the networks .by midnight Dec. 31 ASCAP should allow the ,broaclcast- ers no choice but to come to grips immediately oh the .principles and ternw, involved^ Any stalling, say ASCAP's leaders; would ortly serve to aid Brbadcaist Music, Inc., to build iip its reservoir of material. • With those who do . the master- minding for ASCAP the. consent de- cree thing is regarded as something that'was interesting to. mult oyer while a threatening situation loomed on the legal .horizon. There was one proposed decree; it was pointed out, that ASCAP did fancy because of the effect • it would, have on network: dealing,This pplnt- made it Incum-. (Continued on page 55) S^eti Vice Bennett When. Russell ; Bennett's \;'Note BOpli'..series .vacates- the 7-7:30 p.m. Sunday; spot on WOR-M.utual With the network d(eadline on ' ASC-AP music, it will be replabed .by a con- certo series with Joseph Szlgeti, concert violinist, and Alfred 'Wal- lenstem conducting a symphony or- chcstra,'- ; New stanza starts JSn, 3. . . Finance Marks Catalog; NBC, CBS One-Quarter Each to Stations' 50% Affiliates pn the NBC-red and Co- lumbia, are being asked by the.,re- spective networks to underwrite . the obligation which has been jentered into with , the E. Marks Music Co. through Broadcast Music,' Inc. . Singled oijt for the co-endorseineht of the contract, which cialls for the paynient of $25P;0D0 a year for five years, are: the 20 stations on each netWprk which . receive the highest compensation from network busi- ness. At the end of the flve-year period the Marks catalog wbuld be- long to the co-ehdbrsers, including the network. Co-liability for the Marks deal would be split four ways.: NBC and Columbia would each assume a fourth share and the .20 affiliated stations on each bf the networks would take over the rest of the obligation. With this Saturday's (28) brpad- ckst Lucky Strike's Hit .Parade changes Its basic complexion and be- comes the sbundihg board for what it; describes ia^ 'the 10 most popular sphgs available for radib;'; Since the compiiatipn V . which the "program is ba^ed will idisregard sheet salles; and phonograph records, the pro- gram will in form and essence be a summary of the tunes-most plugged oh the "networks: during the previous week. '..'■ . ./.■- ' - .- ■: Those .reisppnsible for the program are confident that the show's rating won't fall off under the new system of :ighoring all A^CAP Works. Ope theory expressed; in this, quarteir is; that radio listeriers Will -be: hearing the tunes included in the pArade $11 the'; time and therefore the material' won't see'm abhorrhal to . them. , i Masters' Show Later Before Coca-Cola decides on the sponsoring of the Frankie Masters band on NBC there will have to be 3 new. script and: re-auditiphing of the program. If the latter Is ap- proved it will make Its debut the middle of January. Another factor affecting, the deal is the; music performing rights situ- ation. The account may put off the series' start until the nelwbrk's tangle with ASCAP Is settled. . 'Music 'publishers. -afTiliat.ed with ASCAP are alL set to send their ex- ploitation staffs on the TQiad Jan. 2. liatter while traveijiTig will deVote : thentselves almost ehtirjely tO: calling those: local stations Which have taiceh out new ASCAP licensing con- ■ tracts. ■■ ■ • The cbntracteers Will be equippied , 'With stacks -of phonograph records ] containing • the interpretation. of ^ current pltig tunies., by; name bahdS ; and vocalist^ and copies of thege Will ' • be turned ,over to the licensed..sta- tlons. Of XJsual Adyerfising Rate^ Reseryatiohs and Gibf^ Variety NEW YORK 154 W. 46th SL HOLLYWOOD 1708 No. Viiie St May Bi9 Sent +0 Any; Office : CHICAGO LONDON 54 W. Randolph'St. 8 St. Martin's PL : Mutual and NBC may have to do ^ their broadcasting of the extra-sea-. [ sohal football games. Janl -1. from ' soundproof booths. The practice has already been, suggested by Mutual's copyright checking division, in fear that ASCAP. tunes might be picked : lip frbm the playflelds or stands and t thereby involve the network In iii- = fringement suits. Following is a memorandum seni jiContinued on pagis 99) BMI HOLDS PEP RALL FOR CHICAGO DISTRICT Chicago, Dec. 24: | Ninth district of the National As- sociatlon of Broadcasters^ which takes, in Illinbis and Wisconsin, held a special meeting in the Stevens hotel last week to discuss the sub- ject of Broadcast Music, InC, Carl Haverlln and C. E. Arney, Jr., were in to outline the BMI situations to the broadcasters, and discussed the songs available, records/ transcrip-. tipns, the meah.s of protection against infringement and other details of music operation with non'-ASGAP 'music. . ■ .• It was a general pep. meeting; and the broadcasters - Were ' shown .:catar" logs of avaiUble songs, both BMI anS public domain. "They v/ere in- formed of-the Marks -catalog pur- chase, and Were told tjiat fiMI would deliver enough songs to keep the stations ha^py. •'. Also oh hand were representatives from the i/trahscrlptibri- flrhis'to' e^x- plain the ' number of ether discs available which will use only BMI and tax-free music. . ' ; . SLIGHT MYSTERY ! WMEX Has, ASCAP Ads In Taxis^ j But Denies Hook-Vp ■ •:'. •■ , . ; . Boston,'Dec. 2^. I : Three Ek)stbn independent stations : have sighed contTacls for music of- • American Society pf Composers, Aii- . thbrs and Publishers, and claim for first time: they are able to approach. prospective sponsors wjth a. parcel that networks cannot offer.: HpW-' ever, these stations will not admit facts; when interviewe3T>5=-Nnewspa- permen. ' ^ ' WMEX has placed vcards In taxi- cabs, announcing that ASCAP music ' .can be heard on its broadcasts, but j maintains tq press that it's only Ontil Jan..!,,;. '•...,:■;■