Classic Mode

Music Trade Review

Issue: 1911 Vol. 53 N. 18

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
EDWARD LYMAN BILL - Editor and Proprietor
J. B. SPILLANE, Managing Editor
Executive and Reportorial Staff
GLAD. HENDERSON,
A. J. NICKLIN,
AUGUST J. TIMPE,
B. BRITTAIN WILSON,
W M . B. W H I T E ,
W. H. DYKES,
L. E. BOWERS.
BOSTON OFFICE:
CHICAGO OFFICE:
E. l\ VAN HARLINGEN, 37 South Wabash Ave.
Telephone, Central 414.
Telephone, Main 6950.
Room 806.
PHILADELPHIA:
MINNEAPOLIS a n d ST. PAUL:
ST. LOUIS:
JOHN H. WILSON, 324 Washington St.
R. W. KAUFFMAN.
ADOLF EDSTEN.
SAN FRANCISCO:
CLYDE JENNINGS.
S. H. GRAY, 88 First Street.
CINCINNATI, O.: JACOB W. WALTERS.
BALTIMORE, M D . : A. ROBERT FRENCH.
LONDON, ENGLAND: 1 Gresham Buildings, Basinghall 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.
SUBSCRIPTION, (including postage), United States and Mexico, $2.00 per year; Can-
ada, $3.50; all other countries, $4.00.
ADVERTISEMENTS, $2.50 per inch, single column, per insertion.
On quarterly or
yearly contracts a special discount is allowed. Advertising Pages, $75.00.
REMITTANCES,
in other than currency forms, should be made payable to Edward
Lyman Bill.
Music Section
Player and
An important feature of this publication is a complete sec-
tion devoted to the interests of music publishers and dealers.
Departments conducted by an expert wherein all ques-
tions of a technical nature relating to the tuning, reg-
Tp(*hnif*9l f l o n a r f i n o n f c
ulating and repairing of pianos and player-pianos are
I C l l l l l l i a i l f t f f d l IIUC11IS. d e a l t ^ v i t h i w j n b e f o u n d j n another section of this
paper. We also publish a number of reliable technical works, information concerning
which will be cheerfully given upon request.
Exposition Honors Won by The Review
Grand Prix
Paris Exposition, 1900
Silver Medal. . .Charleston Exposition, 1902
Diploma. ...Pan-American Exposition, 1901
Gold Medal
St. Louis Exposition, 1904
Gold Medal. ...Lewis-Clark Exposition, 1905
LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONES NUMBERS 4677 and 4678 GRAMERCY
Connecting a l l Departments.
Cable address : "Elbill, N e w York."
NEW YORK,
NOVEMBER
4, 1911
EDITORIAL
T
HERE is no article to-day created by human hands which car-
ries with it a greater advertising value for its makers than
the piano.
It is often a subject of comment that some piano manufacturers
are far better known in public and private circles than their products
or financial standing would seem to warrant, while manufacturers
in other lines whose financial backing is infinitely greater are but
little known and their names are rarely ever mentioned in their
communities.
When a manufacturer makes a little of everything his line does
not stand out with the strength that attracts attention, and when
he manufactures an article which is in daily use in the home for a
period of long years it seems that there is a certain advertising
value that goes with that product.
Then, again, there is an army of men constantly talking piano
names so that the public sometimes realize than a piano manufac-
turing institution is rich and powerful even though it may belong
to the peanut variety.
Piano manufacturers are specialists and this is the era of
specialism.
To be known as a big piano manufacturer brings a certain
amount of advertising that is apt to bring returns.
One frequently mentions an obscure manufacturer in some
fields and it is remarked that he makes nice goods, but so long as
he makes a little of everything no one knows just exactly what the
product is.
But the man who makes pianos and specializes on pianos alone
is creating a name for himself and a reputation which should grow
with the vears.
REVIEW
There is an army of people who are advertising special lines
all the while and piano manufacturers are among those who draw
a good advertising value from their products.
O
F course, the government suits brought against the big corpo-
ration will not help trade, everyone knows that, but the mills
will grind just the same. People will eat some, drink a little, and'
now and then buy a piano, why not?
