Variety (December 1925)

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Wednesday, December 16, 1925 MUSIC VARIETY 45 ncrmcus prices on sheet MUSIC MUST CEASE-COM'S'N Federal Trade Decides It Is Unfair Competition in Summy Co. Investigation — Marked Price One- third Higher—Publishers Against Practice Variety Bureau, Washinaton, Dec. 15. "FlctltlouB prices" when printed •n nlieet mualc i8 an unfair method of competition, as well as against tiie public Intcrt'st, declares the Federal Trade Comnilasion In Issu- ing a cease and desint order re- quiring the Clayton F. Summy Co.. cf Chicago, to dl.seontlnue tills prnctice. The Summy company, the com- mission found, marked its music 83 1-3 per cent hiplier than it was expected and intended that surh ij'usic should sell for. This practice, the flnillnps state, enabled certain music teacliers, schools and retailer;; to cliaifre one-third more for the Piimmy musical publications than the prire usually paid for music of a siml'ar cli:iracter. At the Inst.nncc of tlie Music Pub- lishers' Association of the United States, the findings continue, a trade practice submittal was hold with a member of the comnil?;slon presid- ing, at which a resolution w.is pass-'d and later endorsed by the €vmm!ssIon to the effect that "music is to have the price printed on It ■which Is suhstantl.T.lly that which the publisher believes the music will brin;i under normal conditions «f competition." Clnyton K. Summy, president of the respondent com- pany, attended the trade practice submittal and voted for the above resolution. Meant to Defraud The commission points out that though practically all of the pub- lishers represented at the meeting adhered lo the adopted rcs.i?u*iin till' rosr< nde'.f SuTimy o-iilnued to "carry en » 'p prod .ct *he ilctltlous prl"e8." This, the flndlnKS set forth, di- verted trade from those competitors who truthfully mark their music, and "places in the hands of dealers, achools^'and teachers, the means of dofraudlu?: the ultimate purchaser of respondent's music." The ori.'Tinal complaint agrainst the Summy company was Issued by the commission on May 16, 1924. Thla was amcndei on Sept. 29, 1024. To both of which the Summy company answered, as part of their defeii.se. th.1t there was no competition In copyrighted music, the copyrltrht of which was owned by the company. Another point of the defense was that the settinR of the higher price was a trade practice of the music publishing industry. This phase, howover, was of no value when all of the publishers met in Wasbin-;- ton and npreed to discontinue the method of price marking. AUSTRALIA'S RADIO VERSION CF COPYRIGHT Variety Bureau, Washinaton, Dec. 15. The Australian Government has very clearly defined under What conditions the broadcasting sta- tions in that country may use copyri;,'htcd works, according to a special report to the Department of Commerce. E. G. Babbitt, Trade Commis- sioner at S.vdney, quotes from the I'ostmn.'jier General's regulation to tho effect: "It shall be the condition of the granting of any bro.ndcisting liceii.se that the licensee sh.iU not: "(a) transmit any work or part of a work In which copyright sub- sists except with the cansent of the owners of the copyright: or "(b) send out news or Informa- tion of any kind piih;ialied in any newspaper or obtained, collected, collated or co-ordinated by any newspaper, or association of news- papers or any news asency or service, except witli the full con- sent In writing first obtained, of, and upon such payment and con- ditions as are mutually agreed upon by the licensee and the newspaper, association of newspapers, news agency or service." This applies to l>oth Class A and Class B stations with one case de- cided in the Supreme Court al- ready In favor of the copyright owners' organization. Mr. P.abbltt states that from In- formation cbtalnahle copyright holders are demanding 10 per cent of the revenue of commercial sta- tions. As with broadcarters In this country those of Australia are t'omplainlnp of the demands of