JOHN: Brilliant summary and comments; thank you. I have interjected a few short bits below.
> At 8:42 AM -0500 2/21/07, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >> >>by the way, I sent some interesting links to sites that are devoted to >>eliminating (or at least controlling) muzak and other noise pollution to >>the Finale list. maybe it won't amount to much impact, but adding our >>voices to the call for reform is something that we all can do without a >>huge commitment of time and personal resources. And, if you recall the >>musicians strike of 1948(??) it brought international attention to the >>issues and forced the money making machines of the industry to their >>knees. > > I could be wrong, and haven't read up on it lately, but I thought the > union strike was in 1942, and eventually fizzled because it was > considered unpatriotic and detrimental to the war effort. I would > have been 6 at the time, and 9 years short of joining the union! But > you may also be thinking of the ASCAP strike against the broadcast > industry (which I ALSO can't remember when it was!). Yes: this is the one I was talking about. > > ASCAP won that one, although bringing the industry "to their knees" > might be a bit of an exaggeration. They were simply forced to accept > higher royalties for the use of ASCAP music (which HAD BEEN all of > popular music up to that point). It also led to the founding of BMI > by the industry in competition with ASCAP, breaking their monopoly, > to opening up the air waves to country, western, gospel, Black and > other ethnic musics that had previously been tiny niche markets and > way below most people's radar, and to the creation of disk jockey > shows once TV started taking over the popular entertainment function > that radio had previously been serving. And peripherally to the > gradual relaxation of the stranglehold that jazz had had on the > middle of the road music industry, paving the way for Rock to move > into that slot while the old jazzers who ran the union weren't > looking! SO, the exaggeration the not all that great; this was a considerable change to the status quo and had remarkable impact on public and the musicians. > > And one other historical fact has to be kept in mind. In the 1940s > the trade union movement had enormous power in this country. James > C. Petrillo was the absolute dictator of the musicians' union, and > had the power to bring economic pressure to bear that we can't even > conceive of today, now that trade unions no longer have that kind of > power. (If Broadway producers had tried to do away with union > musicians, as they are today, Broadway would have been dark and > unprofitable instantly!) President Truman even had to nationalize > one union--I think it was the railroad union but it might have been > the steelworkers--in order to avert economic chaos. (Unlike > President Regan, who deliberately set out to break the air traffic > controllers union and did so!) I have a copy of a Senate report of hearings from an investigation about for which the Mus. Union was summoned (I can't remember the incident; it may have been a copyright issue, or it may have been the payola hearings) that was given to me by a former 40 year vet of the musicians union which reveals the amazing impact of the musicians union under Petrillo; not unlike Hoffa and the teamsters! Amazing, inspiring, but also prone to excess; I think some of the fallout from some of the concessions from Broadway producers actually had a negative impact on musicans in the long run as it has escalated the cost of production to the point where they now have actors playing instruments on the stage to cut down on the pit! (Did anyone read about the recent 10 instrument reduction of the Sweeney Todd score????) When I was in NYC in the mid-80's there was still an abuse of the long standing requirements of X number of musicians in the pit per production regardless of the instrumentation requirements of the composer, and their were still "walkers" employed and getting paid every week to show up pre-curtain, check in, and then leave to go do whatever else they wanted while the show ran. Not that I don't think that Broadway producers have exploited musicians in the past, but I think the worm turned in a big way at some point. > > Lobbyists and big business and the buying and selling of legislators > we have always had with us and probably always will, so learn from > the copyright mess we're in right now, thanks to Sonny Bono and the > Millenium Mickey Mouse Law! And you think a grass roots movement > will result in banning Muzak? Lotsa luck! Nah, probably not unless there's a major class action suit citing my alleged hypothetical disability (hah!) and/or emotional duress caused by noise pollution, or a vilolation of civil liberties over involutary submission to stimuli designed to elicit a Pavlovian response from the general population (is that brainwashing?). You know, one of those high profile mega-miilions settlement generating "frivolous" law suits we see getting thrown out by the Supreme Court every so often (like the tobacco one earlier this week) I'm unfortantely ignorant of the Bono item you mentioned. I used to be a student of copyright law, but I'm out of the loop now. > > A propos of Muzak, back in the '60s my quartet made a national tour > with the Richard Maltby Band, doing a series of sales conferences for > GMC Trucks. Dick was (and perhaps still is) one fine, very gifted > arranger, and it so happened that a good part of his income came from > producing recordings for ... you guessed it ... the Muzak Company. > The arrangements had to be written to very strict specifications, of > course, laid down by the psychologists on Muzak's payroll, but Dick > didn't mind that at all, and told us he actually enjoyed the sessions > because he got to hire the very best players in the industry, > everything was done perfectly on the first take, and the paychecks > were generous. Perhaps comparable to Mozart writing divertimenti for > garden parties! And it provided well-paid work for live musicians, > arrangers, composers, copyists, librarians, and recording engineers, > none of whom had the slightest bit of control over how their product > was eventually used. (But no vocalists, of course. That was one of > the restrictions.) My first work in Boston was at Fleetwood Recording Studios where the Boston Pops recorded umpteen albums, and one of the first things that happened there after I came in an associate (jingle) producer and house musician was the Muzak sessions. It was amazing, and everyone got paid great, and the "band" sounded great, and excellent talent was in evidence everywhere, so I know what you're talking about. It still gives me the creeps though because of the intent and orientation of Muzak is (through Pavlovian techniques) to get consumers to buy stuff off the shelves in the places that license the Muzak. (I'm serious-if you don't believe me, read about how they hired researchers in behavioral psychology and neuroscience to tailor their product). And, I was not on the payroll for those sessions as I was too junior at the time to be included in the proceedings. The only difference with Mozart and his work for the aristocracy was it wasn't recorded, and they didn't use his work to sell chamber pots by the truckload (this may have changed since then). If they wanted to hear it again, they had to pay him to come back (didn't they?); (kind of like the "2nd use" clause in the AF of M contracts??) > > So it's one thing to rant against "Big Business," who after all were > smart enough to come up with a product and market it successfully, > and quite another to fail to recognize the "little people" who needed > the work to support their families. And still do, including the > arrangers and engravers on the Finale List, to bring this post full > circle. My advice? Get ear plugs! I have a box of ear plugs within my reach (I work at a construction company during the day) Need any? (Vern) > > John > > > -- > John & Susie Howell > Virginia Tech Department of Music > Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A 24061-0240 > Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034 > (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]) > http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html > _______________________________________________ > Finale mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale > _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
