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8
THE
MUSIC TRADE. REVIEW
KffttW
EDWARD LYMAN DILL,
Editor and Proprietor.
J. B. S P I L L A N E , Managing Editor.
EXECVTIVE AND REPORTORIAL STAFP 1 :
GEO. B. KKLLXK,
W M . B. W H I T E .
W. N. TYLER,
W. L. WILLIAMS,
A. J. NICKLIN,
BOSTON OFFICE:
CHICAOO OFFICE:
ERNXST L. WAITT, 265 Washington St.
PHILADELPHIA OFFICE:
R. W. KAUFFMAN.
EMILIK FRANCIS BAUER,
G»O. W. QUBRIPKL.
E. P. VAN HAKLINGEN, 80 La Salle St.
MINNEAPOLIS AND ST. PAUL:
E. C. TORREY.
5T. LOU 15 OFFICE J
CHAS. N. VAN BUREN.
SAN FRANCISCO OFFICE: ALFRED METZGER, 426-427 Front St.
Published Every Saturday at 1 Madison Avenue, New York.
Entered at the New York Post Office as Second Class Matter.
SUBSCRIPTION (including postage), United States, Mexico and Canada, $2.00 per
year; all other countries, (4.00.
ADVERTISEMENTS. $2.00 per inch, single column, per insertion. On quarterly or
yearly contracts a special discount is allowed. Advertising Pages, $60.00; opposite
reading matter, $76.00.
REMITTANCES, in other than currency form, should be made payable to Edward
Lyman Bill.
THE ARTISTS'
DEPARTMENT
On the first Saturday of each month The Review contains in its
"Artists' Department" all the current musical news. This is effected
without in any way trespassing on the size or service of the trade
section of the paper. It has a special circulation, and therefore au?
merits materially the value of The Review to advertisers.
M«\i.ri«V.T,,5-- t
MANUFACTURERS
The directory of piano manufacturing firms and corporations
on
«n°ther P««c will be of great value, as s reference for
dealers and others.
found
LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONE-NVMBER 1745 GRAMERCY.
NEW YORK. APRIL 15. 19O5.
R
EPORTS of increased improvement in the retail piano busi-
ness continue to reach this office. Our correspondents writ-
ing from important trade centers state that business throughout the
country is responding to the influences of the season in a satisfac-
tory manner, and there is a quickened demand for pianos, particu-
larly in smaller towns.
New England trade is showing a decided improvement, and a
number of dealers have sent in orders with instructions to rush
pianos forward as quickly as possible.
From the Northwest reports indicate a temporary slowing down
of trade, which may be accounted for on the ground that the
farmers are busily engaged in preparing the spring crops.
I
N the South everything indicates a large spring from the busi-
ness viewpoint. In a number of Southern cities great build-
ing extensions are being planned, which means, of course, the em-
ployment of skilled labor, and the distribution of vast sums of
money, all of which is beneficial to the local piano merchants. Rich-
mond, Atlanta, Birmingham and New Orleans, all have optimistic
words anent the piano situation. Atlanta's importance as a busi-
ness center is indicated by the fact that (Georgia produces a cotton
crop worth ninety millions, or more than the gold product of the
entire country. The States making up the Southeastern group, of
which Atlanta is the natural center, produces a cotton crop worth
about three hundred millions, and turn out cotton goods worth over
a hundred millions.
Naturally, where there are such enormous resources the possi-
bilities are large for local business enterprises.
E
XCELLENT reports, come from the Middle West, and the
Southwest is teeming with energy. On the Pacific slope the
outlook is optimistic, and while the piano battles of various dealers
are forceful, to say the least, the general conditions of trade are
satisfactory, and in their advertising the dealers are making things
lively, so that the piano buying public is frequently reminded of
piano values.
San Francisco seems to be the storm center of warring elements
at the present time in the retail line, and the advertising which the
dealers are flaunting in the public press is served up with tobasco
sauce of unadulterated quality.
A
WELL known trade member writes to The Review: "I have
been much interested in your articles on the special brand
pianos. You have shown in a forcible, and, to me, convincing man-
ner the evils of this kind of traffic if persisted in. In your San Fran-
cisco letter of last week there appeared an excerpt from an adver-
tisement of the Kohler & Chase piano, which I will quote:
" 'Our Kohler & Chase piano, which is made for us by Blasius &
Sons after Mr. Chase's own ideas of how a piano should be constructed
for this climate, will stand any tsst that the most exacting musician
will require of it, e t c '
"If a firm of such standing eulogizes in such a positive way
the merits of 'their own pianos,' which, of course, are special brands,
made for them by Blasius & Sons, what more can they say for
Blasius & Sons' piano?
"It seems to me that that very advertisement supports in the
strongest possible way the position of The Review on the special
brand business, and while I believe that the manufacturers would
do well in many cases to establish their own retail prices for their
pianos, still I do not believe with The Review that this would wipe
cut the evil entirely. The only way for reputable concerns is to
cease the manufacture of special brand instruments. When, as in
the case that I have alluded to, dealers advertise their special brand
as containing all the artistic qualities possible, 'and will stand any
lest that the most exacting musician will require,' what more can
they say about the genuine, that is, the Blasius product?"
O
UR friend has propounded a question that is difficult to answer,
for having lauded the special brands into the highest realms
of pianodom, what more exalted words can be said by Kohler &
Chase for the Blasius instrument itself? When the adjectives fail
and there are no more praise words to draw from, the end is reached.
There is nothing beyond, and if the best can be secured at a re-
duced price, why then pay more?
The case to which our reader refers is one of many, only in
this instance of special brand advertising it happens to be a firm
which occupies a high position in the music trade circles of the
Cnion, and when such examples are furnished by those who stand
well to the front, what sort of influence does it have on the lesser
men, who find that the great concerns are pushing their own special
brands? It has the effect to undermine the entire piano edifice, and
ys we have said in former issues, if persisted in it will as sure as fate
draw the piano business down to the level of the furniture trade.
T
H E R E is a steady trend towards the special brand business in
all lines. The hardware men have seen this peculiar trade
eating its way into the very heart of their business, and they have
taken strong measures to prevent its- increase. Many of the leading-
dealers have abandoned selling special brands of hardware. They
offer only that bearing the manufacturer's imprint, and the trade of
the catalogue house consequently is confined almost wholly to spe-
cial brands of hardware.
Now, if the manufacturers of hardware find this a great evil,
how much more will piano manufacturers suffer from this kind of
competition, which in order to exist must be supported by manufac-
turers. Three-fourths of the output of one of the great houses to-
day is in special brand instruments. Now, what is a manufacturer
creating for himself in the way of reputation and trademark value,
if he persists in this kind of business? It becomes a question of
price which is always being cut down, and of course the quality in
a like ratio, and the end of it all will be the vast bulk of trade will
be conducted in nondescript instruments.
T
HE great mainstay of the trade is the manufacturers who have
steadfastly refused all sorts of inducements to enter into this
kind of business. They see that the general stability of the trade is
certain to be undermined by this kind of traffic, and they refuse to
assist in the lowering of the trade standard.
Tt isn't a question of piano legitimacy, because all of these in-
struments are regular, but they have no national trade or musical
standing. The purchaser who secures them has of course a dealer's
guarantee, but the dealers in most instances are not interested in
maintaining a high standard. It is the manufacturer, the creator of
instruments, who should feel that intense interest in his product, and
take a natural pride in having his name associated with reliable in-
struments.