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society was established in France, PROs were introduced to Italy in 1882, ASCAP in the USA 1914, Germany in 1915, and BMI in the USA 1944. The United Kingdom was the first to protect musical compositions with the PROS implementing the Copyright Act 1842. Mechanical Copyright Protection Society was founded in 1924. In 1877, Thomas Edison invented the phonograph primarily for music. The initial patent restriction ended in 1917 and African American and southern white vernacular artists introduced country, folk, blues and jazz into the industry. The Radio Corporation of America (RCA) was founded in 1919 where they began to market consumer friendly radios, and in the 1920s, the United States had over one million sets where radio raised concerns among copyright holders because broadcasters were selling airtime. As radio industries continued to increase, recording artists demanded compensation for broadcast of their material through ASCAP.

What is and when did publishing receive attention? Music publishing did not begin popularity until the mid-15th century. The first printing of music was printed in 1465 when only liturgical chants were printed. It was in the 1800s that sheet music publishers were dominated and in the 1880s, publishing firms became a mass production and distribution of songs in New York City known as Tin Pan Alley. Tin Pan Alley is a district associated with musicians, composers, and publishers of popular music. Novelty of mechanically reproduced music introduced the nation in the 1890s where Thomas Edison controlled his wax cylinder playback technology and licensed it to Columbia Phonograph Company. Today, publishing firms are responsible for all non-creative details of songwriting with three tasks, registration, exploitation, and collections. If musicians feel as though they can not exploit, then an artist will hire a publishing company who will receive 50 percent of royalties for their work. Registration is a process to ensure that copyrights are registered with the U.S. Copyright Office and Library of Congress; publishers will make sure that the proper forms have been filed with PROs and that songs are placed in commercials, TV or film and that royalties are collected.

During the Great Depression, record sales decreased from 150 million in 1929 to 10 million in 1933 where businesses failed and ASCAP was overseeing royalty collection for published music and compensation for radio broadcasts. It was 1941, where BMI offered stations its collection of music that had not been accepted by ASCAP and another wave of decentralization within the industry gained access to airwaves and recording studios that opened the door for African American styles to be the force behind the industry's postwar expansion. During the postwar, there were three developments that transformed the music industry, tape recording, the long-playing (LP) record, and the rise of rock and roll. The stereo was introduced in the late 1950s and hundreds of independent labels entered the industry promoting regional styles. Industry profits were shown in the 1960s when LP dominated the industry's profits and major labels perfected promotional strategies of well-advertised albums, tours and airplay, especially rock and roll music.

The twentieth century ended as much as it began with copyright repercussions of the digital revolution.

Learn more about this author, Lynne Conte.
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