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48
THE
EDWARD LYMAN BILL • Editor and Proprietor
J. B. SPILLANE, Managing Editor
Pnbllshcd Every Saturday at 1 Madison Avenue. New Y*rk
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
did he accept the present situation, with its at-
tendant limits on prices for popular music, but
actually confined his dealings to ten-cent and
department stores. In other words, this pub-
lisher—who is well known to the trade, by the
way, as a former jobber, and whom publishers
know as the financial sponsor for the publishing
firm with which he is connected—has decided
to ignore the regular dealers and to concentrate
his efforts on the ten-cent establishments and
the department stores.
SUBSCRIPTION. (Including postage), United States and
Mexico. $2.00 per year; Canada, ft-50; all ether coun-
tries, $4.00.
Can the Trade Endure the Blow?
What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the
gander,
it might be said. That is, if the pub-
Telephones—Numbers 4677 and 4678 Gramercy
lisher can stand it, of course the regular trade
Connecting all Departments
can also endure it. The publisher's policy, how-
ever, cannot but be regarded as amazing. "A
NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 12, 1810
while ago I v.isited the trade, offering two song
numbers as features," he says. "My price to the
trade was 12% cents per copy, the retail price to
All news matter, music or mail, in-
be 25 cents. I agreed to sell none of the music
tended for this department should be
to the ten-cent stores, so that the regular dealers
addressed The Editor Music Section
would be sure of getting their rate. The offer
Music Trade Review, 1 Madison Avenue,
fell flat, however, and not enough songs were
New York, and Not to individuals.
sold in that way to justify a continuation of
the offer. Furthermore, I decided that I would
abandon the regular field altogether. The prices
at which the ten-cent stores offer music to the
public, together with their methods of display-
ing and pushing their wares, have in my mind
displaced the regular trade, and therefore I seek
the latter no longer." This will be startling
enough to the reader without immediate com-
The coming of the ten-cent store methods of ment in print. Several incidental points arise
selling sheet music, the price-cutting of the de- at once, however, from the principles involved in
partment stores, the wails of some publishers the publisher's statements. One of them is that
thereat, the acceptance of conditions by others, one cannot know that the songs he offered had
the difficulties with which the regular dealers any merit. It is not to be supposed that the
have had to contend as a consequence, and regular dealers threw away any chance to make
the need for such dealers to be sure they keep 100 per cent, profit on a song for which there
alert and up-to-date in order to meet the changed was a demand. In fact, that may have been the
situation, all these details of the present music entire trouble—lack of merit. Another point is
publishing conditions have been noted and dis- that hits of the day are being offered to the
cussed in these columns from time to time. The regular dealer at $8 and $9 per hundred, and
writer thereof realized that some publishers were even less, so why should they pay $12.50 for
sincere in bewailing the fact that the average songs that naturally could be no more than
price level had dropped. He was also aware hits? But what is most striking about the
that other publishers were striving with might whole matter is that an experienced publisher
and main to sell their music at the lower figures, should decide to ignore the regular trade. As
the while they asserted that the figures repre- well might he declare that the sun does not
sented the working of unmitigated evil. But shine.
it was only the other day that the writer met
As to Shortage of Trade Supply.
a publisher who frankly admitted that not only
If anyone should solemnly assert that there
COMMENTS B Y
Teachers and students
of the piano will find in
this book an instructor
that not only will replace
the old methods by pre-
senting the elements of
music in a manner to
meet the conditions but
will do so in such a pleas-
ant way as to interest
even the most indifferent
student.
The little compositions
used as exercises through-
out the book is a new de-
parture that will act as
an incentive to the stu-
dent by making him feel
that he is progressing.
Price, 76 cents.
We are the publishers of the
music of
"The Arcadians"
Now the season's hit in both
London and N e w York
Chappell&Co.,Ltd.,
is no sunlight, and should believe his assertion,
it would be fruitless to argue with him. So it
is in this case. The chief importance of this
record of the statements quoted is to convey
to the several thousands of dealers who con-
stitute the regular trade the fact that one pub-
lisher has decided to get. along without them.
Is this to be regretted? It is a fact, of course,
that the regular dealers find difficulty in ob-
taining enough music to supply their stock. Un-
fortunately, there is so little popular music pro-
duced nowadays that what little is offered to the
regular dealers they are glad to snap up at sight.
So few are the songs turned out by the music
publishing houses of New York, Chicago, Phila-
delphia, Boston, and so on, that the dealers face
an actual shortage of supply. It is not as if
every publishing house was turning out dozens
of songs a month, where there is room for
only three or four from each. It is a serious
thing, therefore, that one publisher should with-
draw from the trade the favor of his offerings.
He will be sadly missed, we are sure. Ere now,
perhaps, some regular dealer, struggling in vain
to obtain sufficient songs to present to his
patrons, has gone to the wall for want of just
the two or three extra numbers that this one
publisher could have supplied. Would the rest
of the troubled dealers feel more ease of mind
if they were assured that several new publish-
ing firms were to begin business and were soon
to send their salesmen to the trade with a
line of "sure-fire" hits. If even the publisher
mentioned should reconsider his determination
and should go on a trip to the trade and offer
to let it have a few thousand copies of his
songs, would the dealers heave sighs of relief;
would they welcome him with open arms? We
wonder.
NEW SHAPIRO STORE IS OPENED.
Music Publisher Makes Trip to Washington,
D. C, to Weld
Latest Link in His Retail
Chain—Woman
in Charge of Philadelphia
Song Shop.
Maurice Shapiro, the music publisher, went to
Washington, D. C , yesterday to supervise the
opening of his new music store in that city.
Before leaving New York he informed The Re-
view that the store would be opened either last
night or to-day. Details of the opening will "be
published in this section next week. Mr. Sha-
THESE ARE POSITIVELY
IRRESISTIBLE!
Henry Lodge's
"Temptation Rag"
which no dancer can hear and keep still
AND
"TEMPTATION"
HINDS, NOBLE & ELDREOGE, 31-35 West 15th Street. New York
the great rag song adapted by Louis Weslyn
l i i i This Season's First Real Hits
FROM
"Temptation Rag"
"The Cubanola Glide" U
"Oh, What I Know About You"
• " My Southern Rose "<.«.„>
Sung-with Emphatic Success by Bonita
in all leading Vaudeville Theatres.
They tempt the Musician, the Dancer,
the Singer, the Buyer — Everybody.
(Song)
M.WITMARK&SONVA
HARRY
VON T O TILZER MUSIC PUBLISHING CO.
AD
s
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«5\ o£ oTnc E
New York
Chicago
London
Paris
' 2 5 West 43d Street, New York City
HCKINLEY
SHEET MUSIC
JOBBERS
V\fe Guarantee Filling Your Orders Complete
fhe Same Day Received.at Lowest Prices.
CHICAOO
McKJNLEY MUsic Co
NEW YORK