Music Trade Review

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THE
MUSIC TRADE
REMFW
EDWARD LYMAN BILL - Editor and Proprietor
J. B. SPILLANE, Managing Editor
Executive and Reportorial Stall:
ORO. It. KEI.LMB,
L. K. ISOWEIIS,
W. H. DYKES,
F. II. THOMPSON,
J. HAYDHN CLARENDON,
A. J . N l C K U N .
T,. .T. Oil AM BERLIN,
B . BltlTTAIN WlI.HON.
BOSTON OFFICE:
CHICAGO OFFICE
EUNBST L WAITT, 100 ltoylston St.E. I'. VAN HARLINOKN, Room 806, 156 Wabash Ave.
PHILADELPHIA:
K. W. KAcrrMAN.
Telephone, Central 414.
MINNEAPOLIS and ST. PAUL:
ST. LOUIS:
ADOLF EUSTBN.
CHAS. N. VAN HORBN.
SAN FRANCISCO: S. II. GRAY, 2407 Sacramento St.
CINCINNATI. O.: BERNARD C. HOWRN.
BALTIMORE. MD.: A. KUUEIIT FHKNCH.
LONDON, ENGLAND: fifl Kflslnsrhnll St.. E. C
W. LIONEL STURDY, Manager.
Published Every Saturday at 1 Madison Avenue, New York
Entered at the New York Post Office as Second Class Matter.
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Canada, $."•!.50 : 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. $75.00.
REMITTANCES, In other than currency form, should be made payable to Edward
l.ymiin • -til.
Music Publishers'
An interesting feature of this publication Is a special depart
Department V V ment devoted excluB:vely to the world of music publishing
Exposition Honors Won by The Review
Grand Prix
Paris Exposition, 1900 Silver Medal.Charleston Imposition, 11)02
Diploma. Pan American Exposition, 1901 Gold Medal. ...St. Louis Exposition. 1904
Gold Medal
I.ewls-Clnrk Exposition, 1905.
LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONES-NUMBERS 4677 and 4678 GRAMERCY
Connecting all Departments.
Cable address: "Elblll. New York."
_ _
NEW YORK,
OCTOBER
10, 1908
EDITORIAL
D
URING a recent conversation, Frank Anrys, general manager
of the Wiley B. Allen Co., San Francisco, Cal, remarked:
"It has been my practice always to impress upon salesmen the neces-
sity of believing in the instruments which they offer for sale. They
must have confidence in their instruments, else they cannot succeed
in impressing others."
There can be no doubt as to the truth of Mr. Anrys' statement
and because of his belief in that principle is no doubt one of the
reasons why he has made such a distinct success of the big retail
concern which has been under his management. Now, if salesmen
generally would stop to consider the importance of having faith in
their product, many of them would do better.
How can a man reasonably expect to impress others unless he
himself shows an enthusiasm in that which he offers for sale, more
particularly so when we consider the amount of money involved in
the purchase of a single piano and what a large percentage that is
of the average yearly income of a piano purchaser.
Enthusiasm assists materially in achieving success and it is abso-
lutely indispensable to good salesmanship. There are always prob-
lems which confront the business man, whether manufacturer or
merchant, but without enthusiasm none of these problems can be
successfully solved.
T
H E R E is no retail establishment in which the problem does not
sometimes arise of creating in the members of the selling
force that enthusiasm which the firm itself feels in its own business
and which it thinks all the staff ought likewise to feel.
Many who grapple with a problem of this kind are prone to
err at the outset because of their endeavor to cure symptoms instead
of getting at the root of the disorder. For example, the fault may
lie wholly with the policy of the house. It may be that that policy,
too, has not taught the men that they are integral parts of a great
working machine and they must work in harmony with every other
part, else the results are not achieved..
REVIEW
The force as a whole may be thoroughly loyal, but may be
affected by indifference, which is sure to lead to poor business re-
sults. Again, it may be found that there are inefficient members of
the selling force who are constantly showing a lack of interest in
the store's welfare and those who exhibit that spirit of indifference
have perhaps influenced others.
We may argue that successful business management requires
the consideration of many elements which enter into business. There
is no doubt of that, but there must be a definite policy and that policy
must be adhered to. There must be determination and enthusiasm
on the part of the selling forces to work in harmony with that
policy and to have confidence and respect for the pianos that they
are selling. Without that they cannot interest others.
T
HERE is no longer in retail merchandizing a great gulf be-
tween the employer and the employed, and it is conceded that
the closer the two elements are brought together and the more
clearly they realize the interdependence of their interests, the better
for each, and it is by showing to salesmen in some tangible way his
belief in this idea that the retail merchant can best get them to
strongly support him in his enterprise.
Nor does he attempt this only by the granting of pecuniary
rewards, although necessarily he regards that as the most effective
object lesson. He knows that with some people money is not every-
thing, that some employes can be influenced to a far greater degree
by courteous treatment and consideration than others can by the
payment of what are to them large sums. Hence, the up-to-date
employer sees to it that those members of his staff who can be
brought into line by diplomatic handling get that handling and
those who require such influence, dollars and cents are brought to
bear. What particular form of monetary reward should be em-
ployed is up to each merchant, of course, to decide.
T
HERE is a great deal to learn in conducting modern enter-
prises and aggressive merchants realize that even if their
merchandise may be thoroughly reliable, their prices as low as those
in other stores, their advertisements as truthful, their services
prompt and exact, their store interiors as inviting, yet if the selling
force are permeated with inattention and overbearing, the estab-
lishment itself will not win out in a business sense. There is, in-
deed, an obvious difference between different mercantile establish-
ments. There is just as much difference between shops as there is
between salesmen and applying these thoughts directly to the retail
department of the music trade industry, it must be conceded that
those who are informed and who have personal knowledge of the
various retail establishments, that those who have made a study of
salesmanship themselves, who have cultivated enthusiasm and im-
pressed upon their men the importance of having confidence in their
product, are the ones who have forged rapidly to the front.
A
GENCY changes have been made with surprising frequency
during the past few weeks and still they go uninterruptedly
on. Rumors of new combinations, too, still obtain and there is
hardly a day passes that telegrams are not received at these offices,
making specific inquiries as to certain reports which have been
circulated in other cities.
We certainly have fallen into the rumor habit and it is a mighty
bad habit to have as a permanent attachment. It sort of unsettles
things. But ever since the big combination between the Knabe,
Chickering and Foster-Armstrong corporations occurred, the trade
has been particularly rich in rumors. Hardly a firm of importance
in the country has remained outside of the rumor breastworks.
They have all come in for a fair share in the general shakeup.
Rumors should be kept in their proper place, if anybody can tell
where that place is, for they have a tendency to distract one's
thoughts from business and it is business that pays, not rumors.
T
HERE is no denying the fact that the coming election is seri-
ously interfering with business in some sections. The ex-
citement can but result in turning the attention of people from
ordinary business into political by-paths. Then again, there is a
certain anxiety on the part of a large number of people who will be
guided very materially in their business plans for the future by the
election. Yet notwithstanding the strong elements which naturally
have, a deterrent effect upon trade, it is evident that business is