Where does this come from, and can I check it?

Radio stations wanted an alternative to ASCAP's licensing fees. The figure is taken from Encyclopaedia Britannica, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a music fact?

Yes. It sits on the Music shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

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The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

Broadcasters founded BMI in 1940 as a rival

Radio stations wanted an alternative to ASCAP's licensing fees After ASCAP raised its rates during a dispute with radio, the National Association of Broadcasters backed Broadcast Music Incorporated in 1940. BMI signed writers working in country, blues and rhythm and blues, genres ASCAP had largely ignored. That catalogue gave early rock and roll most of its songs. It sits in Mondo's music collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

Encyclopaedia Britannica

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

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Putting a song in a film needs two licencesA sync licence covers the composition and a master licence covers the recording America sets a fixed mechanical royalty per songThe rate for 2023 to 2027 is 12.4 cents for recordings of five minutes or less Tin Pan Alley sold songs as sheet musicPublishers on West 28th Street hired pluggers to push tunes into vaudeville ASCAP was founded in 1914 to collect performance feesComposers pooled their rights so venues could be licensed in one deal Commercial broadcasting began in 1920Station KDKA went on air from Pittsburgh to report election results Paying for airplay has a name and a scandalPayola hearings made unannounced payments to DJs a national issue around 1960

Tags: publishing, radio, bmi

Broadcasters founded BMI in 1940 as a rival: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: Radio stations wanted an alternative to ASCAP's licensing fees. The figure is taken from Encyclopaedia Britannica, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a music fact?: Yes. It sits on the Music shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.