![]() He provides copious biographical details on the Tin Pan Alley songwriters but very little analysis of their music. Unfortunately, Yagoda doesn't really back up his assertions about the American Songbook's supremacy. But after quoting a number of dejected criticisms of rock 'n' roll from songwriters like Ira Gershwin, Yagoda finally puts forward his endorsement: Their gloom he writes, "was sincere, legitimate, and justifiable." For much of B-Side, Yagoda doesn't explicitly denounce this transition. The battle between ASCAP and BMI, then, symbolized the transition away from Tin Pan Alley, big bands, show tunes and crooners like Frank Sinatra, and towards a new kind of pop music. So as country, rock 'n' roll and R&B became increasingly prominent, the songwriters from these genres were largely represented by BMI. Out of necessity, and in order to provide labels with songs, BMI approached writers outside the mainstream. And in 1939, ASCAP raised its rates, prompting a boycott by broadcasters and the formation of BMI. ![]() But the organization was elitist and racist, made up largely of white, well-educated East Coasters. The differences between ASCAP and BMI exemplify B-Side's central juxtaposition - with ASCAP representing the sophistication of Gershwin and Berlin, the burst of creativity that produced songs like "Cheek to Cheek" and "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off," and BMI embodying the dumbing-down of pop music that, Yagoda argues, began in 1950.įor songwriters like Schwartz, gaining membership in ASCAP signaled that you had made it. (BMI) over its venerable competitor, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), which licenses songs by Schwartz, Ira Gershwin and Irving Berlin, among others. It's an awkward meeting, because Schwartz is also lead plaintiff in a lawsuit accusing Columbia, among others, of favoring the song-licensing organization Broadcast Music, Inc. In 1954, Arthur Schwartz, the co-writer of standards like "I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan," is at the Columbia Records building in Manhattan, waiting to present Mitch Miller, Columbia's head of popular music, with some possible songs. The B-Side, Ben Yagoda's cultural history of Tin Pan Alley and the American Songbook, begins near the end of its story. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. ![]() Close overlay Buy Featured Book Title The B-Side Subtitle The Death of Tin Pan Alley and the Rebirth of the Great American Song Author Ben Yagoda ![]()
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