By the 1950s, ASCAP and its associated songwriters and composers seemed out of touch with contemporary musical tastes and industry trends. With the introduction of competition in the form of BMI in 1939, many members of ASCAP were experiencing a sense of status anxiety, an anxiety exacerbated by the many cultural, social, political, and economic changes that swept across postwar US society. Rather than adapt to the changing musical landscape of the 1950s, some members argued that ASCAP's fading cultural prestige and diminished influence within the music industry were the result of a conspiracy perpetrated by the broadcast networks and BMI. This article examines how, in an attempt to reassert the status and prestige they had enjoyed before the war, ASCAP and its supporters exploited contemporary Cold War anxieties as part of their ongoing feud with BMI. In congressional hearings from 1956 and 1958, individuals and organizations sympathetic to ASCAP portrayed BMI as part of a coordinated conspiracy that not only threatened free market practices through the establishment of an alleged “electronic curtain,” but also sought to foist an inferior product on audiences who were being manipulated by “hidden persuaders.” I suggest that the rhetoric that dominated both of these hearings reflects ideological debates that were being fought at the height of the Cold War, debates involving the culture of consensus and the image of the “American Way.”

中文翻译：

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ASCAP-BMI 不和、地位恐慌和冷战共识的斗争

到 1950 年代，ASCAP 及其相关的词曲作者和作曲家似乎与当代音乐品味和行业趋势脱节。随着 1939 年以 BMI 的形式引入竞争，ASCAP 的许多成员都经历了一种身份焦虑感，这种焦虑感因战后美国社会的许多文化、社会、政治和经济变化而加剧。一些成员并没有适应 1950 年代不断变化的音乐格局，而是认为 ASCAP 的文化声望日渐衰落和在音乐行业的影响力减弱是广播网络和 BMI 阴谋的结果。这篇文章探讨了如何为了恢复他们在战前享有的地位和声望，ASCAP 及其支持者利用当代冷战焦虑作为他们与 BMI 持续争执的一部分。在 1956 年和 1958 年的国会听证会上，同情 ASCAP 的个人和组织将 BMI 描述为一个协同阴谋的一部分，该阴谋不仅通过建立所谓的“电子窗帘”来威胁自由市场实践，而且还试图将劣质产品强加给观众他们被“隐藏的说服者”操纵。我认为，主导这两次听证会的言论反映了在冷战高峰期进行的意识形态辩论，这些辩论涉及共识文化和“美国方式”的形象。同情 ASCAP 的个人和组织将 BMI 描述为一个协同阴谋的一部分，该阴谋不仅通过建立所谓的“电子幕布”威胁自由市场实践，而且还试图将劣质产品强加给被“隐藏的说服者”操纵的观众。” 我认为，主导这两次听证会的言论反映了在冷战高峰期进行的意识形态辩论，这些辩论涉及共识文化和“美国方式”的形象。同情 ASCAP 的个人和组织将 BMI 描述为一个协同阴谋的一部分，该阴谋不仅通过建立所谓的“电子幕布”威胁自由市场实践，而且还试图将劣质产品强加给被“隐藏的说服者”操纵的观众。” 我认为，主导这两次听证会的言论反映了在冷战高峰期进行的意识形态辩论，这些辩论涉及共识文化和“美国方式”的形象。