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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
It is extremely doubtful, however, if the
patronage given will be sufficient to keep
the institution on the " special " line much
longer.
If many of our manufacturers would toss
away some of their old illustrations, and
• EDWARD LYIVIAN BILL.
spend a little more money for the wash
Editor and Proprietor
tone drawings, which give to a reader an
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY
accurate idea of the instrument, they would
3 East 14th St., New York
obtain much better results than at present.
SUBSCRIPTION (including postage), United States,
Good cuts cost considerable money, and
Mexico and Canada, $2.00 per year ; all other countries,
$J-oo.
the
wash tone process is expensive when
ADVERTISEnENTS, $2.00 per inch, single column, per
insertion. On quarterly or yearly contracts a special dis-
count is allowed. Advertising Pages $50.00, opposite read-
compared with the ordinary half tones,
ing matter $75.00.
, REMITTANCES, in other than currency form, should
but it is infinitely superior.to the old style
be made payable to Edward Lyman Bill.
wood cut, which is now almost obsolete.
Entered at the New York Post Office as Secrmd Clast Matter.
It pays to get out good printing matter.
NEW YORK, MAY 27, 1899.
In fact all advertising matter which ema-
TELEPHONE NUMBER, 1745-EIQHTEENTH STREET.
nates from a house which is catering to a
THE KEYNOTE.
cultured taste, should be as good as the
The first week of each month, The Review wil)
typographical art will permit.
contain a supplement embodying the literary
and .musical features which have heretofore
There is no concern in this or aliied
appeared in The Keynote. This amalgamation
will be effected without in any way trespassing
trade which has produced such perfect
on our regular news service. The Review will
work as the ^Eolian Company, New York.
continue to remain, as before, essentially a
trade paper.
All of their printed matter, including cata-
ADVERTISING AVENUES-
logues, brochures and circulars, has been
TT HE great secret in advertising is not to executed in the highest possible art form.
waste money. In other words, to No expense has been spared in the produc-
steer clear of advertising that is unproduc- tion of this matter, and to their superb sys-
tive. The difficulty, a peculiar one, is to tem of advertising the ^Eolian Co. can trace
find what kind of advertising produces re- much of their distinguished success. Peo-
sults and what kind does not.
ple are interested in that which is attrac-
At the present time the small booklets tive and appeals to their better sense.
are in great favor. They are produced in
By their system of superb literature the
the most original styles, lavish use being ^olian Company have been carrying on a
made of cuts, half-tones, new kinds of vast deal of educational work which has
type headings and all other accessories to broken down the barriers which formerly
good printing.
existed in the public mind against auto-
The mere fact that so many are produced matic or self-playing instruments. With
at so high a cost is proof that this form of this concern it has not been one exquisitely
advertising pays. A number of our piano prepared catalogue, but the entire series
manufacturers have found it is a very ef- for years has been a continuous and end-
fective and useful method of advertising. less story of superb musical literature.
They have prepared these little brochures
so that they can be easily inserted in an or- DRIFTING CONSOLIDATIONWARD.
T^HERE has been considerable specula-
dinary envelope.
tion rife in the trade anent a recent
People nowadays are rather inclined to
pay closer attention to brief, concise state- gathering in Boston, called for the pur-
ments than to wade through long drawn pose of consultation regarding a proposed
out descriptive verbiage, which is at the consolidation of trade interests.
There are many manufacturers in this
best dry reading. They are impressed by
good paper, dainty type and other printing industry who are inclined to look upon
accessories which appeal to an aesthetic every move of consolidation with disfavor,
shall we say, and not with suspicion, al-
taste.
Manufacturers in this trade have become though one man remarked recently while
rather tired of the special schemes pre- chatting upon this topic that it would be
sented to them. They realize that money very hard for the insincerity which exists
pays better in regular editions than in the in some quarters of the piano trade to be
"specials" where the individuality of a corralled into one corporative body.
There is, too, a strong argument brought
concern is lost among the many. Most of
to
bear by others who have been ap-
the publishers have recognized the disin-
clination of the manufacturers to patronize proached, and that, that while it is a com-
the special editions. There is we believe paratively easy matter to control prices of
but one trade paper that still solicits for staple articles the entire production of
special patronage on frequent occasions. which is similar in every respect, an ef-
fort to control in a like manner the output
of a number of factories making a variety
of products widely diverse in their char-
acter and value, is an entirely different
proposition, and one by no means calcu-
lated to meet with the same degree of
success.
They reason, too, that while consolida-
tions have been made in almost every other
line of industry, save the textile and fur-
niture lines, it would be impossible for
any corporation to control a market wherein
a man with a few dollars can become at
once a competitor. They figure that there
would be a vast number of isolated com-
petitors who would carry on a guerilla war-
fare which would in time seriously cripple,
if not entirely destroy, the control of the
national market by a number of manufac-
turers banded together. They figure that
the unit system of manufacture is quite the
proper one.
It is true that an organization would not
be effective unless it included some of the
oldest and best known names associated
with the industry. The men who are de-
sirous for union realize that, hence their
anxiety to include one at least of the old
names.
THE DYING STRUGGLES.
T H E riotous exuberance displayed by
our once formidable, now attenuated,
contemporary upon stencil matters and
association workings might be amazing to
those who were not familiar with the inner
workings of that establishment.
To the uninitiated it would seem as if
our contemporary were rent with anguish
and filled with sore indignation at the pecu-
liar position in which it finds itself through
contact with a cold and unappreciative
world.
But let us divest these conditions of all
superfluities and clothe our language with
that nudity which is at once the charm of
truth, and we find that it is the same old
leopard, without change of spots, which
has gnashed its teeth in impotent rage
over trade unwillingness to bend to its dic-
tation as in years agone. The sixteen
years of alleged hostility to the stencil
compasses sixteen years of hypocrisy and
insincerity. Everyone is aware of that,
but neither the braggart claims, the silly
innuendoes, or dictatorial pronunciamen-
toes, will deter those who have at heart the
business interests of the trade from carry-
ing out their intended work. No false
lights shall lure them from their straight
course.
But it is interesting, and ludicrous as
well, to note the farce now played by our
onge formidable contemporary in its blatant