the copyright holders and whenever a station suspends places the blame for such susiiensinn upon the afore- mentioned copyright holders. HERE AM) THERE Woody Meyer has formed a cor- poration with otiUes in Cinciiuiali. The comp'.ete title is "Wot>d\ " Mfyer Music Corporation. Moycr had a dance orchcstr.i of his own prior to undertaking his booking project. Bennle Krueger. the orchestra lead«T, has placed his "Hot Coffee" dance no elty with the Triangle Music Co. Tom Brannon is now directing the Seven Aces at the Hotel Peabody, Atlanta, C.a., where they are repre- senting the Coiumbia Phonograph Co. as exclusive recording artists on the Columbia label. WARREN JOHNSON Trumpet Player with James G. Dimmlck's SunnylTook Orchestra. Cinderella I^allroom, New York Mr. Johnson is an accomplished "hoi" brass merciiaiit, also Uoubliiig piano and meilophonc. His specialty, however, is tlie trumpet, besides Lo- ir)g of the arrangliig corps of thi.'' smart dance aggregation. 'J'he Dimmiclt fauiuiyljrook bard is busy recording for various coin- paiiies following its immeu>ate ia- voiable impression on iiroatlwuy ,111(1 is now in its third nioiillk at tlie <!?iiiderclla. Irwin Abrams, Pen Eornle unit, switciies in two weeks lo the Palal.s lyor. New York, from the Kniciier- bocker grill, succeeding Archie iiiater'B outlit. Harvey Marburger and hU or- chestra, best known when at the L'Aiylon, Pliilaaelph,a, comes into the Kosoland ballr.'oin, New York, •lanuary 3, sucocdln;^ Tommy Chri.;- lian who leaves for the road tour, prior contracted. SPENDING m^ TO WIN $2,5i RADIO CAR WARC May Resume Boston, Dec. 8. Radio station WARC. Medford iTillslde. Mass., will again be heard on the air soon, it Is anticipated, following the purchase of the as- sets of the American Radio & Re- search Corporation (which wen' Into bankruptcy last April) by Powell Crosley, Jr., head of the Cro.sley Radio Corporation, Cincin- nati. This station was one of the pio- neer broadcasting stations in th ^ east. The officials of the new com- p.my already have made plans to resume broadcasting at an early date. A new ."iOO watt transmitter Is nearly ready for use. and pro- grams will be sent out froi one or several Boston studios, the loca- tions of which are to be announced soon. OLSEN LANDS BOTE PENN. Succeeding Lopez Dec. 28 —Sought For Berth "G ags** in "Evening World's" Air Favorite Contest—Fraud Ballots Ted Lewis switches from tlic Parody Club. New York, to t;.e Hot i .Addison, Detr.jlt, shortly. i:ay Mil- ler is in the Detroit hotel at present. Eddie Harkne.ss and his orchestra completed a full year at the Olympic hotel, Seattle, Dec. B, and have been re-signed for another year. The Winter Ball at the Olympic which is the biggest society event In the Washington capital will have Hark- ncs3 and an .ilternatlng band fur- nishing the music. Roger Wolfe Kahn's Delnitantcs, a female band of 10, and Kahn's M.iy- I'air Melodians are two new d'.nce units being sent out by the young orchestra Impresario. ROMANO OFFAIR BUT POPULAR Albany. N. Y., Dec. 15. A popularity contest being con- ducted by the "Knlckerliocker PresB" here flnda Phil Romano's orchestra from the New Kenmoro hotel and the WGY Players among the leaders despite Romano having been off the ether as a regular WGY attraction for rome time. The *'in.';ide" on the Romano ra- dio situation is that WGY, the Schenectady station, switched its illrect wire from the Kenmore to the Van Curler hotel in wbicli the WC;Y people are interested. This Lrou.irht considerable comment from the fans, with the result Ro- mano's nggre.'iration was specially engaged for weekly dance sessions from the studio, being paid for their ^(jrviccB, whereas formerly tiie di- rect wl.