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THE MUSIC TRADE
EDWARD LYMAN BILL - Editor and Proprietor
1
J. B. SPILLANE, Managing Editor
Executive and Reportorlal Stall:
: B. BKITTAIN WILSON,
... \ A. J. NICKLIN,
CARLETON CHACE,
AUGUST J. TIMPE,
L. M. ROBINSON,
W U , B. WHITE,
GLAD HENDBKSON,
L. E. BOWEXS.
,;•'
BOSTON OFFICE
.
CHICAGO OFFICE:
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£ J- VAN HARLINGIN Consumers' Building.
_ . . ' , . .-.-
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NEWS SERVICE IS SUPPLIED WEEKLY BY OUR CORRESPONDENTS
LOCATED IN THE LEADING CITIES THROUGHOUT AMERICA.
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REMITTANCES, In other than currency forms, should be made payable to Edward
Lyman Bill.
Departments conducted by an expert wherein all ques-
technical nature relating to the tuning, regu-
lating and repairing of pianos and player-pianos are
l d v e p d l Illieilto. d e a ] t w i t h > w i n b e f o u n ^ i n a n o t h e r gection of this
paper. We also publish a number of reliable technical works, information concerning which
will be cheerfully given upon request.
tions of a
Exposition Honors Won by The Review
Grand Prix
Diploma
Paris Exposition, 1900
Silver Medal.. .Charleston Exposition, 190*
Pan-American Exposition, 1901
Gold Medal
St. Louts Exposition, 1904
Gold Medal. .Lewis-Clark Exposition, 1905
LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONES—NUMBEBS 5982—5983 MADISON SQ.
Connecting 1 all Departments
Cable address: "Elblll. N«w York."
NEW Y O R K ,
DECEMBER
5, 1914
EDITORIAL
T" HERE have been some very pleasing evidences during the
J- past week of a quickening of activity in both piano and
supply manufacturing departments of the industry, which are as
significant as they are satisfying, and which point to a distinct im-
provement in business conditions throughout the country.
Some manufacturing concerns in the music trade industry in
New York have been working overtime the past week and have
sufficient orders to keep them busy for some considerable time to
come. This gratifying development marks, it is hoped, the inaugu-
ration of a new era of business progress and stability that will be
felt throughout the entire country. It is a time for one and all to
put their shoulders to the wheel and push the business chariot out
of the rut of pessimism into the solid roadway of confidence.
Advices from most of the important commercial centers
; throughout the country indicate a trend toward better conditions
and the small dealer is gaining courage, developing sales and
; placing orders with the manufacturer in a manner that would indi-
cate that buyers for pianos and player-pianos can be secured if they
are properly sought for.
T
HE more liberal policy of the banks of New York toward bor-
rowers under the new Federal Reserve System was indicated
Saturday by the bank statement, which shows an increase of
,$7,941,000 in loans and a decrease in excess reserve of $5,466,340.
I
During the two weeks in which the Federal Bank has been in
i operation in New York there has been a marked decrease in money
! rates. Call loans are now being made at 4*/? per cent, in liberal
i amounts, whereas before the inauguration of the new system 6 per
cent, was the rate. The banks have been liberal purchasers, more-
, over, of commercial paper on a 5 per cent, basis for the best names.
1 and time money is being liberally provided at 5 ^ per cent., with
exceptions at lower rates.
HE used square piano is such a small factor in the trade at the
present time that it is rare indeed to see one offered for sale,
• by a piano house, and when such an instrument is advertised it is
I at a price little in excess of the actual cost of repairs and cartage.
T
REVIEW
As a matter of fact, several concerns have found that it pays them
to distribute old squares taken in exchange at regular intervals
among deserving institutions and individuals. The advertising, gen-
erally free, that is obtained through the newspapers and other
means as the result of such a procedure is worth far more than the
profit that could be realized from the sale of the instrument. Then,.
too, a square piano that is sold at retail is sure to crop up as another
problem later on, when the purchaser is persuaded to buy an up-
right or a player.
Used upright pianos can now be purchased for such a small
amount that the low price of the square proves a selling argument
with very few purchasers. A use for some old squares that is being
generally adopted is to employ them for outdoor advertisements,
and in various sections of the country the dealers have placed old
square pianos in fields and other open places near much traveled
roads, propped up the lid and displayed advertisements with white
paint thereon. If the old square is well coated with heavy paint
before being placed outdoors it will stand a stress of weather for a
surprisingly long time. An old square in a conspicuous position
advertises the business of its owner as the three gilt balls and the
mortar advertise the business of the pawnbroker and druggist, re-
spectively. As a sign the old square is worth many times the ten
or fifteen dollars which would be obtained for it by direct sale and
still leaves a prospect for the sale of a more modern instrument. '
LTHOUGH the closing recently of the piano department of
R. H. Macy & Co. will have little or no effect upon the local
trade, the move is of considerable interest for a number of reasons,
chief among them being the fact that it marks the passing of the
only piano store or department in New York, at least, where in-
struments were sold exclusively for cash. It is practically an ad-
mission that the concern doing a strictly cash business is not in a
position to compete with an entire trade devoted to the instalment
system.
A gentleman connected with the Macy department, in speaking
of its closing, said: "The failure of the department to prove a
paying proposition shows conclusively that it is the element of terms
and not price that figures most prominently in the retail piano busi-
ness. In this department we could offer pianos at less than whole-
sale prices for cash and yet not find a buyer, while pianos of equal
or cheaper grade were being sold for more than 40 per cent, higher
than our price by other stores at terms of $10 a month or less. It
appears that the average buyer belonging to that great majority
who are unable to see the benefits to be derived from paying cash
for a piano does not worry in the slightest about the full cost of
the instrument. He simply wants to know how much it is going
to cost him at the outset and how much he will have to pay each
month."
The experience of the Macy department, as of several of the
large mail order houses, has proved, however, that people in the
small towns and rural districts are more willing to pay cash for
what they buy than city people, the bulk of the Macy sales being
on a mail order plan.
.
.
A
T is hardly conceivable in these days of modern business methods
that piano manufacturers would be guilty of selling instru-
ments at less than the cost of manufacturing them and without
knowing that they were losing money with each sale. Yet a recent
examination in connection with a bankruptcy case has brought out
the fact that such a condition actually existed.
.
It leads one to wonder just how many members of the trade
are in a position to tell exactly how much it costs to make pianos,
how much it costs to market them, and likewise the exact margin
of profit. The mere adding up of the cost of the materials, totals
of wages and rent and other major items does not give any clear
idea of the overhead as well as minor costs. As medium-priced
pianos are made to-day it is the little details that cost. These are
insidious, for these apparently insignificant items do not loom to
any great extent separately, but in the aggregate represent a sur-
prisingly large amount.
It is not the cost of material or the wages of workmen that
should worry the manufacturer, but the cost of doing business and
all that the term implies. Careful and frequent auditing by ex-
perts forms one of the simplest solutions for the problem of ascer-
taining production costs and profits. And the piano manufacturer
I