Race and Swing in the 1930s

Without a doubt, jazz music until the 1920s was an almost entirely Black movement. Jazz music was looked down upon by most white Americans throughout this period, and the genre was even criticized by some black intellectuals involved in the Harlem Renaissance. Something changed, however, in the 30s in which whites in the US became enthralled with the emerging style of swing. Suddenly, swing became acceptable in the mainstream, and those credited with it's creation (talented black jazz musicians) actually found it more difficult to find success.
The Great Depression was in full effect in the 30s; disposable income was lower than ever, record sales were down, and artists needed to find new ways to distribute their music. This led to a certain "economic game" in which other musicians needed to actively find ways to profit off their music as well as prevent other musicians from profiting. This differed from the previous decades which more emphasized the "creative game" (Professor Stewart, "Swing Changes" lecture). The radio presented this opportunity to distribute music, as millions of American households now owned at least one. Professor Stewart mentioned that the radio presented a way for blacks to reach larger audiences because listeners could not "hear color" through the radio, preventing listeners from having a bias before actually judging the music(Swing Changes lecture). One master of this economic game was Duke Ellington. Duke was able to overcome the difficulties for black Jazz musicians in ways that even the greats like Fletcher Henderson and Louis Armstrong were not. Ellington hired Irving Mills, a Jewish agent that helped him book gigs, get radio appearances and raise his profile. Mills advised Ellington on what would sell and in turn got a part of the profits. Ellington was extremely successful and was an inspiration to many black Americans. His success did not come without criticism however. John Hammond, a wealthy white music critic, attacked Ellington for selling out to the white audience and "his lack of sensitivity to the troubles of his people," a notion at which Ellington found "laughable"("Swing Changes" lecture). Ellington insulted Hammond for attempting to declare that he understood what the African American struggle was like in urban America, considering Hammond had never struggled financially in his life.
One of the more popular White musicians at the time, Benny Goodman, actually helped to break down racial barriers in the genre. His performance in 1938 at Carnegie Hall was groundbreaking in two ways. It not only showed that Jazz could survive as an acceptable and "high class" form of music, but also defied segregation by his inclusion of 3 black members in his band. Goodman also battled one of Harlem's premier swing musicians, Chick Webb, at the Savoy club in 1937. Goodman, the so-called "King of Swing", lost handily to Webb and he had no problem admitting it. Unfortunately, This did little to dissuade the general public from discrimination of black musicians. One of Goodman's best-selling recordings, "One O'clock Jump," was actually a tune of Count Basie's, a popular black musician at the time. Goodman's recording far outsold Basie's, despite Goodman going out of his way to credit Basie during broadcasts. This reflected an innate bias against black jazz musicians by consumers in the industry ("Swing Changes" 130).
Jazz, previously considered "barbaric" and primitive, was suddenly accepted into "higher class" society as an acceptable genre of music with the introduction of swing style. With whites now invested in the music, black musicians found it tougher to reach new audiences as racism was still rampant throughout the country. Some found a way to win this new "economic game", while others quickly faded away. Race would continue to be an issue in the genre for years to come.