Music Trade Review

Issue: 1908 Vol. 46 N. 15

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
letter directly challenges an answer to a state- should do. Maybe Mr. Remick means that he is
ment made in these columns some two weeks sacrificing "professional copies" of his publica;
back, which reads: "If the power of Remick tions, to all and sundry who demand "a bunch
& Co. were used in the right direction it would of professionals"—orchestra music to gentlemen
go far to remedy existing conditions, which are who make a business of retailing it in the bar-
affecting his interests just as seriously as those rooms of 28th street, and valuable song slides
of his confreres." To give Mr. Remick a com- to poor singers who, when the hand of adver :
EDWARD LYMAN BILL - Editor and Proprietor plete and satisfactory answer, the writer would sity falls upon them, are sought out and ap-
have to go back to the time when he first took over proached by persons who make a living pur-
J. B. SPILLANE, Managing Editor
the Witney-Warner Publishing Co., of Detroit. Al- chasing for an infinitesimal sum what they well
*
J . HAYDEN-CLARENDON, E d i t o r
though this to a certain extent is past history, know to be stolen property. Or perhaps Mr.
the germ of the cut-price war (and the writer, Remick means that he has been sacrificing fees
Published Every Saturday at 1 Madison Avenue, New York
of course, alludes to the wholesale cut-price war) to miserable shyster theatrical managers, their
SUBSCRIPTION, (including postage), United States and
Mexico, $2.00 per year ; Canada, $3.50 ; all other couu
inaugurated by Mr. Remick at this time has effeminate piano players, or the grafting hus-
tries, $4.00.
since permeated the body of the music publish- bands of actresses who for some unaccountable •
Telephones—Numbers 4677 and 4678 Gramercy
ing world and to this day remains a deplor- reason have managed to clamber into the lime-
Connecting all Departments
able condition directly traceable to Mr. Remick's light. If such is the case, we hail Mr. Remick
NEW YORK, APRIL 11, 1908
avowed policy, that quantity sold at a minimum as a modern Abraham, sacrificing all that he
price is a better financial proposition than to should hold nearest and dearest to his business
uphold prices and sell on a smaller scale. So heart.
far as Mr. Remick is personally concerned he
Whomsoever the Cap Fits.
has proved beyond a doubt that his contention
Does Mr. Remick desire the writer to justify
was correct, but at a cost to those of his less further the sentence quoted above? We repeat
fortunate brethren who had neither the money (hat Mr. Remick's power is enormous, and used
nor the material to work along the same lines, in the right direction, would go far to remedy
The week has been one of singular dulness which will never be thoroughly realized. No existing conditions in the music trade, and we
for both publisher and retailer, if complaints doubt Mr. Remick will say, "it is merely a believe, moreover, that Mr. Remick is both
are to be taken as a criterion of trade condi- question of history repeating itself, a case of
ready and willing to use this power in the right
tions. There is nothing surprising, however, in the natural law—'the survival of the fittest.'" direction if given a fair chance to do so. The
this state of affairs, as from time immemorial Truly, but there is another law which has stood unfortunate part of the whole situation is that
Lent has been far from prosperous in the music the test of the ages—a law which will last long he has been heaped with a good deal of unde-
trade. Yet there is every hope that things will after the "fittest" has passed onward—a law served blame, barked at and reviled, until, driven
which from the birth of time has stood as the against the wall, he has retorted with the char-
look up toward Easter, as there is plenty of
basis of each and every religion and creed, "Do acteristic defi, "Damn it, I'll show them!" This
good material on the market.
unto others as you wish to be done by."
sort of attitude, although not surprising, is hard-
The Survival of the Fittest.
ly calculated to place the sheet music trade once
In another column of this department we
The Victim of His Own Sacrifice.
