VOA标准英语2014----Artists Celebrate Century of Music Royalties

Artists Celebrate Century of Music Royalties¹ 

NEW YORK — Every time you hear a song in a restaurant or on the radio, hear music in a concert hall, on TV or in a movie, or listen to streaming audio on the Internet, a writer gets paid, thanks in large part to a performing rights organization known as ASCAP, or the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.

This month, ASCAP marks 100 years of representing composers' interests.

'Brilliant idea'

A century ago, the Italian operatic composer Giacomo Puccini was having lunch in New York with Victor Herbert, the leading composer of operettas in the United States, when the restaurant band  began playing music from Herbert’s current hit, Sweethearts.

Puccini became outraged², says songwriter Paul Williams, ASCAP’s current president.

 

"He said to Victor Herbert, 'Why are you not licensing³ this music? You should be paid for this music, because in Europe, we are.'” Williams said. "And it seemed like a brilliant idea."

Such a brilliant idea, that Herbert assembled some of the era’s major musical figures, including John Philip Sousa and Irving Berlin, to establish ASCAP.

It was all very good to agree to try and collect royalties for performances by bands in restaurants and dance halls, but would the venues⁴ agree to pay for something they’d been getting for free?

Bruce Pollock, who’s written a history of ASCAP, says that for a century, the organization has had to fight for every penny it collects.

"For years, and probably still to this day, anybody who has the job at ASCAP of being that guy who has to go into a place that isn’t licensed⁶ and tell the owner, 'Uh, now you have to be licensed,'"  said Pollock. "That was the most dangerous job; people would wind up in jail, they would get beat up, they would be threatened."

Sense of mission

Williams says ASCAP collects royalties out of a sense of mission.

It’s a nonprofit, run by its member songwriters, composers and publishers. And ASCAP came up with something called a blanket license⁵ in an effort to make the process simpler. It bases the rate on how many hours a store or restaurant that wants to play background music is open, or how many people listen to a radio network.

"Blanket license, meaning you can play as much ASCAP music, as often as you want," Williams said.

ASCAP had a monopoly on collecting royalties until 1940, when the radio industry, in a battle over rates, took all of the performing rights organization’s music off the air, says author Bruce Pollock. Radio stations replaced it with music that wasn’t licensed to ASCAP.

"Which was, like, country music and rhythm and blues," Pollock said. "And they started playing that. And, apparently⁷, the public either didn’t know or didn’t care or didn’t complain, and it went on for eight months, until ASCAP finally had to renegotiate."

Meanwhile, the broadcasters had set up Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI), and, over the years, signed new artists like Chuck Berry, Buddy⁸ Holly⁹ and the Beatles. ASCAP almost missed rock and roll entirely¹⁰, and Pollock says it took a long time for them to catch up.

"It really took them until the mid-60s before they began to realize that, as they say, 'rock and roll is here to stay,'” Pollock said.

Sense of stability

ASCAP now represents close to 500,000 composers in all musical genres¹¹, and collects almost a billion dollars a year in royalties for them.

Valerie Simpson and her late husband Nick Ashford were among the top writers at Motown, before they went on to their own career as performers. Now a board member of ASCAP, Simpson says one of the most important things the organization does for songwriters is give them a sense of stability.

"You know, we just didn’t have to think about it," she said. "Some kind of check was going to come. You know, all we had to do was create."

One of her fellow creators is Pulitzer Prize-winning classical composer David Lang, who's been a member for 30 years. While the majority of his income comes from commissions and teaching, he  looks forward to receiving his quarterly ASCAP royalty¹² check.

"I get super, super excited when I open it up and I go, 'Oh, this piece is being played in Japan' or 'This piece is being played in Poland,'” he said. "I love the idea that the music can go someplace without me. And that I may not know about it, but, somehow, ASCAP finds out."

As it marks a century of protecting composers' interests, ASCAP faces new challenges in the digital era. The organization is currently in litigation with Pandora, the Internet radio company, over what rates to charge.

1 royalties   

特许权使用费

参考例句：

• I lived on about £3,000 a year from the royalties on my book. 我靠着写书得来的每年约3，000英镑的版税生活。 来自辞典例句
• Payments shall generally be made in the form of royalties. 一般应采取提成方式支付。 来自经济法规部分

2 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。

3 licensing   

v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• A large part of state regulation consists of occupational licensing. 大部分州的管理涉及行业的特许批准。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• That licensing procedures for projects would move faster. 这样的工程批准程序一定会加快。 来自辞典例句

4 venues   

n.聚集地点( venue的名词复数 )；会场；（尤指）体育比赛场所；犯罪地点

参考例句：

• The band will be playing at 20 different venues on their UK tour. 这个乐队在英国巡回演出期间将在20个不同的地点演出。
• Farmers market corner, 800 meters long, 60 meters wide livestock trading venues. 农牧市场东北角，有长800米，宽60米的牲畜交易场地。 来自互联网

5 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

6 licensed   

adj.得到许可的v.许可，颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The new drug has not yet been licensed in the US. 这种新药尚未在美国获得许可。
• Is that gun licensed? 那支枪有持枪执照吗？

7 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

8 buddy   

n.（美口）密友，伙伴

参考例句：

• Calm down,buddy.What's the trouble?压压气，老兄。有什么麻烦吗？
• Get out of my way,buddy!别挡道了，你这家伙！

9 holly   

n.[植]冬青属灌木

参考例句：

• I recently acquired some wood from a holly tree.最近我从一棵冬青树上弄了些木料。
• People often decorate their houses with holly at Christmas.人们总是在圣诞节时用冬青来装饰房屋。

10 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

11 genres   

（文学、艺术等的）类型，体裁，风格( genre的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Novel and short story are different genres. 长篇小说和短篇小说是不同的类别。
• But confusions over the two genres have a long history. 但是类型的混淆，古已有之。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

12 royalty   

n.皇家，皇族

参考例句：

• She claims to be descended from royalty.她声称她是皇室后裔。
• I waited on tables，and even catered to royalty at the Royal Albert Hall.我做过服务生， 甚至在皇家阿伯特大厅侍奉过皇室的人。