Radio: Broadcast Music, Inc.

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) is a sort of communistic holding corporation which collects royalties for the classicists & tinkers of Tin Pan Alley and divides the proceeds among them according to their deserts and needs. Ten years ago the National Association of Broadcasters had a chance to buy ASCAP, lock, stock & Alley, for $20,000,000. NAB thought the price too stiff. But since then radio has paid ASCAP some $30,000,000 in license fees (a flat 5% of net receipts on all programs) and sustaining fees, arbitrarily set and ranging from $100 to $15,000 whether the...

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