Whether it is a friendly or unfriendly suit that the United
States Government has brought against the Steel Corporation, every
cool-headed man knows that when all has been said and done in
the courts vested rights will be unimpaired, the property will still
exist, and the steel business will continue to be transacted at a profit
for the stockholders.
Starting off with this principle fixed in the mind, no one should
be misled to-day by the efforts of those who make it their business
to depress securities and profit by sounding the trumpet of mis-
fortune.
With the merits of the controversy between the Government and
the Steel Corporation The Review has nothing to do. It may or may
not be technically a violator of the Sherman law. But this much is
known: The company has never been hiding behind mysterious
doors in transacting its enormous business. Xo combination ever
formed was more open and above board. When it was created the
details of its resources and capitalization were known. It was no
South Sea bubble. Those who invested in its stocks found in time
earnings to justify their purchase even of the common issue. The
values are there and will not be hastily destroyed.
So let's talk about the weather.
CENSUS bulletin gives figures showing the growth of New
A
York's factory industries in the last five years. The figures
throw light on the question of whether capital or labor has
profited the more by the expansion. The notion has been assid-
uously fostered that capital is absorbing a larger percentage of the
industrial product and labor a smaller percentage. The truth is
there has been no material change.
The following are the figures for the years 1904 and 1909,
with the last three ciphers omitted:
,
Value of products
Material
Labor
Miscellaneous expenses
.Net income
1904.
N
*2.4SS.34(>
$1,348,603
541,160
:i01,576
$2,191,339
,
'
1909. ^
$3,369,490
$1,856,904
743,263
386,074
$2,986,241
?287,007
$383,249
The following is the distribution in costs of each dollar's worth
of product for the two years:
Material
Labor
Miscellaneous expenses
Capital's income
Total
1904.
54.50
21.75
12.25
11.50
100.00
1909.
55.00
22.00
11.50
11.50
100.00
These figures show that no change has occurred in the per-
centage of the industrial product absorbed by capital; that labor
is securing slightly more; that a little more is being paid out for
material and a little less for miscellaneous.
The remarkable thing about the figures is the steadiness of the
percentage. They squarely refute those who shout against the
growth of capitalistic profits and the anti-socialists who shout
against the growth of labor costs. Things are about as they should
be, so far as the division of the products is concerned.
I
N another section of The Review the announcement is made of
a series of articles which will be continued for a number of
weeks, with the object in view of stimulating trade thought along
lines which may be of benefit to the retail branch of the industry.
It is not the intention of The Review to have lengthy articles
written, but rather to present upon its pages some bright, scintil-
lating thoughts reflecting the views of salesmen upon topics which
are constantly coming up in trade discussion everywhere.
There are plenty of good, bright men connected with the retail
department and in inaugurating this campaign it is with the view
of accentuating thought along educational lines.
The articles need contain but two hundred and fifty words.
Full particulars are given elsewhere.
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
Should Piano Prices Be Advertised?
A Question in Which the Entire Trade is Vitally Interested—Should Manufacturers Themselves
Advertise Prices at Which Their Instruments May be Purchased at Retail—Would Not This
Plan Do Away With Misrepresentation and Improper Grading of Pianos—It is Admitted
That One Price is a Mockery Unless the Price be the Right One—Some Manufacturers
Have Already Adopted This Plan and If It Comes in General Use It Will Do Away With
Improper Grading of Instruments—The Special Brand Piano Would Be Forced Into Its True
Position—What is There Sacred About a Piano Price That It Should Not Be Advertised—
A Simple and Straightforward Business Plan—The Music Trade Has Suffered in Reputation
Through Questionable Methods Adopted By Unscrupulous Men, and As a Consequence, a
Portion of the Public Has Lost a Certain Degree of Confidence in Piano Values—The Evil
Accomplished by Sensational Methods—The Need of a National Trade Policy Whereby the
Question of Piano Values Would Be Fairly Considered—No House Has Ever Suffered
Through the Adoption of One Price, or Through a Failure to Adopt Flamboyant Methods.
S
HOULD PIANO PRICES BE ADVERTISED? That is a
question on which there is considerable trade disagreement.
Years ago we began the first campaign for the establishing of
one price at retail; we urged, among other things, the adoption of
the plan by manufacturers themselves whereby prices on their in-
struments should be advertised broadly.
