Consolidated Music Corporation was a short-lived

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music publishing licensing company formed in early 1920 — initially by seven major music publishers, but eventually six — to handle piano roll licensing. Consolidated and the six remaining firms, all headquartered in New York City, were located within a few blocks of one another. Consolidated and its six corporate sponsors were defendants named in a Sherman Antitrust suit filed August 3, 1920, by the

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in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The plaintiff was represented by Henry Anderson Guiler (1877–1938), Assistant U.S. District Attorney.

Sherman Antitrust suit

''United States v. Consolidated Music Corporation, et al.'' was the first Sherman Antitrust

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involving the music publishing industry. The petition was a complaint about monopoly pricing of piano rolls. In particular, the complaint charged that Consolidated had fixed the price charged to piano roll manufacturers for the right to manufacture and sell copyrighted compositions, and also had fixed the price at which those player rolls were sold to the public. The complaint averred that the seven named defendants controlled 80% of copyrighted musical compositions and 95% of player word roll market in the United States. Word rolls, essentially, were piano rolls with the lyrics printed in the margins. Consolidated held the word rights from published music that were printed on word rolls, and imposed a fee for use of those words on the rolls. The seventh founding firm, Forster Music Publisher, Inc., of Chicago, resigned sometime around March 1920. Within two weeks of opening in 1920, faced with the likelihood of defeat, Consolidated closed its doors, withdrew the contract, and quickly thereafter, dissolved the corporation. On March 29, 1922, U.S. District Judge

Augustus Noble Hand Augustus Noble Hand (July 26, 1869 – October 28, 1954) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and later was a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals ...

(1869–1954) dismissed the case. The licensing of piano rolls was eventually assigned to the Music Publishers Protective Association. Still, the licensing strategy endured by individual companies, yet was not highly successful, namely because consumers didn't want to pay extra for the words. By the end of 1920, sales of melody rolls, minus the words, offered by competitors, had done well in comparison to word rolls, which had fallen noticeably. By contrast, in a subset market, there had been an inverse public response with respect to the sale of phonograph records. Recorded dance music, without vocal, sold well, mainly because the public preferred to pay an extra 20 or 25 cents to acquire a roll with the words, along with the melody, permitting its use for dancing (without the words) or vocalizing around the piano (with the words).

Selected personnel

Jack Bliss ''(né'' George Homer Bliss; 1887–1956), a pianist and founding vice-president and general manager of the Consolidated Music Corporation, resigned in April 1920, to work for the

Aeolian Company The Aeolian Company was a musical-instrument making firm whose products included player organs, pianos, sheet music, records and phonographs. Founded in 1887, it was at one point the world's largest such firm. During the mid 20th century, it surpas ...

. He resigned when Consolidated withdrew its proposed contract from the music roll manufacturers and turned back the word roll rights to the publications of six of the music publishing firms. In January 1920, Bliss had left

QRS Records QRS Music Technologies, Inc. is an American company that makes modern player pianos. It was founded as Q•R•S Music Company in 1900 to make piano rolls, the perforated rolls of paper read by player pianos to reproduce music. The company also ...

, as general manager for the East. to join Consolidated. According to the U.S. Census, Bliss was managing director a hotel in 1930 and 1940, while living in

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. By 1947, Bliss was manager of the Sarasota Terrace Hotel,

Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sout ...

. Bliss' son-in-law, George Edward Trafton (1896–1971), married to his daughter Jacqueline (1917–1989), was a former pro football player.

References

{{Reflist, 30em, refs= "Music Publishers Sued Here As Trust," ''

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,'' August 4, 1920 "Government Moves Against Publishers," ''

Musical Courier The ''Musical Courier'' was a weekly 19th- and 20th-century American music trade magazine that began publication in 1880. The publication included editorials, obituaries, announcements, scholarly articles and investigatory writing about musical ...

'', Vol. 81, No. 7, August 12, 1920, pps
5

17
/ref>
American Popular Music and Its Business: The First Four Hundred Years
' (Vol. 3, from 1900 to 1984), by Russell Sanjek,

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

(1988), pg. 28; {{oclc, 300414899 "Payment For Songs To Cease Today,"
''

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'', May 12, 1917, pg. 34 "Forster Out Of Consolidated,"
''

New York Clipper The ''New York Clipper'', also known as ''The Clipper'', was a weekly entertainment newspaper published in New York City from 1853 to 1924. It covered many topics, including circuses, dance, music, the outdoors, sports, and theatre. It had a ...

'', May 24, 1920, pg. 16 "Bliss With Aeolian Co."
''

'', April 21, 1920 "M.P.P.A. Will Investigate Discrimination Charges,"
''

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'', December 3, 1920 "Geo. H. Bliss Leaves Q R S Co."
''Music Trade Review'', Vol. 70, No. 2, January 10, 1920, pg. 25 Publishing companies disestablished in 1920 Sheet music publishing companies Music publishing companies of the United States Companies based in New York City Publishing companies established in 1920 1920 establishments in New York (state) 1920 disestablishments in New York (state) Defunct music companies American companies disestablished in 1920 American companies established in 1920