The Society of Composers & Lyricists history

The first general membership meeting occurred May 21,1954.

The following year, the organization added lyricists and became the Composers and Lyricists Guild of America, and in August 1955 the National Labor Relations Board certified the group as the recognized bargaining agent in negotiating with the studios.

By January 1956, with more than 360 members – nearly every working composer and lyricist in Hollywood and New York – CLGA proposed payment for film scoring on a per-minute basis and payments for songs on a per-tune basis.

Members approved that first agreement in October 1960.

The CLGA was added to the industry's health and welfare and pension plans, and in late 1962, Raksin succeeded Stevens as president of the group.

The CLGA sponsored one of the most remarkable nights in the history of film music – the "Music from Hollywood" program at the Hollywood Bowl on September 25, 1963 which celebrated the 10th anniversary of the guild and was attended by an estimated 10,000 fans.

By mid-January 1972, members were fed up with industry stonewalling and authorized famed New York labor lawyer Theodore W. Kheel to proceed with an antitrust action against the studios, networks and producers.

The agreement conferred some rights – limited, at best – to composers and lyricists who had worked for the studios prior to October 1973.

On April 9, 1979, the federal district court approved a settlement between the two sides that ended the case.

That group was the Society of Composers and Lyricists, born during the summer of 1983.

On February 14, 1984, the SCL formally met for the first time, with 310 composers and lyricists – including such luminaries as Henry Mancini, John Williams, Marilyn and Alan Bergman, Jerry Goldsmith and Quincy Jones – at the Writers Guild theater.

The SCL appealed, but that too was lost in early 1985.

In November 1993, the SCL again began to explore unionization.