A NIGHT WHEN SILENCE RULED OVER BELGRADE: Because of a dispute over 15 dinars, all music stopped in all city taverns!

It is hard to imagine Belgrade without music. For decades, taverns were much more than places for drinks and dinner — business deals were made there, important moments were celebrated, old city songs were sung, and an atmosphere was created for which the capital was known throughout the region.

That is precisely why the news that echoed through the city in mid-July 1937 caused true surprise. By one decision, almost overnight, music disappeared from Belgrade’s taverns.

The reason was not war, a police ban, or a shortage of musicians. It was a dispute over copyright that escalated into one of the biggest conflicts between hospitality owners, performers, and authors in pre-war Yugoslavia.

The fight over the “music dinar”

At the center of the conflict was the Union of Yugoslav Musical Authors — UJMA — founded in 1929 with the goal of protecting authors and ensuring the collection of fees for the public performance of their music.

The idea was simple — every venue earning money thanks to music was supposed to set aside a symbolic amount for those who created those works.

However, that was exactly where the serious dispute arose.

Tavern owners believed that the state and various associations were burdening them with new charges, while authors claimed they had been left without fair compensation for their work for years.

Negotiations lasted for months, but without success.

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“Such freeloading does not exist anywhere”

The director of UJMA, Boško Simonović, did not hide his dissatisfaction.

He said it was absurd that venue owners had no problem paying hundreds of dinars to hire singers and orchestras, while refusing to pay just a few dozen dinars to the authors whose songs attracted guests.

In his opinion, Yugoslavia was one of the rare countries where copyright was barely respected.

Tavern owners respond

On the other hand, hospitality owners claimed that the new obligations endangered their business.

They announced complaints, protests, and even a trip to the National Assembly in an attempt to stop the introduction of new fees.

In order to find a compromise solution, a system was proposed in which the fee would depend on the type of venue.

The most famous hotels and elite restaurants, such as “Moskva” and “Bristol,” would pay 30 dinars per day.

Mid-range venues would pay 15 dinars, while smaller taverns would pay 7.5 or even just 4 dinars per day.

On paper, it seemed that such a model could satisfy both sides.

But no agreement was ever reached.

A decision that silenced the city

When negotiations finally collapsed, a large meeting of tenants, venue owners, and musicians was organized.

At it, a decision was made that would remain remembered in the history of Belgrade.

From July 15, 1937, music would stop playing in all Belgrade night venues.

That evening, the capital looked completely different.

Taverns were open, but without orchestras, songs, and the familiar atmosphere that attracted guests.

The city, known for its lively nightlife, suddenly lost its most recognizable sound.

Why the dispute could not be resolved

Hospitality owners claimed that even if they agreed to pay UJMA, it would not mean the end of the problem.

They feared that fees could also be demanded by authors who were not members of the association, which is why they did not want to accept the proposed system.

This brought negotiations practically to a point of no return.

A strike that changed the rules

Although at the time it seemed as if the conflict had no solution, this strike actually accelerated the introduction of a system for collecting copyright fees for public music performance.

After World War II, UJMA was shut down in 1946.

A few years later, in 1950, its role was taken over by a new organization that would for decades become synonymous with music copyright protection — SOKOJ.

In this way, the dispute that briefly silenced Belgrade’s taverns became an important turning point in the development of the system for protecting musical authors in Yugoslavia.

Today it is almost unimaginable for a tavern to operate without music, but that is exactly what happened on one summer day in 1937, when the entire Belgrade, if only briefly, was left without its most recognizable rhythm.