It is by General Order 52 that we tell you the following is a player piano

[Donna Halper]

At 01:29 PM 8/28/2005 -0700, John Bolduc wrote:
>I was just glancing over the 1929 Federal Radio Commision's Annual Report
>and noted a section discussion deception of the public as to origin of
>musical selections.  In short, each and every performance broadcast, per
>General Order 52, was to be idetified if it was from a phonograph record,
>player piano, mechanical or electrical reproduction.  It further stated
>that each selection within the broadcast needed to be specifically
>designated as such, as listenrs often often enter the program at different
>points in its sequence.

And after much complaining from announcers and station managers, this 
ruling was rescinded in 1932.  The rule had been created because the 
theaters and concert halls worried that radio would destroy their business 
by offering music for free, so this was kind of a way to make sure the 
public knew they were getting "inferior" recorded music.  The public, 
however, didn't care.  They attended the theatre, they bought records, and 
they listened to radio.  Ultimately, intense lobbying from the NAB and 
others caused the Federal Radio Commission to rescind the order.  But that 
happens to be why Al Jarvis and later Martin Block called their show "Make 
Believe Ballroom"-- because they were playing records rather than live 
concerts.  And yes, when tape came along, many years after Gen. Order 52 
went away, stations had to say a program was "recorded and transcribed" so 
people would know it wasn't live...