Classic Mode

Music Trade Review

Issue: 1916 Vol. 63 N. 23

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Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
VOL. LXIII. No. 23
Published Every Saturday by Edward Lymao Bill, Inc., at 373 4th Aye., New York, Dec. 2, 1916
Select Your Customers
G
O into any part of the country that you will at the present time, and prosperity is in the air. It may
be, as the pessimistically inclined declare, a false and bubble-like prosperity, but nevertheless everyone
is doing business, and a big business, too. There is less unemployment than there has been for years.
Money is plentiful and people are spending it. All of which leads one to inquire as to what the piano
merchants are doing to get their share of this prosperity.
You hear talk of high costs—not talk, but facts. Every time a piano manufacturer places an order for
supplies, he has to pay more for them. A part of this increase has been passed along to the retailer, who in turn
has been compelled to raise his prices to a certain extent. But all this has not apparently affected the demand for
pianos.
For the first time in some years there is earnest talk of a possible piano shortage. Certain successful
dealers are already complaining of the difficulty in getting instruments in sufficient quantities to meet the unusual
demand. We again ask, are the retailers taking the fullest advantage of this opportunity?
While the piano merchant complains that he cannot get sufficient instruments to take care of his business,
he places himself in a position to choose his business. In other words, if he has two customers in sight for one
piano, he is in a position to assert his prerogative and give that piano to the customer who either pays cash, or
who is willing and in a position to make the best terms from the piano merchant's standpoint. Are the dealers
doing this?
When you visit the groceryman or the butcher he greets you with a suave assurance that sugar, eggs or
chops have gone up in price since your last purchase. He has been doing it for months, and in a great number
of cases he takes time by the forelock and beats the market to it a little. In other words, he gets the increase
before he pays it.
The average piano man works on a different system. He apologizes for pianos costing more. He offers
to offset it by reducing his terms of payment. In other words, he has not the faith in his position to stand on
his rights and demand that the prospective customer share the increased cost equitably.
For a piano man to get a proper price for his instruments, to insist on short terms, with big first payments,
and to select his customers and turn down questionable business in favor of that which is unquestionably good,
does not in any sense reflect a purely grasping nature. He owes it to himself and to his business to take advantage
of the opportunities that now present themselves.
Even the most optimistic business men know and admit that even though the present prosperity may have a
foundation much more solid than even we credit it with, it will not last forever. In six or twelve months perhaps,
there may come a downward sweep. The dealer who is watching his sales now, who is making good sales and
letting the poor ones slip, who is getting real money, and the proper amount of money for his instruments, is
going to have sufficient cash to take care of his obligations when conditions are not as satisfactory as they are at
present. On the other hand, the merchant who has been shipping out pianos on long time at a small margin
of profit and to doubtful risks, will find himself with little cash, but with a great volume of questionable paper
on his hands. Even in good times the best piano paper does not compare with a first mortgage or real esate as
collateral. When money is tight and times are hard piano paper does not represent an asset that will replace
cash in swinging a large business.
With the cutting down of employment comes repossessions. The man who cannot make fair payments now
will not be able to make any payments at all when his job is gone. These are facts and not the talk of the ordinary
alarmist. The piano merchant who takes advantage of the present opportunities with proper effort is going to
(Continued on page 5)
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
REVIEW
PUBLISHED BY EDWARD LYIY1AN BILL, Inc.
President, ('. L. Bill, 373 Fourth Ave., New York; Vice-President. J. B. Spillane,
373 Fourth Ave., New York; Second Vice-President, J. Raymond Bill, 373 Fourth Ave.,
New York; Secretary and Treasurer, August J. Timpe, 373 Fourth Ave., New York.
J. B. SPILLANE, Editor
J. RAYMOND BILL, Associate Editor
AUGUST J. TIMPE
Business Manager
Executive and Reportorial Staff:
B. BRITTAIN WILSON, CARLETON CHACE, L. M. ROBINSON, WILSON D. BUSH, V. D. WALSH,
WM. BRAID WHITE (Technical Editor), A. J. NICKLIN, L. E. BOWERS
BOSTON OFFICE:
CHICAGO OFFICE:
JOHN H. WILSON, 324 Washington St.
E. P. VAN HARLINGEN, Consumers' Building,
Telephone, Main 6950.
220 So. State Street. Telephone, Wabash 5774.
HENRY S. KINGWILL, Associate.
I-ONDOIV, ENGLAND: 1 Gresham Buildings, Basinghall St., E. C.
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REMITTANCES, in other than currency forms, should be made payable t Edward
Lyman Bill, Inc.
Departments conducted by an expert wherein all ques-
tions of a technical nature relating to the tuning, regu-
Itpnartmonfc
lating and repairing of pianos and player-pianos are
If e p d l IllieUlb. d e a l t w i t h > w i l l b ? f o u n d i n another section of this
paper. We also publish a number of reliable technical works, information concerning
which will be cheerfully given upon request.
Exposition Honors Won by The Review
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NEW
YORK, DECEMBER 2, 1916
EDITORIAL
HE piano retailers of New York want an association. The
interest displayed at the meeting held last week and the calibre
of the men who attended, was proof positive of that fact. The
sentiments as expressed by the various manufacturers in inter-
views in The Review were supported by their response to the call
to meet and discuss the project, and it is very likely that there will
be a general organization of retailers in New York City soon after
the first of the year.
