Canned music The term "canned music" was coined by John Philip Sousa around the turn of the century. Since he was initially opposed to sound recordings, few exist of his band until after 1917. Obviously, he took the position of the professional musician - opposed to a phonograph replacing live performance. He did soften his stance, but remained throughout his life an outspoken proponent of musicians' rights. (He was, as well, one of the founders of ASCAP). Sousa's machine-opposition philosophy was modified to exclude recordings ("...for documentary purposes") once he became associated with RCA Victor. And, apart from recordings (and that's another story), Sousa's principle was strongly supported by the American Federation of Musicians. Another test came in the 1950s. Immediately after WWII, electroacoustic music began to appear, in Paris, Cologne, and New York. Beyond the understandable aesthetic controversies, early American performances of tape-music by the composers Otto Luening and Vladimir Ussachevsky drew opposition not only from the Musicians' but also the Electricians' Union. Much later, Pauline Oliveros faced the same problems in New York City. If there was a question about the validity of phonographs and tape recorders as musical instruments (what about Respighi?), the next technological development - the synthesizer - was clearly a "right-to-work" nightmare. anon. "Look, Ma, No Side Men with RCA's Music Synthesizer Bow On Wax." Variety, 199, July 20, 1955. anon. "How's Petrillo Gonna Collect AFM Dues From RCA's Electronic Tooter?" Variety, 197, Feb 2, 1955. Luening, Otto and Vladimir Ussachevsky. "Union Card for a Tape Recorder." Music Journal, 22, May, 1954. Petrillo, J. C. "Man, Machine, Music, and Musicians." International Musician, 53, April, 1955. Sousa, J.P. "The Menace of Mechanical Music," Appleton's Magazine, September, 1906. Sousa, J. P. "The Victrola and I," Victor Talking Machine Magazine, December, 1920. Stuckenschmidt, H. H. "New World of Electronic Music Evokes Admiration and Fear." Musical America, July, 1957. Tall, J. "Music Without Musicians." Saturday Review, 40, Jan 26, 1957. 5/94 FMc