Page 121 - Weiss, Jernej, ur./ed. 2026 Skladateljska društva nekoč in danes.../Composers’ Societies Past and Present...

How Music Works: Film Composers, Labour, and the Screen Composers Association …
of new works, including, but not limited to, those by American compo-
12
sers. Following the example of the League of Nations, the LOC sought to
foster common goals between composers in the spirit of understanding and
cooperation. The LOC had its own journal, Modern Music, which from the
late 1920s also included a film music column. 13
In 1914, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers
(ASCAP) was established to protect the copyright of its members’ composi-
tions and to collect royalties. In 1919, ASCAP signed an agreement with the
Performing Rights Society in Great Britain that allowed for the reciprocal
representation of their members. Despite these international agreements,
there were challenges in the distribution of royalties for film composers, as
seen in the example of Max Steiner, who became a member in 1933. Steiner
complained that he received far too few royalties from ASCAP, as film com-
posers apparently received only a small share of the performing license fees
that ASCAP collected from movie theatres. Additionally, Steiner felt that
his compositions for films shown internationally were not sufficiently re-
warded, since the international distribution of his music through film was
inadequately compensated. 14
The specific requirements of film composers arising from their em-
ployment situation in Hollywood, making them “the forgotten group”, were
only partially addressed by the scope of these societies. In 1945, the Screen
Composers Association (SCA) was founded as a collective endeavour to
deal with these needs. Efforts to establish a society for film composers be-
gan as early as 1942. For this purpose, according to the SCA records, an in-
15
vitation letter was sent by a “Film Composer’s Emergency Committee” to 65
16
film composers, of whom 43 attended the first meeting. The large number
of composers who responded indicates the great need for a society devoted
to film composers’ interests. The official inaugural meeting was held on July

12 See: Marion Bauer and Claire R. Reis, “Twenty-five Years with the League of Com-
posers,” The Musical Quarterly 34, no. 1 (January 1948): 2.
13 See: Richard Kitson, “Introduction to Modern Music (1924–1946),” RIPM, https://
ripm.org/pdf/Introductions/MMUintroEnglish.pdf.
14 See: Peter Wegele, Der Filmkomponist Max Steiner (1888–1971) (Vienna: Böhlau,
2024), 92–3.
15 The initial Film Composer’s Emergency Committee consisted of the following per-
sons: Anthony Collins, Adolph Deutsch, Leigh Harline, Arthur Lange, Edward Plu-
mn, Max Steiner, Roy Webb, and Victor Young [MHL, SCA Collection, Folder 37.
Film Composer’s Committee].
16 See: Blank letter of the Film Composers’ Emergency Committee, n.d. [MHL, SCA
Collection, Folder 22. Bulletins].

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