Music Trade Review

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REVIEW
THE
ffUSIC TIRADE
V O L . L X . N o . 1 0 Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman BUI at 373 Fourth Ave., New York, March 6, 1915
S1NG
$ 2 E OOPI I R!'E 1 A£ E N T S
Falling Asleep At the Switch.
SHORT time ago a leading official of the Piano Manufacturers' National Association remarked
in my presence that he would favor combined action to the effect that piano manufacturers
should exclude their advertising from such music trade papers which carried the announce-
ments of talking machine manufacturers. In that coercive way he thought the encroach-
ment of the talking machine upon the player could be checked.
I replied by saying that The Music Trade Review was the first music trade publication to treat the
talking machine intelligently in its columns, and to suggest it as a business creating adjunct to the
piano merchant's stock.
I said further that a combination such as he proposed would not have the slightest effect upon my
actions—that the Partingtonian wielding of the broom of prejudice could not for one moment sweep
back the onward rush of the tide of human progress—that a superficial and coercive move calculated
to keep talking machine advertising out of music trade papers would have about as much effect in
holding back talking machine developments as a pop-gun would have against a forty-five centimetre
cannon.
The trouble with this gentleman and others is due to the fact that they have taken a superficial
view of the talking machine. Their business has slumped and they blame the talking machine. Many
of them have not as yet realized that it is a musical instrument possessing vast entertaining features.
The manufacturers of talking machines have exhibited intelligence and broad business moves in
the conduct of their enterprises. In the first place they have enforced wise rules in governing the
sales of their products. They have associated the greatest artists with their work. They have spent
millions of dollars annually in advertising the entertaining powers of the talking machine, and be-
cause thousands of dealers over the country have realized that the talking machine possesses won-
derful business building powers and have availed themselves of that opportunity, it does not mean
that the dealers have been sending money to the talking machine manufacturers which should have
gone to the piano manufacturers.
Not so.
The talking machine has been a creator of business, and manufacturers and dealers understand
full well that the sale of a machine is simply the opening of a continuous, profitable business deal.
The profits in record sales mount steadily up, and purchasers are attracted each month to ware-
rooms for new records largely through the result of advertising which is put forth announcing spe-
cial feature hits.
Now, what are the piano men doing to offset this? Nothing, save in a few sporadic cases.
Advertising player-pianos at cut prices in big type does not mean accentuated interest in the in-
strument itself. The educational features, save in isolated cases, are lacking. What is the trade as
a whole doing toward emphasizing the entertain 1 ng powers of the player?
A mere howl against the talking machine accomplishes nothing.
The talking machine is a tremendous force—greater because it is backed by men who have a broad
and comprehensive view of the situation. They are associating great artists constantly with their
products. They are introducing new features—new attractions all the while.
Now, what are the music roll men doing to boost their own business?
Take the papers of the country, from Coast to Coast, and I believe it will be difficult to locate
A
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