Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
T would seem to us that in the magazine and newspaper adver-
tising there is one essential lost sight of, and that is there is not
enough said regarding quality; not enough attention directed to the
special attributes claimed by each piano. All that is said is
of price, and price alone.
Now, if a dealer proposes to sell good pianos, why not tell the
people that he has them and use a portion of his money towards
interesting the public in his high grade wares, rather than talk price,
always price.
Of course there is a temptation to push the cheaper goods, and
again it may be argued that price will draw people to a store quicker
than quality.
There is truth in that statement, and many of the piano pur-
chasers have no extended knowledge of technical information and
are more or less bewildered concerning piano quality, but how can
the dealers expect to sell quality pianos unless they do something
towards educating the people in the quality line?
I
DEALER asks: "Does any concern guarantee its varnish ?""
We know of none. It was only recently that a factory
superintendent exhibited a specimen of vamish which he had
received from the Glidden Co. who affirmed that it would not check
when exposed to climatic changes. It was tested at great length
and with most gratifying results. However, when a coating like
varnish is placed over wood that is ofttimes unseasoned, and then
exposed to extremes of heat and cold, it is hardly fair to blame the
varnish. Common sense must be exercised in this matter as in
everything else.
A
ECEPTION has no place in successful merchandising. A
dealer may sell pianos out of their class for a while; he may
dispose of a large number of special brands of pianos which must
necessarily be cheap instruments, at high grade prices. He may sell
them in the just as good class, meaning that they are "just as good/ 1
as one of the great piano names which is emblazoned across his win-
dow, a sign which is calculated to give dignity and respectability to
his business. If he did not think so, the name would not be there in
great big golden letters so that he who runs and runs fast even, may
read with ease.
D
HAT name is an invitation to the public that pianos indicated
by the sign are offered within, and what is the result when the
people enter the wareroom? They are shown the "just as good,"
and after a long argument the salesman succeeds in disposing of the
special brand pianos, and the people are deceived as well as robbed.
The real goods are not delivered, the special brand has been substi-
tuted.
T
OW the firm or corporation to succeed in business permanently
must deliver the goods every time. Many a misrepresentation
has contributed to the finish of some excellent merchants who started
out originally with good intentions, but who were misled by the spe-
cial brand business, believing that it paid greater profits. It does on
the surface, but it is a robber game and fraudulent as well to use the
great piano names as a drawing power and then sell to the public, who
believe that that name affords them protection the just as good pianos
of indefinite origin at high prices. Information spreads too rapidly
in these days for such practices to remain long under cover. Pub-
licity through the various lines of information will soon lift the lid,
and it will be all off with shady business methods.
N
E know of a big concern which once had an immense trade.
The retail merchants all over the counry became aware that
the concern had fallen into ways that were dark and tricks that were
vain some years ago, and this business is now but a memory. This
house offered some standard goods at prices which made close buyers
stand off and wonder. They ordered only to find that the orders for
standard articles were but partially filled, and substitution being fre-
quently made of cheaper brands while the brands ordered were those
which had admitted reputation and value.
Merchants began to relate their experiences with this house
which substituted and sold the just as good brands and they discussed
their experience at various merchants' meetings. They talked to the
traveling salesmen and they carried the news to other merchants, and
by and by they refused to place orders with the house, believing that
they would not get the brand of goods ordered.
W
9
The story finally got into the trade journals, and the result was
very much like the effect of a run on the bank. Business went by the
board.
I
N trade, promises must be fulfilled, and a promise which is made to
the public through the big piano sign which tells the name of the
leading makes, is that those instruments are sold therein, and that
there is a guarantee of piano value in that name assured the customer.
When the customers enter those stores and find that the just as
good is substituted, it will come to be known after a while as the
house of substitutes referred to above, and the piano manufacturers
themselves will not stand for that misrepresentation. They will re-
fuse to do business with a house which uses an honorable name as an
emblem under which to carry on dishonest traffic by the adoption
of questionable methods. They will cut the house as such houses
have been cut in the past. The special brand business must go. It
belongs to a past age, and it cannot survive the business honesty of
our times. Its growth has been phenomenal, it is true, within the
past few years, but the expansion of the business must be checked
else the industry will suffer. There is really no other way.
OTWITHSTANDING the great war now on between Russia,
Japan is planning for a great exposition to be held in Tokio
when hostilities cease. The fair also will be well represented at the
Portland Exposition which opens in June.
The Japs are, indeed, a marvelous people, and those who visited
the St. Louis Exposition undoubtedly noticed that the Japanese were
very satisfactorily represented there, while the Russians withdrew
from participation. After the lapse of almost a year of military
operations between the two countries, there has been no apparent
weakening of the Japanese resources. Japan seems to be getting
rich out of fighting; the industrial activity of the country is steadily
increasing, and it may be imagined that there will be a tremendous
increase at the close of the war, and American manufacturers will
be wise to make the best preparations in time in order to secure a
share of the increased trade of Japan which may be confidently
looked for when peace papers shall have been signed.
N
J
APAN has made wonderful strides in all kinds of manufacturing.
but the pianos and musical instruments which were exhibited
in the Japanese department at St. Louis were not of such a character
as to impress one favorably with the advance made in piano making
in that Empire. The pianos and organs were reproductions of
American styles. There was a copy of an old Beatty organ of
twenty years ago, and as might be imagined these instruments lacked
beauty and grace. Occasionally in some of the instruments there
was manifested a desire to break away from the American patterns
and work in a truss or pilaster some bit of Japanese carving. If they
would cut out copying case styles entirely, we might expect to see
some really original styles of case architecture in Japanese pianos,
for it must be admitted that this wonderful people are adepts in wood
carving, but as long as they cling to old American models there is no
danger of Japanese competition even if the duty were taken off.
OW that the World's Fair at St. Louis has passed into history
the old discussion is again revived as to the real value of such
great international expositions. Is the game really worth the
candle? Does the country in which the exposition is held and the
Government which must aid it, receive a return at all commensurate
to the money expended ?
Those critics who measure results from strict rules of bookkeep-
ing are already declaring that the St. Louis Fair has been a failure.
Criticism is apt to be very narrow-minded. It is impossible to meas-
ure the benefits of such an undertaking by the immediate outcome
in dollars and cents. The benefits of the St. Louis Fair will be felt
for generations in American trade. Then, again, its educational
advantages are of incalculable benefit to the country. Individual
exhibits, too have received fair benefits for their outlay. The exhibit
of the Baldwin Company, which won two grand prizes was of such
a character that thousands of people were afforded an opportunity
to gain a more comprehensive idea of piano making than ever before.
This exhibit was of such a variety and extent as to compel a certain
admiration and respect for piano making.
The great value of expositions is lasting. It does not close
when the exposition ends, but like advertising it has a cumulative
power.
N