BMI, radio's song pool, sent out royalty checks for the first quarter of 1941, threw Tin Pan Alley into an uproar. Stunned were BMItes, accustomed to a fat swag from 27-year-old rival ASCAP, to receive amounts as small as $2.45. While victims screamed that they were robbed, BMI last week made a hasty checkup, discovered that a honeymoon-struck accountant had figured into the publishers royalties everything but the big item, payments for radio network performances.
After a reshuffle, BMI distributed $150,-ooo for radio performances alone to over 1,000 publishers and composers. For radio sheet music and mechanical rights it sent $6,000 apiece...
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