From Mr. Remick's letter we quote the sen- more upon a substantial and paying basis. There
print a characteristic letter from the head of
the well-known publishing house known as tence, "How much more do you want us to must be more of a spirit of give and take
If Mr. among the publishing fraternity before any real
Jerome H. Remick & Co. Mr. Remick's worst sacrifice than we are sacrificing?"
enemy will not accuse him of garrulousness, for Remick means that he is sacrificing his good and lasting good can be expected. We have
what little he says is usually much to the point, music at a price utterly inconsistent with a long preached cooperation as the remedy for
and in the past he has proved himself well worth reasonable profit, we beg of him, for the sake one and all of the existing evils which are so
while listening to. The Review has long re- of the music trade as a whole, to stay his hand rampant in the music publishing world, and
garded many of Mr. Remick's innovations—if, and stop the sacrifice, for Mr. Remick must well the sooner some sort of alliance can be formed
the sooner the emancipation of the trade as a
indeed, they were his innovations, which is a know that department stores, jobbers, to say
whole may be expected. And to the publisher
debatable point—in the world of music publish- nothing of the buying public, are thankless gods
who chances to read the paragraph headed, "The
to
make
sacrifices
to.
Again,
if
Mr.
Remick
ing as distinctly antagonistic to the general wel-
Victim of His Own Sacrifice," and who may
fare of the trade as a whole, and while it has means that he is sacrificing his good money to
fondly imagine that it is directed to Jerome H.
induce
useless
and
ungrateful
performers
to
no hesitation in placing itself on record as
sing songs that would sell, and sell well, with- Remick alone, we point out the fact that he is
against Mr. Remick's policy on a number of
sadly mistaken, it is a cap designed for every
vital questions, it has never for a moment ques- out their assistance, then we agree with Mr. head that it fits, and the writer imagines that it
tioned his honesty of purpose. Mr. Remick's Remick that he is sacrificing more than he
COMMENTS B Y -
M'KINLEYIO'MUSIC
FRANCIS, DAY & HUNTER
are the publishers of the most successful
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and all the successful songs sung by
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NEW YORK
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Write To-Day for Samples and Special Offer
McKINLEY MUSIC CO. WM. McKINLEY, Pros.
158 Harrison St., Chicago
74 5th Ave., N. Y.
The Greatest March Song
SINCE "GOOD-BYE LITTLE GIRL GOOD-BYE"
ii
TRUE HEART
By
ERNEST R.'BALL and GEO. GRAFF, JR.
Writers of
To the Dealer
D
O If You Have Not Yet Got
OUR
I
T
N
NOVELTIES
O
W You are Losing Money
19O8
It «lll pay you to ke p lu touch with us. Writ* to-day.
THIEBES-STIERLIN MUSIC CO., m i
D
O
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OUR NEW ISSUE PROPOSITION
"AS LONG AS THE WORLD
ROLLS ON"
is of great interest to every live Dealer. We
Bill our Monthly New Issues at 5 cents per
Copy. Subscribe now. The following are
some of our best sellers:
Its Success Is Sweeping .the Country
"MOONBEAMS AND DREAMS OF YOU"—"A LITTLE
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—"WHILE YOU ARE MINE 1 —"MORNING CY"
"FOREST KING" March.
Write as To-day
VICTOR KREMER CO.
152 Lake Street
CHICAGO
ORDBR
NOW
M. WITMARK & SONS
144 W. 37th St., NEW YORK
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
tended far into the West. We of The Review
will fit a number too closely for comfort.
are endeavoring to doctor this open sore, and
"Young Man, Go West."
To quote Mr. Remick further. With almost at the same time prevent the poison from spread-
parental solicitude he invites the writer to "get ing, for heaven knows it has spread far enough.
out and travel, and go beyond the Harlem But all said and done, we are glad to hear from
river," for he is grieved apparently at the igno- Mr. Remick, for his letter at least shows that
rance displayed by this department of sheet he is interested in the conditions of the trade
of which he is so prominent a figure. And
music conditions outside "that little strip of
land" called for some unaccountable reason after all, while the publishing fraternity pays
New York instead of New Detroit, and which some interest, there is always hope that a certain
for some equally unaccountable reason was amount of "principle" remains.