Such a definite stand by the men who make the instruments
would do much towards the maintenance of price stability every-
where; and, while it would not be feasible to penalize dealers for
the lowering of prices, yet there would be the satisfaction of know-
ing that correct prices were placed upon all pianos; and it is pure
tommyrot to shout one price and not have that the right price, for
there is no business honesty in charging a price far beyond the
actual value of an instrument and sticking to it.
If the makers themselves would advertise the figure at which
their instruments could be purchased at retail, it would do more
to rehabilitate the piano business in the estimation of the public
from the shock it has suffered through an encounter with the
guessing contest schemes than any single act that could be per-
formed.
Such a method would do away completely with misrepresenta-
tion on the part of some dealers who frequently place exorbitant
prices upon reliable instruments which they are not desirous of sell-
ing, but keep simply to use them as a drawing power, while they
place upon nondescript pianos prices which are far beyond their
actual worth. They then endeavor to dispose of the no-name pianos
at high prices, placing them among the "just-as-good" class.
In this way the sales of reputable instruments are diminished
by a condition which the dealer creates through an "any-old-price"
system. If manufacturers fix their own retail prices they would at
once destroy all possibilities of dishonest pricings.
The cheap piano and the special brand piano would be forcetl
into its true position.
Instruments would be sold in their proper class and with price
gradings by the men who created the instruments, for who, after
all, is more competent to judge of piano values than the men who
make them?
Surely if hat manufacturers and cigar manufacturers can ad-
vertise their prices broadly, why should not the men who manu-
facture the King of musical instruments?
What is there about a piano price that it should be religiously
kept in the background and screened from public gaze?
Is it too sacred for the light of day, or what?
We believe that if 25 per cent, of the manufacturers would
agree to do this, in less than twelve months thereafter 75 per cent,
of the industry would have joined, and it would be practically
impossible after a little to dispose of pianos out of their class.
In other words, the special brand instruments—that is, pianos
whose origin is not directly traceable—would occupy their true
position.
Obviously the dealers could not, by false pricing, force a special
brand piano into the class where only a legitimate instrument
belonged.
In a little while the policy of fixed prices would restore con-
fidence, so that people would understand full well that they were
not being overcharged in purchasing pianos.
The instruments would be sold in their proper class and the
future stability of the trade assured.
One stumbling block to the adoption of this plan has been
the fact that some piano men, through a system of local advertising,
have boomed some instruments of the cheaper class to such a
point that they have acquired a splendid representation locally.
The prices placed on the same make of instruments differ so
materially in different sections that manufacturers have been loath
to advertise prices broadly, because it would interfere, it is alleged,
with certain acts of their trade representatives.
Of course, such action requires backbone not of the chocolate
eclair variety, and backbone is a necessary requisite in carrying out
radical rules in any business; but every thinking man knows that
the trade has suffered, in reputation by reason of questionable price
methods pursued by a certain class of men.
Such not only reflect upon the men putting them forth, but to
an extent upon the entire trade.
Intelligent dealers know full well that the confidence of the
public in piano values was very seriously shaken through the puzzle
contest schemes.
This evil The Music Trade Review fought single-handed, with-
out the support of another trade publication in this country.
Some of the conductors of papers were afraid to offend certain
clients and they remained quiescent upon this vital subject until The
Review had aroused the trade to such an extent that the puzzle
scheme was taken up by the Dealers' National Association at two
consecutive annual conventions.
Then the United States Government stepped in, and the puzzle
schemes are now practically extinct.
It is the evil which men do that lives after them, and the effect
of the puzzle-coupon scheme has been to leave a legacy to the trade
which has been rich in depressing influences.
Now, suppose manufacturers had established their prices at
retail for pianos!
The people of this country would not have bitten at the puzzle
schemes with such avidity, because they would have easily found
that the prices on the "puzzle" pianos had been elongated to cover
the giving of the $100 coupon.
That is one way in which the guessing schemes could have
been stopped earlier in their progress.
It is conceded by the most progressive minds in this trade that
the more simple and straighforward the methods adopted the better
it is for business.
In other words, pianos must be sold under correct pricings,
and the sensational forms of misrepresentation must be abandoned
else the whole business will suffer very seriously.
(Continued on page 7.)

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