Just how the association will be organized, whether as a sep-
arate body or as a part of the New York Piano Manufacturers'
Association, as has been suggested, is immaterial. The action that
will secure the most effective results is the action to be taken, and
the committee selected to crystalize trade sentiment and advise
on that action is made up of men thoroughly capable to do the work.
It is very true that a large proportion of local retail houses
are being conducted by manufacturers, and in many essential points
the interests of the manufacturers and dealers are identical. What
is needed, however, is a definite movement calculated to mitigate
or eliminate the various evils peculiar to the retail business.
The manufacturers, whether they conduct retail stores or not
are, as part of the trade, interested in anything that will make the
trade safer and better, but interest without action is not going
to accomplish anything. That the New York Association can do
things is indicated by the success of the Greater New York Piano
Merchants' Association, an organization of sixteen piano merchants,
who locate for the most part on the lower East Side.
The character and practices of the population in that section
of the city apparently made it imperative that piano houses to be
successful must follow the lead of other merchants and keep open
Sundays. The Hebrews celebrate their Sabbath on Saturday, and
thereby leave Sunday free for business. Strong competition also
had its influence on the piano merchant, yet, in the face of these
conditions they got together, and through mutual agreement brought
about a general Sunday closing. If such a method hurt one it
T
hurt all, because they were all together, and apparently the Sunday
closing has not in any way affected the sale of pianos. If an asso-
ciation can bring about the giving up of a business day an organiza-
tion along broader lines should certainly be able to take care of
the "dead beats," the dishonest salesman and the other factors that
are worrying New York retailers at present.
The columns of The Review are open for a discussion of the
advisability of the association, and whether or not it should be
organized separately or as a part of the manufacturers' body.
HE export trade in musical instruments, the official figures
T
regarding which appeared in last week's Review, shows a very
pleasing, if not remarkable, increase, as compared with previous
years. The total exports of musical instruments for September, the
latest period for which figures have been issued at Washington,
amounted in value to $323,820, as compared with shipments worth
$327,779 which were sent abroad the same month of 1915.
The nine months' total of musical instruments exported
amounted to $2,886,770, as compared with $1,936,883 for the same
period of the previous year. In this substantial increase in exports
for the nine months there were exported 8,897 pianos, valued at
$1,354,188, as compared with 4,366 pianos, valued at $813,228 in
1915; 2,317 organs, valued at $125,873, as compared with 2,669,
valued at $156,499 in 1915; 208 piano players, valued at $55,255,
as against 226 valued at $62,846 in 1915; l/>60 player-pianos,
valued at $540,159, as compared with 92 ( ), valued at $274,279 in
1915; perforated music rolls, valued at $57,367, as compared with
$40,975 in 1915; other musical instruments and parts footing up
$753,928, as compared with $589,056 in the previous year.
These figures afford pleasing proofs that the American piano
and player-piano is receiving a larger recognition in foreign coun-
tries which, it cannot be overlooked, is due, in a very large degree,
to the fact that we are now shipping pianos to markets hitherto
supplied by Germany, England and France. The fact remains,
however, that once the American piano and player-piano is intro-
duced it is bound to win a permanent following. In Australia and
in South American countries, where American pianos have been
in use for some time past, there is evident an increased demand for
them, and this condition should obtain in other countries.
The most vital matter, however, is to hold our trade after the
war in Europe is over, and to do this means that the American
piano must gain special recognition for its intrinsic worth. This
can be won if the proper educational work is done by the manu-
facturers, backed by careful shipments and the filling of orders and
styles along the lines desired. The export trade in pianos and
musical instruments of all kinds has great possibilities, but it must
receive the most careful attention if it is to be permanent.
any line of effort it is difficult to reach perfection, and it is safe
I the N to accumulation
say that there are shoals and breakers ahead in business when
of new ideas cease.
This is particularly true in the music trade field. The piano
manufacturer or dealer who thinks he has accumulated all the
knowledge he requires and treats trade papers, and the information
which they contain, with indifference, has reached a mental state
that is alarming—one that indicates a limited calibre—an arrested
development.
In this educational age, no man, no matter what his line may be,
can afford to ignore developments in his particular sphere of
activity, and there is no better way of keeping intimately in touch
with matters of interest than by a close study of the trade paper
which represents the industry of which he is a part.
From time to time The Review has received communications
from dealers and manufacturers which contain words of apprecia-
tion regarding the informative and valuable character of its contents,
and the point is made that the interesting ideas and suggestions
discussed in the various departments are being utilized to good
purpose by the sales force at weekly meetings.
The business man or executive is indeed wise to so arrange
his work as to leave a reasonable amount of time for reading and
planning—keeping in close touch with his sales force through
weekly meetings for the purpose of exchanging ideas and planning
toward the betterment and expansion of the business along correct
lines. Many puzzling business problems may be solved readily
through co-operation, through the interchange of views with em-
ployes and by reading progressive publications.

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