MUSIC ON THE AIR

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18181, 31 August 1933, Page 11

MUSIC ON THE AIR

DR. JENKINS’ REMARKS COMPOSER’S DIFFICULTY

.. “Before leaving London I was asked by the Performing Rights Association, which collects royalties on behalf of British producers, .to convey good feelings towards New Zealand,” said Dr. Cyril Jenkins in an address to the New Zealand Club, Wellington. The income, of the composer, he said, had shrunk considerably in the last five years, and particularly in the last two years, and it was only fair that he should gain the reward of his labors. Speaking of broadcasting, Dr. Jenkins urged that it should be directed by someone with an imaginative mind and musical knowledge. He was sur-

prised that a greater use was not made of the wealth of literature available from the different countrios. It was ignorance in this channel which caused so much disappointment to listeners-in. Dr. Jenkins thought the world was suffering from too much music to-day, and that was what the composers were up against at the moment. In the old days something which became popular had a certain life, bringing in royalties commensurate with the labor. Now the broadcasting stations pumped the same thing on the air day after day, time after time, with the result that it was repeated ad nauseam. At the same time broadcasting had come to stay and was going to help develop musical and other arts, provided it was properly directed. He hoped the people of New Zealand would make every effort to see that the energies of the authorities were developed into a channel which would make this medium serve its purpose, in the proper manner. .