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THE
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
Jeopardizing the Contract Sale System.
NEW phase of the "special sale" campaign which materialized
recently in Minneapolis, Minn., has aroused indignation of
A
reputable piano merchants in that city, because of the undue promi-
nence the advertising of this sale gives to,the foreclosure side of
the instalment system, and the absolutely untrue and unfair im-
pression given the public of sales methods in the piano field. It
conveys the idea that the piano merchant is a sort of Uriah Heep—
one who cunningly makes the sale of a piano with the object a
little later of demanding his pound of flesh—of foreclosing and
seizing it.
The advertisement in question occupied a column, strikingly
displayed, in the Minneapolis Tribune, and was headed: "Special
bargains in standard makes of pianos which have been foreclosed
on a mortgage past due. Some of the best makes in the world
represented, and we guarantee clear title."
There were twenty-two offerings in the list without any name
being mentioned of which the following two are samples: "3363—
upright, walnut case; original price, $200; balance due on mortgage,
$95.90. 4309—upright, oak case; original price, $350; balance due
on mortgage, $172." The advertisement closed as follows:
"We will sell any one of the above pianos at exactly balance on
mortgage, and no pianos have been used over eight months.
These accounts have been turned over to me by a large piano manu-
facturer and every one of these pianos is in some home here in the
city of Minneapolis and can be examined before buying. If cash
settlement is made, deduct 10 per cent, from balance on mortgage.
In most every instance I can take $5 down and $5 per month on
balance of the mortgage." Those interested in this advertisement
were asked to seek an appointment with the party who signed the
advertisement through the columns of The Tribune.
Obviously the writer of this advertisement is neither logical
nor correct in his presentation of facts, for an analysis will show
that on the pianos he has mentioned an average of over $20 per
month had been paid, while on the players referred to over $53.50
per month had been paid. That is based on his own statement
that no piano had been used over eight months.
It is singular that anyone receiving over $20 monthly on pianos
should foreclose them and then offer them to the public at $5 down
and $5 a month. Doesn't this show that this so-called "mortgage
sale" is an absolute fake?
The great danger from this species of advertising is well set
forth by a prominent piano merchant who points out in a letter to
The Review that the interests of the contract sale system of America
is jeopardized by this publicity, for the great bulk of the retail piano
business of the country is done on the instalment plan, and perti-
nently asks, "Shall the contract system be misrepresented by care-
less operators? If this wholesale foreclosing of mortgages on
pianos is true, even then is it wise for the press and advertisers to
make it known even if the 'large manufacturer' ( ?) shrinks from
having his name mentioned?"
This brings up the old question again of concentrated effort
on the part of legitimate piano dealers. If the trade is to be
conducted along correct and healthy lines the piano men of the
Twin Cities and other retailing centers throughout the United
States must combine and fight the efforts of those whose aim ap-
parently is to pull down the retail trade edifice regardless of conse-
quences in order to make money for the time being.
This "mortgage sale" referred to is only one of innumerable
forms of vicious special sale publicity, which, like a contagious
disease, has spread throughout the country, paralleling in some re-
spects the old puzzle picture contest scheme.
Meanwhile this criticism does not mean that there is not a
raison d'etre for the special sale. When it is properly conducted
and when there is a legitimate reason back of it, the special sale
is a clearance method that has met with approval. It is the misuse
of the special sale, with its exaggerations and misrepresentations,
that is harmful to the best interests of the trade and that calls for
the just criticism.
Anent Music Trade Conditions in India.
I
N the graphic picture of music trade conditions as they exist in
India, which was presented by the London correspondent of
The Review in last week's issue, one is able to realize the tre-
mendous gulf that exists between American methods and those that
exist in the Far East.
With the exception of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras, where
the better class of firms, controlled mostly by the English people,
have establishments, the business does not figure in a large way.
It is rather interesting to note that if the music house is of
any importance it also runs a small banking branch in which the
employes are made to deposit their savings at the rate of interest
which sometimes touches 7 per cent. Our correspondent does not
place a very high estimate on the class of men engaged in the
business, but if the music dealer is unable to realize the height of
his ambition—namely, to return to England with a fortune—he
generally makes an income on which he exists comfortably.
The growth of the business in India is set forth as follows:
"A hundred years ago the demand for pianos began in a very small
way; half a century later some fifteen per cent, of the white in-
habitants first got expensive instruments and in the seventies a
piano of some sort was to be found in almost every bungalow in
the country. Then Germany turned its attention to the East, sev-
eral firms sending out travelers. This plan was followed by Eng-
lish dealers with fair success, and in due course many excellent
American instruments whose resonant tone and quality of scale is
appreciated in India, ran the British article very close. To-day so
far as English and German makes are concerned, Germany is an
easy first." This is the old story; Great Britain may conquer India,
but Germany gets the trade in musical instruments and other
products. So it is in South America and in the Philippines.
In India they have a second-hand problem as we have in the
United States. It is a vast country with a horde of government
employes and, as in Washington, with the change of administra-
tion, they are frequently moved or removed, with the result that
the local auction house or piano dealer is able to buy second-hand
pianos at a trifle, the owners preferring to receive any sum rather
than pay the heavy railway freight.
The employes in the music houses in India are mostly English,
at least in the better class establishments, and it will interest piano
salesmen in the United States to know that these are paid a salary
running from $45 to $60 a month on contract, providing for a three
or five years' agreement and a second-class return passage to Eng-
land. Although our correspondent says that the imported employe
is able to live on this income he points out that the lucky ones are
those who have the good sense to marry their employer's daughter
—a stroke of genius which generally benefits their finances.
For the first-class piano tuner India is a Mecca. For it is
the most lucrative branch of the piano man's business inasmuch
as there are comparatively few competent tuners in that country,
and they are paid a liberal sum for their services.
The Review correspondent has not a very high opinion of the
musical intelligence of the majority of the people of India, for
alleged comic songs of the stupidest type possible invariably meet
with a ready'sale. Indeed, provided the quality is sufficiently poor,
the Anglo-Indian establishment can always depend upon selling
the contents of each parcel received from London within two or
three months of its arrival, since, luckily for trade, the dull-witted
exile revels in this sort of thing.
This criticism rather strikes home. If the amount of inane
trash in alleged musical form, which finds a market in the United
States is any criterion—which it is not—of the musical standing
of the people of this country, we could hardly feel justified in criti-
cizing conditions in India. As a matter of fact the use and de-
mand for popular music or popular novels only imply that a certain
percentage of people like this form of entertainment. It is no cor-
rect criterion of musical or literary taste.