chosen as the chief—if not the executive office
of Jerome H. Remick & Co. For Mr. Remick's NEWS FROM THEJVESTERN CAPITAL.
excellent advice the writer is profoundly grate- A Popular German Method—A McKinley Win-
ful, but unfortunately, like most advice, it comes
ner—Some Good Witmark Sellers—Thomp-
too late to be of any real value, inasmuch as
son's Good Trip—Bornstein Goes East.
during the past three years the writer has vis-
ited over three hundred cities and towns cover-
(Special to The Review.)
ing an area from Minnesota to New Orleans and
Chicago, 111., April 4, 1908.
from New York to San Francisco, in the United
It is a curious fact that the Kbhler Piano
States, and from Vancouver Island to Montreal, Method, translated from the German and pub-
in Canada, all the while keeping an eye on lished by the American music houses, has a sale
music trade conditions in which he was vitally rivaling that of the native productions. Just why
interested as a song writer. Again, while ap- this particular edition should be chosen from the
preciating Mr. Remick's kind invitation to visit rest of the foreign field is a puzzle, for although
his building in Detroit, which is verily "a model its methods are good it lacks the necessary rudi-
in every respect for the publishers of music," mentary instruction, and the contents in general
the writer might say that the Remick building would hardly seem to appeal to the American
in that city is no novelty to him, as on the taste. Its popularity, however, is probably on
afternoon of Tuesday, April 2, 1907, he had the
account of the price, as the volumes have been
privilege of going over it from cellar to roof
known to sell as low as $6 a nundred. There
at the invitation of Miss Blake, manager of the
are ten volumes in the German edition, although
Detroit professional department.
two of these are printed in this country. After
the publishers here have added the preliminary
The Seat of the Evil.
But to return to the subject at issue. The steps to the volumes and made other necessary
writer regards the trade paper much in the same changes, it will readily be seen that there can be
light as the layman regards the medical man, but very little profit in the books at the prices
as a medium that is, to correct the evils of the at which they are sold.
Wm. McKinley, of the McKinley Music Co., is
trade body which it represents. The music pub-
lishing trade to-day is dying on its feet from a particularly pleased with the sale of "Dixie Dar-
disease, the initial lesion of which is to be found ling." He says that if the sale continues at the
in New York. Mr. Remick is utterly and en- present rate the popular number will reach the
tirely wrong, therefore, in what he suggests by dignity of a regular old-time "hit" in the orig-
the question, "What do you suppose the West inal sense of the term.
Felix Feist, who has been exploiting the Leo
cares what Mr. Macy does, or S.iegel-Cooper?"
So far as these firms themselves are concerned Feist music here for the past few weeks, left
he is no doubt right, but the virus of retail cut- Thursday for New York.
The sale of the music of "The Three Twins"
rate music enters the body of the music trade
in New York, and from there is circulated and "Mary's Lamb" (Witmark & Sons), and
broadcast throughout the country, as is proven "Honeymoon Trail" (Chas. K. Harris), which are
by the fact that cut-rate wars have now ex- now running in Chicago, is very large, indicat-
ing that whatever the merits of the productions
from a critical standpoint may be, many of the
HOSE who have never been
airs have caught the popular taste. The depart-
ment stores are all making displays of the music.
introduced to
President H. F. Chandler, of the National
Music Co., left this week for a business trip to
Detroit and Cleveland.
After a five weeks' stay in Chicago, Ben Born-
stein, manager of the band, orchestra and slide
departments of Harry Von Tilzer Music Publish-
ing Co., of New York, departed for the East
to-day, leaving the business in the hands of the
hustling western representative, Harry L. New-
Those who meet it
man.
for the first time—
C. F. Thompson, of the Thompson Music Co.,
says that on his recent eastern trip he found
conditions improving everywhere. "Will You
Always Call Me Honey?" by the Thompson Co.,
will be off the press next week. Professional
All who know it
singers who have used it say that it will be a
and use it
marked success.
