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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
TWENTY-FIRST YEAR.
•EDWARD LYMAN BILL.
Editor and Proprietor
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY
3 East 14th St., New York
SUBSCRIPTION (Including postage), United States,
Mexico and Canada, Sa«o per year; all other countries,
t+oo.
ADVERTISErtENTS, fa.oo per Inch, single column, per
insertion. On quarterly or yearly contracts a special dis-
count is allowed. Advertising Pages Iso-cs opposite read-
ing matter $75.00.
REMITTANCES, in other than currency form, should
D« made payable to Edward Lyman Bill.
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Altered at th» jfm
York Po$t Qfflc* at -Second Clou
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NEW YORK,.APRIL 28, 1900.
TELEPHONE NUMBER, 1745-EIGHTEENTH STREET.
THETKEVNOTE.
tendency which is going on eliminating the
small fellow from business life, and yet the
tendency of all business to-day is to do
everything on the most gigantic scale. A
man who can handle the largest aggrega-
tion of capital, using better machinery and
methods than is possible to his fellow com-
petitors, is the one whose pole brings
down the business persimmons. Still,
there is a limit to his possibilities. For
sometimes, as in the case of this piano con-
cern, if he branches out to increase his
business so that he can better compete with
others of greater capital, he then is too
often at the mercy of the organizations who
will loan him money, and in time goes
down, the money institutions owning every-
thing, as in this instance.
No man can stand still. He must go
backward in the race of capital, or go for-
ward by risking, like a gambler, all that he
has in the wild scramble to get oft top.
The few succeed, the many fail, and yet
the
successful people are not always happy.
KINDS OF CRITICISM.
Day
and night the stress of business
"T HE recent failure of a piano manufac-
turing concern has caused consider* weighs upon them, and they too frequent-
able discussion along the lines of the bol- ly get old before their time, and yet we
stering up of insolvent institutions. Some all bow down and worship this moloch of
manufacturers have gone as far as to criti- commercialism, as the greatest achieve-
cise members of the supply trade for sup- ment of the race, as an evidence of superior
porting a kind of competition which they civilization, as divinely appointed.
affirm is detrimental to the best business
"A DISTRIBUTING FACTOR.
interests of the trade. They affirm were
it not for the action of some supply houses TPRADE tongues have been wagging
in such instances that a ruinous cut-rate
somewhat briskly in discussing one of
competition could not exist.
the important happenings of the week—
We are perhaps too apt to criticise others the formal inauguration of a piano store at
and overlook inherent weaknesses which Wanamaker's. We say a piano store, for
we ourselves possess, and the members of it must have been evident to the people
the supply industry might affirm that there who thronged the beautifully embellished
are some piano manufacturers who have and festooned rooms of Wanamaker's last
maintained an unfair competition in the Monday that he had not opened merely a
retail trade by supplying some dealers who piano department, but a piano store in all
were not entitled to credit with a line of that the term implies. Then, too, a little
goods which have been placed on the mar- further on in the art gallery where musi-
ket at prices which were in absolute defi- cians of national and international fame
ance of legitimate piano competition.
were contributing to the enjoyment of
Now there is no mistaking that this class nearly a thousand people who had gathered,
of competition has existed and still exists there was every indication that the Wana-
for that matter, and the chances are that maker piano store would be conducted on a
it will continue as long as the idea prevails high-grade, intelligent and earnest basis.
in the industry that life is nothing but a The environment of those rooms, superb
big gory battle field and in order to win a paintings, beautiful flowers, aesthetic color-
prize we have to knock somebody down ings, did not by any possible stretch of
and stamp in his ribs as if it were on a foot- imagination savor of refrigerators and
ball field. Beat somebody, get ahead of lawnmowers with which we are prone to
somebody, for there is nothing in life associate the department store idea. The
worth having but a victory over somebody art surroundings were apparent, and with
else!
a hundred pianos on exhibition, tastefully
There are many kinds of competition in displayed it shows, too, that Wanamaker
this modern life of ours which would ma- does not propose to deal with the piano
terially augment human happiness if they business in any other than a dignified way.
were expunged from the page. There are
His moves will be watched with interest
some of us who dislike to see the crushing by piano merchants as well as dealers gen-
The first week of each month, The Review will
contain a supplement embodying the literary
and musical features which have heretofore
appeared in The Keynote. This amalgamation
will be effected without in any way trespassing
on our regular news service. The Review wilt
continue to remain, as before, essentially a
trade paper.
erally elsewhere, With such a tastefully
displayed stock and with such beautiful
surroundings it is certain that Wanamaker
will at once become a factor in the distri-
bution of pianos which we all must recog-
nize whether we so desire or not. Thus
far the department stores have hardly
created a ripple in the sea of distribution
of pianos in New York city. Other de-
partment stores which have placed pianos
in certain portions of their buildings in
this city have not treated the piano busi-
ness in an intelligent manner.
The stores which we have visited have
displayed their piano stock far from at-
tractively. In instances we have seen
the instruments covered with toys and
other articles not pleasing to the or-
dinary buyer. Also they have adhered
entirely to the line of pianos, which
in the vernacular we term stencil, that
is, pianos having no definite origin. They
might be made in half a dozen factories
with the brands thus far adopted by our
New York department stores. We see no
cause for alarm for the general dealer
through the introduction of John Wana-
maker as a piano-distributing factor. On
the contrary he has proven his right and
title to the "leading merchant of America"
and his work along piano lines may be
stimulating rather than depressing. One
thing is certain, however, we may depend
upon it there will be no unbusiness-like
methods adopted by him in order to create
trade.
Representatives of the Chickering, Vose,
Crown, Angelus and Hymnolia institutions
were all present at the function last Mon-
day. A conversation with them revealed
the fact that they have the utmost confi-
dence in their business future with John
Wanamaker as being productive of bene-
ficial results, both locally and to the gen-
eral trade interest as well.
There are some who have criticised The
Review on account of the prominence
which it has given to Wanamaker matters
for more than a year. We realized the
importance of this move at its inception.
Furthermore, we did not hesitate to ex-
press our opinions at the- time, nor have
we since been reticent in this particular.
Intelligent men realize that there are con-
stant changes occurring in the industrial
and manufacturing world, that methods
of creating and marketing goods are not
the same as years ago. Why should not
we all recognize these laws of change?
The mere refusal on our part to recognize
them does not remove them in the slight-
est from their spheres of operation.
Wanamaker, as a distributing factor in
the piano trade, exists!