When I was a teenager, radio stations were playing rock-n-roll instead of the sort of music they’d played when my mother was young. Where did rock-n-roll come from and how did it take over the air-waves? I’ll tell you.
I can only hit the highlights, so let’s focus on these three things: ASCAP, how it angered radio stations by increasing its fees, and how radio stations responded.
ASCAP stands for American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers. It collects licensing fees for people to use music created by its members, then uses that money to pay royalties. When songs are played on the radio, for example, a radio station doesn’t have to send out thousands of checks to pay each individual copyright owner. Instead, they write one check to ASCAP, which distributes the money to its members.
In the early days of radio, all music was performed live and the performers played for free. As recorded music became more prevalent, ASCAP began collecting fees from broadcasters for the right to play its music on air. In the 1930s, it is estimated that 85 to 90 percent of popular music in America was licensed by ASCAP.
From 1931 to 1939, ASCAP increased the fees it charged broadcasters by more than 400 percent. Then in 1940, it announced it was going to triple its fees.
This angered radio stations and they boycotted music licensed by ASCAP. Overnight, almost all popular music disappeared from radio, and stations had to find alternatives to fill the void. And it was quite a void to fill, as ASCAP controlled more than a million songs.
During the strike, stations formed an alternative to ASCAP called Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) and filled the airwaves with types of music many people were not used to hearing. Some of the music was out of copyright, such as Stephen Foster’s songs. (‘I Dream of Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair’ became an instant new favorite.)
Stations also played regional music, such as blues, gospel, and hillbilly. And instead of big band music; smaller, intense varieties of jazz were broadcast. Much of this music was considered by ASCAP to be beneath its dignity, for it hadn’t bothered to license music by nonwhite or fringe musicians.
After 10 months, ASCAP caved and lowered its rate increase to a level radio stations would accept, and the strike ended. But during those 10 months, America’s taste was broadened in ways it would not have otherwise.
Seeds were planted in the soil of America’s musical heart. Hillbilly music germinated and morphed into what was called country and western. Another seed that sprouted was a hybrid that took hold in the 1950s and flourished: rock-n-roll.
When I was a teenager, radio stations were playing a different sort of music than they’d played when my mother was young. I was thrilled. Mom was appalled. As I was dancing, I had no clue – and I’m sure she didn’t either – that it had been ASCAP’s greed back in 1940 that led to the death of her music and the birth of mine.
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