Money

John Stillwell Clark, a music publisher based in Sedalia, Missouri, USA, buys the Scott Joplin composition Maple Leaf Rag, for fifty dollars plus royalties of one cent per copy. This is said to be the first time in history that a composer had earned royalties. It will eventually sell a million copies, allowing Stark to open offices in St. Louis and New York City, and enabling Joplin to begin full-time work as a composer.

Al Bowlly with Roy Fox And His Band, records Memories Of You, You're Lucky To Me and Thank Your Father for Decca Records in London UK. At the same session, the band records Ten Cents A Dance with Betty Bolton on vocals.

The National Industrial Recovery Act, intended to assist America's recovery from the Great Depression, is signed into law in the USA. "History will probably record the National Industrial Recovery Act as the most important and far-reaching legislation ever enacted by Congress," declares US President Franklin D, Roosevelt. Two months later, Bill Cox will be inspired to celebrate the three R's promised by the NRA - relief, reform, and recovery - in his jaunty NRA Blues.

The board game Monopoly goes on sale for the first time. The game, based on property trading in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA, will inspire numerous songs, including The Monopoly Song by Frank Sidebottom; I Want It All [Monopoly Song] by Levar Allen; Monopoly by Urge Overkill and Monopoly Town by Pat Orchard.

Music businessman and media entrepreneur Robert Francis Xavier Sillerman is born in Manhattan, New York City, USA. In 1993 he will form SFX Broadcasting, and then build SFX Entertainment — a concert and stage performance promoter that will be sold to Clear Channel in 2000 for $4.4bn.

Hank Williams performs Nobody's Lonesome For Me and I'll Have A New Life, on the fifteen minute long Mother

Singing cowboy Gene Autry records How Long Is Forever, Gold Can Buy Anything and Crime Will Never Pay, at Radio Recorders, 7000 Santa Monica Boulevard, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Elias McDaniel, later to find fame as Bo Diddley,is fined $50.00 by Musicians Local 208 for accepting less than Union scale for a gig at the 708 Club (708 East 47th Street), Chicago, Illinois, USA. He fails to pay and is erased from the union roll.

Tony Orlando signs an agreement to perform on tv show American Bandstand in the USA for a fee of $155.

Greenback Dollar by The Kingston Trio is the highest new entry in Cash Box Magazine's chart of the best-selling singles in the USA, entering at No61.

The Rolling Stones' co-manager Eric Easton signs a contract for the group to appear at The Royal Albert Hall, London, UK, next February, for a fee of £150.

The Animals play at the Club A'Gogo, Newcastle, England, UK, Europe, for a fee of £4 each.

The Jackson 5, including Michael Jackson are recording Money Honey, for Motown Records in Hitsville Studios, Detroit, Michigan, USA. The song was originally a hit for Clyde McPhatter And The Drifters in 1953.

In the afternoon, The Sex Pistols sign a management contract with Glitterbest Ltd, owned by Malcolm McLaren. That night, they earn £438 for playing at the first of two days of the Punk Festival at London's 100 Club, along with The Clash, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Subway Sect.

UK glam rock star Gary Glitter is declared bankrupt.

Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney attend a musical reception at St. James' Palace, London, England, UK, Europe, to help launch a £1m appeal for the Aldeburgh Foundation.

Boy George is fined £250 in London, England, UK, Europe, on heroin possession charges.

Polygram buys Island Records for £200m, give or take some small change.

It is reported that several music stars have contributed funds to help Motown star Mary Wells cover the costs of her recent throat surgery at the Kenneth Norris Jr. Cancer Hospital at USC in Los Angeles, California, USA. Diana Ross has contributed $15,000, Rod Stewart and Bruce Springsteen $10,000 each and The Temptations $5,000.

Saks Fifth Avenue of New York City, USA, reveals that it is suing Aretha Franklin for $263,000 worth of unpaid bills.

The Rolling Stones announce that a staggering $313m was taken in ticket sales alone by their Voodoo Lounge tour, topping their 1989 Steel Wheels record of $290m (£185m).

Michael Jackson establishes the Michael Jackson Family Trust by a Declaration Of Trust, which sets out his wish to leave all of his estate to his children and his mother, after he dies.

It is reported that Jay-Z has decided against buying a $6.5m New York City, USA, penthouse after posters about his criminal record were put up in the building.

Westlife, Energy and Evonne Hsu play at The Hong Kong Harbour Fest, part of a government-underwritten HK$1 billion program of high profile concerts running for almost a month, intended to help revive the economy of Hong Kong after the SARS epidemic.

Derrick Mosely appears in Federal Court in Chicago, Illinois, USA, on charges of extortion. It is alleged that Mosely tried to blackmail a sports agent for $20,000 by claiming to have videotapes of Yankees baseball star Gary Sheffield's wife having sex with singer R. Kelly.

German promoter Marcel Avram, who won a $5m lawsuit against Michael Jackson three years earlier for the star's failure to perform at two millennium concerts, announces that he intends to bring another lawsuit against Jackson.

Sanctuary Records, whose artist roster includes Elton John, announces that a drop in sales of its records has resulted in a profit drop from £7m to £1m for the past year.

It is reported that Britney Spears has donated $50,000 to the cancer charity Gilda's Club Worldwide, named in memory of Saturday Night Live comedian Gilda Radner, who died of ovarian cancer in 1989.

Mariah Carey performs four songs at a private New Year show for the son of Libyan dictator Colonel Gaddafi, for which she pockets a whopping $1m (£687,000).

Robbie Williams' hairdresser Aaron Vickers is found dead, hanging in woodland near Williams' $8.5m mansion in Compton Bassett, Wiltshire, England, UK, Europe.

Elton John spends his 63rd birthday visiting the Football For Hope Centre, an HIV awareness facility in Khayelitsha in the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa, to monitor how a $15m contribution has been used.

A court in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Europe, rules that the three Swedish owners of The Pirate Bay must block traffic between it and the Netherlands within ten days or face legal action.

It is announced that Madonna is to contribute funds to three organizations attempting to improve conditions in her home city of Detroit, Michigan, USA.

US district judge Gary Klausner in California, USA, throws out a lawsuit brought by Glenn Danzig against his former Misfits bandmate Jerry Only, alleging that Only had violated the terms of a 1994 contract, in which Danzig, Jerry, and others agreed to share ownership of The Misfits trademarks (including their Fiend Skull logo) for merchandising purposes.

It is reported that a 4,400 sq. ft. apartment, formerly owned by music stars including Britney Spears and Keith Richards, in New York City, USA, has been put on sale for $7.6m.

Jay-Z is declared to have become hip-hop music's first billionaire by Forbes Magazine. Their reports states that even a "conservative estimate" of his earnings has him breaking the billion dollar barrier. As well as music, his fortune includes more than $410m (£300m) invested in alcohol companies and a roughly $70m stake in Uber.

In an Instagram posting, A$AP Ferg claims that A$AP Rocky Rocky is being unjustly held in solitary confinement in Sweden, Europe and asks his followers to 'Pray for justice'.