Music: A Lot of Headaches

It was a big week, even for James Caesar Petrillo. The boss of the American Federation of Musicians with one hand chalked up a notable victory resulting from his 13-months’ ban against new recordings; with the other he opened the door on a new career as a symphonic impresario.

As a labor leader, Boss Petrillo could afford to congratulate himself. Decca Records agreed to pay A.F. of M. a royalty from ¼ ¢to 5¢ on every phonograph record sold.

But as a symphonic impresario, Jimmy Petrillo had to admit that he was a bust.

His venture in musical management arose from his plan, announced three months ago, to bring free symphonic music to U.S. small towns by hiring leading symphony orchestras to play at union expense. Petrillo’s unemployed union members had viewed the plan skeptically, especially when informed that he was setting aside $250,000 of good union funds to employ musicians who already had good symphony jobs. But Jimmy Petrillo went ahead and put on his first major symphony concert last week in Poughkeepsie.

Artistically it was a success. The New York Philharmonic-Symphony under Howard Barlow played Schubert and Wagner to a big, enthusiastic crowd. But the costs in transportation and union wages were so high that it was obvious that a few more such ventures would exhaust all of Boss Petrillo’s $250,000. In Chicago, he told the whole story:

“The trouble is, we’ve become the employers in that concert deal, and there was a lot of things we didn’t think of. These orchestra associations, they been in business for years and they know what it’s all about. We don’t. We know our business, but our business is the labor game, not putting on concerts. We didn’t figure on all the obstacles. If these orchestras played where they belong, okay, but this goddam transportation has been murdering us. If you go 100 miles out of town, it takes all day to get the band down and back and you have to give them two meals. You got to have a hall or a park. You got to worry about transportation of all the instruments which are a lot more than a jazz band. You got to hire a truck. You got to insure them instruments. Then you got workmen’s compensation. It’s a lot of headaches.”