disc jockey (radio personality) -- Encyclopedia Britannica
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`Alternate titles: deejay; disk jockey; DJ
`
`Written by The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica
`Disc jockey, also spelled disk jockey,  person who conducts a program of recorded music on radio,
`on television, or at discotheques or other dance halls. Disc jockey programs became the
`economic base of many radio stations in the United States after World War II. The format
`generally involves one person, the disc jockey, introducing and playing phonograph records and
`chatting informally and usually extemporaneously in the intervals.
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`The idea of the program originated in the 1930s, but its development was hampered by a
`Federal Communications Commission rule that required stations to identify recorded music
`frequently—so frequently, as it turned out, that the message tended to irritate and alienate the
`listener. The disc jockey was also restricted by musicians and artists whose phonograph labels
`bore the warning “Not Licensed for Radio Broadcast.” But the show’s potential was revealed
`when Martin Block broadcast his Make Believe Ballroom on station WNEW in New York City as
`filler between news coverage of the closely followed trial of the kidnapper of the Charles A.
`Lindbergh baby. Upon the request of thousands of listeners, the makeshift show was retained by
`the station after the kidnap trial. In 1940 the Federal Communications Commission relaxed its
`rules, requiring that recorded material be identified only twice in an hour, and in the same year
`the courts ruled that the warning on record labels had no legal significance. From that time disc
`jockey shows became increasingly popular.
`
`The radio disc jockey’s future was clouded again during World War II by industry wage disputes
`with the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) and the American
`Federation of Musicians. At issue was the declining demand for live appearances of artists
`because of the popularity of disc jockeys and recorded music. In 1944 the disputes were settled,
`and wartime controls on vinylite and shellac, the materials from which phonograph records
`were made, were eased.
`
`By the 1950s listener loyalty to disc jockeys was so firmly established that the success of any
`record depended on the preferences of the disc jockey. To solicit their favour, record companies
`began to shower the disc jockeys with money, stocks, or gifts (commonly known as payola). This
`widespread practice of commercial bribery was given national exposure by a federal
`investigation in 1959. As a result, payola faded for a while, but in the mid-1980s new exposés
`revealed that the practice continued to exist in many quarters.
`
`The disc jockey format was never as popular on television as on radio, with the exception of a
`few dance shows.
`
`Written by
`The Editors of
`Encyclopædia
`Britannica
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`disc jockey (radio personality) -- Encyclopedia Britannica
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