Musicians' Plight

Will the U. S. musician soon go where the motor is supposed to have sent the horse? That is the question which President Joseph N. Weber of the American Federation of Musicians was trying to answer at the Federation's convention in Denver this week. An unemployment crisis, now acute, started in 1926 when Warner Bros., as licensee of Western Electric Co., introduced to Manhattan audiences the Vitaphone. In 1927, Fox Film Corp. gave its first public demonstration of Movietone. Today, approximately 2,000 theatres throughout the land have been wired for sound picture showing.

To cinema patrons the "talkies" are only a new form of amusement. But to the American Federation of Musicians they are an unprecedented affliction. Since the introduction of sound films, it is estimated that 35,000 musicians have been thrown out of work. As current contracts expire this number will grow fast. In some places, not even current contracts are saving the musicians.

Last week in San Francisco a lawsuit was pending under which the local union sought to compel various motion picture theatres which have installed sound equipment to employ members of the musicians' union, under a contract entered into last year with Allied Amusement Industries.

Another typical case is that of the Strand Theatre, Akron. The Strand's musicians must remain in the pit six hours on Sunday, three hours on week days, although they only play for 15 minutes per day since the installation of a sound apparatus. If they leave, their contract is broken.

Local unions determine the number of men to constitute a theatre orchestra according to the size and type of the house. The cost of maintaining even so small an ensemble as 15 men at the average wage of $60 per week is $46,800 a year, exclusive of a conductor. The cost of installing a sound apparatus, according to the latest figures from Radio Corp. of America, is from $13,500 to $15,500 for a house seating 2,500 to 3,500; $9.000 for a theatre with a capacity of 750 to 1,250. Even plus the price of operation, the savings to theatre owners are obvious, enormous.

Where are the musicians to go? Three years ago it was practically impossible for a symphony manager to persuade a good man to change his job. Today there are 20 applications for every vacancy. Except for the Boston Symphony, every orchestra is unionized. Each organization employs approximately 100 men. The minimum wage scale runs from $90 weekly (NewYork Philharmonic-Symphony) to $60. The cost of subsidizing a symphony orchestra is staggering. Guarantors must be prepared to spend from $100,000 to $200,000 yearly. Under such circumstances, new symphony orchestras have not been and are unlikely to be springing up.

Meanwhile, the average weekly demand for musicians at member-studios of the Association of Motion Picture Producers is from 150 to 175 players. Weekly pay checks for such positions run high, ranging from $350 to $600. But the average musician out of work is not qualified for the job. Only men of highest calibre are equipped for the delicate work of recording for synchronized sound films. And the cinema studios are already beginning to cut down the size of their recording personnel.

No solution is in sight. Where are 35,000 men, trained to be violinists, saxophonists, drummers, trumpeters, to find work?

Last week, bound to Denver, President Weber of the Musicians' Federation jumped off and on his train anxiously at several cities, to ask questions, give advice, promise what he could. Small, German-born, energetic, "Joe" Weber used to be an able windman in the Cincinnati Symphony. The Musicians' Union, largely "Joe" Weber's work, is one of the strongest labor organizations in the land -- or was, until talkies came. For himself, "Joe" Weber does not have to worry. Besides being a musician, he is a prosperous adept in the science-art of Chiropractic.

In Manhattan, 100 idle musicians, with Socialist and Federation support, last week announced a series of public concerts in the New York Coliseum. There they hope to draw a full audience of 15,000 to hear produced, not reproduced, music at prices as low as 25 cents and 50 cents.