E-Book Overview
This volume focuses on developments in the music business in the twentieth century, including vaudeville, music boxes, the relationship of Hollywood to the music business, the "fall and rise" of the record business in the 1930s, new technology (TV, FM, and the LP record) after World War II, the dominance of rock-and-roll and the huge increase in the music business during the 1950s and 1960s, and finally the changing music business scene from 1967 to the present, especially regarding government regulations, music licensing, and the record business.
E-Book Content
American Popular Music and Its Business THE FIRST FOUR HUNDRED YEARS III From 1900 to 1984 RUSSELL SANJEK New York Oxford OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 1988 This page intentionally left blank Oxford University Press Oxford New York Toronto Delhi Bombay Calcutta Madras Karachi Petaling Jaya Singapore Hong Kong Tokyo Nairobi Dar es Salaam Cape Town Melbourne Auckland and associated companies in Berlin Ibadan Copyright © 1988 by Elizabeth Sanjek Published by Oxford University Press, Inc., 200 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sanjek, Russell. American popular music and its business. Bibliography: p. Includes indexes. Contents: v. 1. The beginning to 1790—v. 2. From 1790 to 1909—v. 3. From 1900 to 1986. 1. Popular music—United States—History and criticism. 2. Music-—United States—History and criticism. 3. Music trade—United States—History and criticism. I. Title. ML200.S26 1988 780'.42'0973 87-18605 ISBN 0-19-504311-1 24689753 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper This page intentionally left blank Contents Part One 1. 2. 3. 4. Thomas Edison's Wonderful Kinetoscope Machine, 3 Big Time, Small Time, and E. F. Albee, 16 The Victrola and the Pianola, 22 Inside the Popular-Music Business, 32 Part Two 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 1921-1930 Popular Songs and the Movie Business, 47 The Decline and Fall of the House of Albee, 57 The Mechanical Music Business, 62 A Simple Radio Music Box, 74 A Glut of Movie Music, 91 Part Three 10. 11. 12. 13. 1900-1920 1931-1940 The Fall and Rise of the Record Business, 117 Music in Motion Pictures, 147 Popular Music and Radio, 159 ASCAP versus the Broadcasters, 184 Part Four 1941-1953 14. On the Road to New Technology and an Expanded Industry, 215 15. Mass Entertainment and the Music Business, 251 16. ASCAP and BMI Face the Reality of Television, 291 vi Contents Part Five 17. 18. 19. 20. From Monaural to Stereophonic Sound, 333 Growth to a Four-Billion-Dollar Business, 367 ASCAP versus BMI, 396 Payola Problems and Rate Wars, 439 Part Six 21. 22. 23. 24. 1954-1966 1967-1970 Copyright Revision or Not?, 493 The Music-Licensing Wars, 498 Big Money Invades the Music Business, 507 FM and Top 40 Radio, 518 Part Seven 1971-1976 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. Continued Fighting over Licensing, 523 Industry Associations Play Their Part, 528 "The Seven Dirty Words" Case and MOR Music, 543 Configurations, Payola, and Soul Music, 549 A New Copyright Bill at Last, 563 30. 31. 32. 33. Part Eight 1977-1980 The U.S. Supreme Court and Licensing, 573 The Copyright Royalty Tribunal, 581 Other Copyright Problems, 588 Seesawing Sales and New Ideas in the Record Business, 594 34. 35. 36. 37. Part Nine