-e picked up the regular night s<'::^■.i(lns without ch.irgo. iloinano, altliou>;h signed until .May at tl'.e Kenmore, may switch lo Miami if iho hotel is a.!,'rceab'.e. i he advent of tlio Ic^inLitivo ses- .siuiis is a Midi liocauhc of the Ro- mano band'.s por>ularlly in tho h^t.ile capital. Tiie . bandmaii and Governor Al Smith are f.ist frlen'Is, both ha. in? 1 ecn rai.sod in tiie same n; ijrhborhood on the lower- cast side of New York. A public function will be made lit Romano's presentation of his llrst Victor recording to reach Al- bany to the governor. Romano in the first band to be given Victor representation in Albany and, in fact. Is the only New York band outside of the metropolis to be rep- resented on the Victor label. Ah a i' result the c.ipital has been making much of the distinction of being nationally represented via the Vic- tor channels. Bud deSylva Is cnroute to San Francisco through the water way. with the tri]) taking 15 d.iys. Billy King "Cannino" Billy King, colored comedian and one of the pioneer of colored tab- loid producers. Is now a "canned feature." King has Just completed a "talk" record for Okeh. 4 \ Legislative News, Page 2 Commencing with this issue, ard during the 63th Congress, all legislative news or reports appertaining to any part of the show business will be found on paae 2 of each issue of Variety. George Olsen and his orchestra open Dec. 28 at the Hotel Penn- sylvania, New York, succeeding Vincent Lopez, Olsen Is a Victor artist and will incorporate the Ho- tel Pennsylvania name following his own on the Victor Libels in lieu of the former billing, "George Oiijen and His Music." With Lopez' resignation to con- fine himself exclusively to the Casa Lopez, his own supper club, the Hotel Pennsylvania, considered a prize lilum as far as hotel loca- tions are concerned, had been much sought after by a number of prom- inent bandmen. with Ross Gorman consistently mentioned. The Olsen selection brings to the Pennsylvania a Victor recording or- ganization which has been a stand- ard In Broadway's "class" musicals the past two seasons. As the Zleg- feld band, Olsen doubled between "Kid Boots" and the "Kollles." He switched this season to the Dilling- ham banner, doubling between "Sunny" and "The City Chap." With the latter slated to soon close, Olsen will continue rtoiibllng with "Sunny." HOLMAN'S APPOINTMENT ArllMts doing business with the WKAK radio station will be Inter- ested In knowln.ar J. A. Ilolman, former sMidlo manager, has ac- cepl'd n staff appointment with the Commercial Engineer of the Anier- I an Telephone & Tel'.-graph Co. O. 1'. Mi'Celland succeeds Mr. Holman and K. S. Spring becomes assistant m.'iiiao'r. Some funny inside stuff on the New York "Everting World's" radio popularity contest has cropped up with the closing of the contest to- day (Wednesday) and the winner stated for announcement Saturday. Will OaKland of the Chateau Thiery is the leader by a comfort.ible mar- gin, although Harry Rkhman Is a nc.ir enough second to make If doul'tful and Ben Pernle a third, the latter remaining In, despite heavy buying of votes by contcKfnnts. One contestrint Is known to have expended $8,000 for votes to win a $2,500 sedan car. which goes to "the winner. Another conte.<»tant h.ns been levyln.tr fixes on the music puh!'.=!her8 at tun esi'-h to belo imy votes for himself. C. F. JCltt.'I has been plucrging Florence R!chard.-'on of his Central Park Casino orches- tra in fr.ink f.T.«!hIon th'ou'-rh oider- in/r lo'uls of "ICvenlng Worlds." A fraud attempt In submitting counterfeit ballots has also de- v< '(irjfd. There is an "out" for tho rrullty party who can claim h.aving been sold these votes by an outsider. It develops that fake ballots were printed up and several thousands ."ubmlttod by a single contestant. The fmud was discovered throuuh the "World" being one of the only two New York dallies owning Its own paper mills and the peculiar stock of paper employed by the dally makes detection easy. One contestant, as previously re- ported, Harry Rl-hman. Is snid to be holding back a flock of votes for a last minute balloting and counlfd on to swtiy the balance In his favor. The Original Memphis Five are I on a 22 weeks' dance tour of one nlghters thrtiu-h New P^ngland. I'ennsylvania and Ohio. 51,000 Employes in German Radio Plant Washngton. T)«c. 1.1. In spite of the general depressed