ABSTRACT

October 14, 1964, marked the opening of the 15th annual Music Operators of America Convention and Trade Show at the Sherman House Hotel in Chicago, Illinois, which had been hosting coin-op industry events since the 1930s. Forged in 1948 from a loose collection of state and local jukebox operators’ associations by George Miller of Oakland, California, and Al Denver of New York City, the Music Operators of America (MOA) was originally formed to combat efforts to eliminate the traditional music royalty exemption afforded to jukeboxes in the United States, but had since morphed into something greater.