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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
EDWARD LYMAN BILL - Editor and Proprietor
J. B. SPILLANE, Managing Editor
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B. BKITTAIM WILSON,
A. J. NicKLiM,
ORLETON CHACE,
AUGUST J. TIMPE,
L. M. ROBINSON,
WM. B. WHITE,
GLAD HBNDBISON,
L. E. BOWXM.
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PlflVPl*-PianA
and
• l a j t l • lauv aim
t i o n s o f a technical nature relating to the tuning, regu-
lating
and repairing of pianos and player-pianos are
TPI*hnil*Jll
^ it
dealt witk
w i l l b c f o u n £ i n a n ( , t h e r ^^o^
of
iciiwiim
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NEW
YORK,
FEBRUARY
20,
1915
EDITORIAL
pleasing business indication for the year just recently
A MOST
opened is the demand for the better class of pianos reported
by wholesale traveling representatives throughout the country.
Dealers have changed their views materially as compared with a
few years ago when so many of them believed that money and not
reputation was the prime consideration in business. Many of the
men who believed that way are now out of business, or their stand-
ing has become uncertain. They have seen the error of their ways.
and have realized that selling good pianos at right prices is sounder
business than trying to fool the public by selling cheap stencil
pianos at excessive prices.
Lincoln's trite saying about how long the public may be fooled,
has evidently been studied by some members of the piano trade
hence it is that dealers who are in business to stay, and have a pride
in their name and in the standing of the products they handle, are
ordering pianos of national reputation—instruments that will re-
flect credit on them and on the purchasers.
This is a matter of rejoicing, for The Review has for years
been pointing out the danger of misrepresentation—the evils that
result from palming off on the public inferior pianos at prices
which would entitle the buyer to instruments of recognized stand-
ing and worth.
It has taken only a short time comparatively to prove that the
dealers who departed from correct principles of merchandising
could not .succeed permanently. After all, the right kind of suc-
cess in business, or in anything else in life is that which is based
upon correct fundamentals—upon values. And when' the dealer
allies himself with manufacturing institutions whose products have
proven their right to a recognized position in the musical and art
world, he is working along lines that will add to the permanency
and reputation of his business.
T
HE suggestion of Andreas Dippel, the well-known operatic
manager, that the United States Government should estab-
lish a National Conservatory of Music is well worthy of serious
consideration bv those interested in the future of music in America
and by members of the music trade, for, after all, the greater the
knowledge of music, and the keener its appreciation, the greater
the demand for pianos and musical instruments of all kinds.
Mr. Dippel points out that while the Government of the United
States expends over a billion dollars a year, it does not spend a
single penny for music or the fine arts. It certainly would be a
magnificent thing if the Government would establish in Washing-
ton, New York, Chicago, or some other city, a university where
American young men or young women could be educated in the art
of music. For as Mr. Dippel says, as there must be in each Con-
gessional district some young man who is worthy of being trained
as an officer in the Army or Navy, there must be also someone who
is equally deserving of having a musical talent developed.
The United States is almost alone in its neglect of music.
France appropriates $150,000 each year for grand opera and opera
comique; Germany gives the Berlin Opera House at least $250,000
a year, Austria provides a much larger sum in Vienna, even Switz-
erland generously gratifies the musical instinct of the people, while
in this country we are absolutely indifferent to this means of in-
culcating a form of refinement which means much for our civiliza-
tion and national culture. Mr. Dippel says:
"With State universities everywhere enlarging their musical
departments for which the people willingly pay their share of taxes,
it would not seem unreasonable to ask Congress to entertain favor-
ably a proposition looking to the establishment of a national con-
servatory or university. The fact that it will take many years for
such an institution to win world-wide fame is all the more reason
why the initial steps toward its foundation should be immediately
taken. If Government recognition is to be denied—and it ought
not be denied without the appointment of a commission to investi-
gate the subject—we must do what we can as organizations and
individuals to develop the art of music."
UCH favorable comment has been heard throughout the trade
anent the article of C. Alfred Wagner in last Saturday's
Review on the subject of the music roll as a trade developer. There
is no department of the industry to-day where there is such a lack
of understanding as to the requirements of the business, as that of
music rolls. Dealers and manufacturers have in a large measure
ignored the fact that here is a profitable business going to waste
through the needed formulation of some definite sales policy. Mr.
Wagner emphasizes the importance of creative copy—copy that
would educate the public in the fascination of personally produced
music, and shows how the record has helped to make the talking
machine what it is to-day, and how in a parallel way the music roll
may be made a great factor in promoting the sale of player-pianos.
The article in its entirety is one of exceeding interest and timeliness,
and the suggestions in the closing paragraph, reproduced herewith,
are well worthy of careful perusal:
"We all know that the record offers possibilities far greater
than the music roll, but still it is with the music roll that the most
effective work can be done. Interest player-piano owners in the
new music rolls as they are published. Handle the music roll busi-
ness in a business-like manner. Give service. Keep good stock.
Advertise the new rolls. See to it that everyone to whom you
sell a player-piano keeps on buying new rolls so that your cus-
tomers will say, when they entertain friends of John and Mary and
Jack, 'I want you to hear this new roll I bought to-day.' Let the
music roll promote the sale of player-pianos, and, above all, Stop
giving flTCflv music rolls! Make the music roll end of your business
a profitable and interesting department which requires and demands
your earnest attention for two reasons: First, the better promotion
of the player-piano: second, to put the music roll business on a self-
sustaining and profitable basis."
M
T
HERE is no place in the successful business world of to-day
for either the pessimist or the grouch. What was true years
ago is doubly true now. There is a reason for the survival of the
fittest. Evervone should make themselves "fit" so as to be one of
the survivors who revive business.
Never mind about the European war, and don't bother about
other faraway matters. Keep your eves on your business. P>c
clear-headed and watchful.