Ted S. Barron, of Barron & Thompson Co.,
New York, is here in Chicago visiting the trade
and also featuring the company's two song hits,
"Billy Dear" and "The Yiddisher Cow Boy."
Retail Price 10c. per copy
A very popular instrumental number is the
"Teddy Bears' Picnic," published by M. Witmark
& Sons, and is proving its popularity by its local
sale.
45
Edgar Lamson.—Jos. W. Stern and Ed. Marks,
who now compose the firm of Jos. W. Stern &
Co., wrote the "Little Lost Child" early in their
career. They have not, however, written any
songs in recent years, although we understand
that Ed. Marks still makes valuable suggestions
in the treatment of many lyrics submitted to
him for publication.
Edward Fairman.—You will find the informa-
tion you require on page 59 of Clarence Hamil-
ton's excellent volume, "Outlines of Music His-
tory," published by the Oliver Ditson Co., of
Boston, price $1.50. We heartily commend the
study of this little book, which should prove in-
valuable to you.
Ed. Flynn.—We are afraid that your sense of
humor is somewhat dense. Jerome H. Remick's
new building has no barber-shop and no restau-
rant to our knowledge, being a business house
pure and simple. The story was a facetious
elaboration of a description printed in all seri-
ousness by other papers. The entire article save
the description of the building was an invention.
"THE YANKEE PRINCE" SCORES.
(Special to The Review.)
Philadelphia, Pa., April 7, 1908.
Geo. M. Cohan made his reappearance here
last night at the Chestnut. Street Opera House
in his new musical play, "The Yankee Prince."
The papers are one in their opinions that it is
the* best thing Cohan has ever done.
"THE MERRY WIDOW" AN OLD ONE.
In an action brought by Henry W. Savage
against Miss Gertrude Hoffman, a vaudeville
actress, to enjoin her from using part of "The
Merry Widow" music in her act, Nathan Bur-
kan, her counsel, said that the book of the piece
was an adaptation of Meilhac and Halevy's play,
"L'Attache d'Ambassade," produced in Paris in
1861, that the famous waltz was taken from
Robert Planquet's operetta, "La Paradis de
Mahomet," and that the "Maxim" song was from
a collection of folksongs called "Chansons pro-
vencal." Next, please!
THE TEACHER'S FAVORITE
GRADED
"Century Edition"
EDITION
Deo.
U 3
PAT
U. 3.
Orr.
PAT.
Orr.
LEO FEIST, Feist Building, 134 W. 37th St., N. Y.
are unfortunate
are surprised
are delighted
Century Music Publishing Co.
21 West 28th Street, New York
F. B. Haviland has just published a new song
by Chauncey Pollack and Theo. Morse, entitled
"The Land of Heart's Desire."
NAT'L MUSIC CO.S
J
E
R
O
M
E
D.
K
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N
'S
SUCCESSFUL SONGS
From "THE DAIRYMAIDS"
( W o r d s b y M . E . ROURKE)
"MARY McGEB." "I'D LIKE TO MEET YOUR
FATHER." "CHEER UP GIRLS." "I'VE A MILLION
REASONS WHY I LOVE YOU." "NEVER MARRY
A GIRL WITH COLD COLD FEET."
From "THE LITTLE CHERUB"
"MEET ME AT TWILIGHT." (Wcrdt by F. Clifford
Harris). UNDER THE LINDEN TREE." (Words
by M. E. Ronrkc).
From "THE MORALS OF MARCUS"
"EASTERN MOON." (Words by M. E. Rourke).
T. B. HARMS CO.,
ROBERT TELLER SONS & DORNER
Music Engravers and Printers
SEND MANUSCRIPT AND IDEA OF TITLE
FOR ESTIMATE
M l WEST l l t h ST1EET, NEW Y O U CITY
NEW SHEET CATALOG
of 600 Standard 10c
Sellers, every one a
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Write to-day for samples and special offer.
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largest pi;
National Music Co. S t World's
"
publishers of 10c music.

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