1920-1929
Problems of unemployment among musicians continued in the 1920s. The cost of living after World War I remained high and the 20% Cabaret Tax (US) enacted during the war limited employment opportunites. Radio broadcasting of musical performances began to reduce the number of job opportunites for live performers. In addition, the popularity of "talking" pictures caused musicians to lose work because they were no longer needed to provide music in movie theaters for the "silent" pictures.
1920 - The union required conductors of grand opera and symphony orchestras to be members of the AFM.
1922 - The AFM publicized its opposition to child labor.
1927 - With the release of the first "talkie", The Jazz Singer, orchestras in movie theaters were displaced. The AFM had its first encounter with wholesale unemployment brought about by technology. Within three years, 22,000 theater jobs for musicians who accompanied silent movies were lost, while only a few hundred jobs for musicians performing on soundtracks were created by the new technology.
1928 - While continuing to protest the loss of jobs due to the use of "canned music" with motion pictures, the AFM set minimum wage scales for Vitaphone, Movietone and phonograph record work. Because synchronizing music with pictures for the movies was particularly difficult, the AFM was able to set high prices for this work.
