[3] In 1940, when ASCAP tried to triple its license fees, radio broadcasters prepared to resist their demands by enforcing a boycott of ASCAP,[4] and inaugurating a competing royalty agency, Broadcast Music, Inc.
During a ten-month period lasting from January 1 to October 29, 1941, no music licensed by ASCAP (1,250,000 songs) was broadcast on NBC or CBS radio stations.
Instead, the stations played songs in the public domain, regional music, and styles (like rhythm and blues or country) that had been traditionally disdained by ASCAP, resulting in many classical compositions being recorded by the big bands.
[6] "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair", an 1854 song, was a notorious beneficiary of the ASCAP boycott.
According to Time magazine, "So often had BMI's Jeannie [sic] With the Light Brown Hair been played that she was widely reported to have turned grey.