Variety (November 1950)

Wcilnesdayv November 1, 1950' Writer Protests Soar ^=sssmSm Continued from page 41 fnv tlie 60-20-20 payoff plan was forced to by ASCAP ahd the Gov- ernment, but the virtually! unani- Uhs squawks from the 'Writers could result m a waiver of that clause.) . L Wolfe Gilbert, ASCAP^s Coast rep ciarently in N. Y., spotlighted Mi^mainspring of the protests. He revealed that 73% of the writers ucie receiving less income under the new plan, while a^group of about 30 writers were due to rise ^vay over the former ASCAP ceil- ing, of about $4,500 per quarter. ••That is causing all the money to go to the top while impoverishing the rank-and-file." With many retired or inactive vrilcrs. dependent entiVely on their ASCAP income, living on the Coast, Gilbert described the situation there as "chaotic." "Most of the viiiers." he said, "are terribly dis- illiisiojiGd because they were prom- ised vhey would not drop far in the classification rating, but their in- come dropped disastrously," , Gil- bert proposed reinstatement of a. ceiling for the top writers with the overage coin returning to the geri- eral distribution fund. Even top writers who are get-, ting more coin under the new plan are not happy. One group of cleff- ers, out of concern for ASCAP’s fu- ture, fears the possibility of the Society's breakup under the crush- er of repeated Government inter- vention in its operations. In ad- dition. they foresee the possibility oi the deep dissension in the ranks leading to a wholesale exodus of younger writers to Broadcast Mu- sic, InC. Siibstaniiate Underratlngs .Another group of cleffers ex- ploited their larger ASCAP checks to substantiate their previous beefs that they were underrated. One writer declared that "I don’t need the extra cash now, but five years NEW revivals ‘I Don’t Mind Bein g All A lone* ‘Exactly Uke You’ Standards by J iiiimy McHugli For Christmas C-H-RWIII-A.S and THE MERRY CHRISTMAS POLKA For the Winter Season FROSTY THE SNOWMAN hill & RANGE Sonqt, Inc.. N. Y. Bass-Baritone Singer 24, desires location Job. Personable and very highly trained. Experienced •n concert, radio, and musical comedy. Best references avaiiabie. Membar of Inf. Platform Assoc. Will furnish photo and material on raquest. Phone t'gin, III. 2910-R. ago I did need it, and ASCAP brushed off my’claims." He said that if the classification committee had begun upgrading deserving cleffers and demoting the "politi- eijms" several years ago, the new payoff planWould not have explod- ed with such a shock, Harbach stated that any future payoff plan must take into consid- eration that ASCAP is riot purely a collection agency for performance fees. Three other factors operative, he said, are (1) 98% of ASCAP’s income results from blanket li- censes that cover not only actual usages, but the rights to use; (2) services rendered as a clearing house which takes care of all agree- ments between writers and clients; and (3) insurance of clients against any lawsuits arising from the use of any number which ASCAP li- censes. Along these lines, Harb^ich said, "a solution to a distribution system that will be more equitable to all concerned can be found." In a letter to ASCAP writers last week, Harbach lightly chastised the complainants by reminding them that they turned down an early I plan submitted by the exec com- mittee which reflected the domi- nant factor of performances while maintaining more control over the distribution. ^ . Harbach’s letter also disclosed that the October dividend did not take into consideration the 12% fund which is to be allocated to catalogs whose value is not reflect- ed by public performances. The classification committee is current- mapping this distribution, he said, adding that "this will only partially relieve the present situation." "Perhaps it is just as well that your checks already received reflect the results of the purely mathe- matical distribution, for it cannot but have art enlightening effect on all concerned. It shows what would have happened to our members on anything approaching a 100% per- formance basis which some of our members seemed anxious to vote for." "On every engine is a safety de- vice known as a governor. Take i away this control and the increased I speed might result in a shattered flywheel. The result of the latest ! distribution shows that there has j been too drastic a weakening of I our distribution control-—call it, if you will, the human element which we so often talk about.’* Harbach said that ASCAP’s plans for increased surveys of indie sta- tions and regional outlets should make for more equity for all. But, he pointed out, "it is vitally neces- sary for your committee—-of course, urider the framework of the con- sent decree—to try to find some means of restoring that control." All 4 MPHC Firms At Work on New Xmas Tune Professional staffs of all four firms of Music Publishers Holding . Corp. have been set to work on a new Johnny Redmond - Jimmy Cavanaugh - Frank Weldon tune, "Christmas in Killarney." While song is in the Remick catalog, contactmen of the other three Warner firms, Witmark, Advanced and Harms, Inc., have been assign- ed to the song. ^ Unusual factor in the fullscale drive is that the song was written only recently, and the first record- ing, by Percy Faith for Columbia, was set only little more than two weeks ago. Tune has also been cut by Dennis Day on Victor, and other recordings are being set. AUhrn nt't ^r TV an4 ^)11hir0U^K itiR Imn4.'«sas«s5<a5^^ reti4^ io FRAN ALLISON • Vie#or- FERCY FAITH • Cc/umbia • JUNE WINTERS • Mercury • ★★★★★★★'A Broadway Music CORPORATION Ult Broedway NewVork N. V. ^^lETT Top Songs on TV {AipMhetically listed) Week of Oct. 20-26 (Based on copyrighted Audi- ence Coverage Index and Au- dience Trend Index, published by Office of Research, Inc., Dr, John G. Peatman, director.) A Bushel and a Peck.. .Morris Goodnight Irene.... . Spencer , La Vie En Rose Harms Patricia . BVC Punky Punkin........ Paxton 5 Top Standards Charleston Harms Cumana .., >......... Martin One of Thbi^e Things.. Harms Sunnyside of Street. .. Shapiro Shine Harvest Moon. .Remick ORCHESTRASm-MUSIC Alstone Awaits Final Citizenship Papers A1 Alstone, French composer of "S^rmphony,” "Sonata" and "Place Pigalle/’ arrived in New York last week. Alstone will stay in this country for five months, at which time he expects to get his final citi- zenship papers for which he ap- plied on a previous visit. He will then settle here permanently, Bongwriter immediately huddled with publisher Tommy Valando, who will handle most of Alstone’s. new material. Valando has already signed a couple of songs brought oyer by Alstone. Writer also ex- pects to play some nitery dates. He’s a pianist and a member of Local 802, American Federation of Musicians. Robbins Profits by Oldie Plugs, So Sets Another Jack Robbins, whose last three plug tunes have been standards ifrom his Words & Music Catalogs, is getting to work on anbther oldie, "The Night Is Young arid You’re So Beautiful” Robbins has hit all three jobbers’ "racks" all over the country three times in a row with standard tunes, Robbins has set recordings of "Night" by Vaughn Monroe on Victor; Dick Haymes on Decca, Alan Dale and Percy Faith on Co- lumbia and possibly Billy Eckstine 'on M-G-'M, Tune \yill also be his I iNo. 1 plug. COMING UP FAST! WHIPPA - WHIPPA - WOO Slow Bounce SPENCER MUSIC CORPORATION, 129 W. 52nd St., N. Y. C. 19, N. Y ■ HOWARD 5 RICHAAOND Gun Mgr, PETE KAMERON. Prof Mgr LUCKY WILBER. Wesf Coosf Rep