buf-lness conditions the larger radio firms throughout Germany are doing well, R.iys a report to the Deriart- ment of Commerce. In one plani 51.000 employers are on the payroll. Smaller manufartiirlng companies hnvo been forred to quit, it beln;; the general belief that sliortly the entire radio field will be controlled by the three large companies now existent. H.irold Leonard, from Windsor hotel. Montreal, has opened as the dance offering at Waldorf-Astoria, New York. Under the niana!?f>rlal dlrecthm of John H. McCarron. the new ball- room at Kochelle Park. N. J., will have a g.ila opening Doc. .11. Frank Daley's Meadow P.rook Or- chcstr.i will be the musical feature. The new Ro-lielle Park arena Is to be used by Mcf'arron for staging fights and basketball games. Max Fisher and his orchestra from California furmally debut at Clro's Dec. 18. LiTian Ivorraino, Ch.Trles King .ind tlio Clro's "Rliap- smly In lilue" rcvtic arc co-attiac- tlons. Laughner Orchestra Now At La Monica Ballroom Los Angeles, Dec. 16. Carl Laughner who had an or- chestra at St John's Casino, Miami, last year, h.ia replaced the Don Clark orchestra nt tho La MoiiJca Ballroom with a 10-pieee orcheslrc. Tho oriTunlzntlon Is made up en- tirely of collo^jo pradii.itcs. All the memliers do jntcrt. lining b.^sldei pl.iying straight d.in'-e music. i:v>ry ;nan Is a singer and there aro nlso four dancers in the outfit. I.,aiiKhnf>r has four arrangers I.Niughner la the pl.mlst and direc- tor. Th<» reed sertlon Is made up of Archie W.'tllace, assistant direc- tor: Charles Hofrmayre, and Lester DeLyons, all saxophone plavers; Fr.ink Renley, banjo; Mack Ho'ler, drums; Victor Delony. bass; Har- old Shock and Ja~k Craig, trumpets, and Fred Lcbblner trombone. MODERN PLAYS HELD OUT OF RADIO Play Brokers Against Pol- icy—Affects Value for Stock Companies Eugene West Publishing Eugene West has located in New Orlcnns, Ms home town, and Is puli- lIsMiic for himself. MUNICIPALLY OWNED HAI.L St. Petersburg. Fla., Dec. 15. Johnny fJreeh, i>ro|)ri.tor of the Grc' n T.,antcrn dance hall on munl- <i|'al projierly, near tlic watcrfrniit, has challongrd thi; right of tlic dly coinmlsslonr'rs to eject him from the property and turn th'> building over tn the chamber of commerce for the use of tourist org inl/..itlon8. I^pal steps wi'I be t.ikun by rtty Attorney A. S. Ilr;i(".ley to re>'over ' popM'sslf.n of the propertj'. Play brokers have a turufd down attitude toward hroadras'lng of plays. Several units bro,n.dca»tlng from New York stations have found themselves up against a secmlnrrly unaurmountatile ol>s(uc!o throu\'h liLlbility to lease d'slred material from the brokers. The latter hive been going alonrr with non-royalty works of nn'lent vlnta.^e. hut r',"iro the popularity of the venture Is threatened unless the bi'okerH let down the bars and permit them lo use up-to-date material. Tiie brokers are obsflnnte In their stand, Jiistlfylnt: their uctlon by cl.ilming the bron<lc;iBtlng would lessen (he v.-ilue of the plays with stock companies. It Is a *iue:itlon of business. Greater revenue has t)rornpled them to take this stand against the radio tiro.ul-aritlnT, ae- cordirg to their explanation of the situation. Madeline Hunt's Radio Players had been broadcasting from WRNY once n week, but were compelled to curtail activities through Inability to secure the proper play material. After finding it an Impossibility to le.'ise current stork releases for radio purposes, the company was compelled to broafieaj;t playle;8 and skits. They found the latter did not retain the rnthuslasm of ether fan." that had been whetteil with the- longer plays. This was made known through tho number of lnl'HlIrle'^ rcMchIng Miss Hunt at the station askin;^ why more popular bills were not put r>n the air In preference to veteran (Irnm.Ts and M!:Its. MiMs Hunt is a former s'ock ac- tris.'i with uiiswerv.il'ie fa^th tii the liosHihilitics of ft radio theatrical unit. Jtheisthe first known profos- H4on;tl .'icircs.'-i (a^oArinlze a dr.i- tt.,iilc broaiiffftfrg ctupany.