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THE
MUJIC TFADE
V O L . L X . N o . 12 Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman Bill at 373 Fourth Ave., New York,March 20,1915
SING
? 2 E O?PER E IEA£ E N T S
AKING music roll sales more profitable is a subject which should interest every piano
merchant in this country, for it must be conceded, from the retailer's viewpoint, that the
present condition of the retail music roll business is not entirely pleasing.
There are some piano merchants who conduct every department of their enterprises
on a systematic basis which insures reasonable profits, yet it is also true that as a whole the music
roll business, which should be profitable, is not paying nearly what it should in the way of returns
for money invested—for space used and a fair share of overhead expenses.
Surely it should be easy to locate the cause and to change the effect.
It is conceded that the player-piano is steadily advancing as it should in public opinion; and
the player-piano of to-day is a very important factor in the trade situation. In fact, it is the lead-
ing feature, for each year the gap between the player-piano and the straight piano grows nar-
rower, and the player-piano to-day may be considered a permanent part of the music trade industry.
The enormous forward move of the player-piano in the past ten years has been due to certain
primary causes—one, the surprisingly improved mechanism and its wonderful powers, and the
other a clever presentation of the musical possibilities of the player-piano to the public.
I do not think, however, that the player has been artificially forced, but it has taken a strong hold
on the public and it is being pushed steadily forward by popular pressure, aided by publicity.
Surely then its wonderful progress—the perfection accomplished in player mechanism—should
insure its constant growth. And yet, notwithstanding the concededly strong position of the player-
piano, dealers are complaining because the music roll business does not pay. In my opinion the
fault largely lies with the dealers themselves.
If they used the same forceful methods in pushing the music roll department which are exhib-
ited by talking machine dealers in selling records, there would be no question as to its profitableness.
The present conditions would be completely changed.
The talking machine men have carried on an extensive advertising campaign in which there
has been the basic desire to create talking machine ownership on the part of readers. But the sale
of machines is only one point in the grand business plan—the records are the real profit makers, and
their monthly sales are supported by the best kind of publicity. Every facility is given to the public
to test the records and to encourage their purchase, and what are the music roll men doing to
boom their product?
There are some men who have handled the music roll business on a progressive plan. As a
result, they have made the department pay. But there is no use in denying the fact that the roll
section as a whole does not pay what it should.
There are many dealers paying more attention to the sale of talking machines than they are to
music rolls.
Why is this?
Because there has been a demand created for the former, and there has been no systematic,
concerted effort to interest the public in the latter. What little work is done by the dealers is through
local channels, and even then it is carried on in a most indifferent, unsystematic manner.
Big discounts and the cheapening of music rolls will not accomplish the desired end. The
people must be interested, and if educational work were carried on in a creative way, producing
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