Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
NEW YORK, JUNE 16, 1917
Comments by The Man on The Street
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The season just drawing to a close has been forced to reorder to satisfy the demands of the
a most unusual one for practically every line public.
of business, including that of music publishing
New Type of Professional Copy
and selling, yet in spite of enormously increased
The higher production cost has also worked
production expenses, scarcity of paper and to the benefit of the dealer from another angle,
other essentials, the declaration of war and for it has made necessary the adoption by a
conditions that naturally follow, the season has number of publishers of a new type of profes-
as a whole proven a fairly profitable one.
sional copy of the lead sheet type, that while
Not only have the old established publishers perfectly intelligible to the professional musi-
kept going much as usual, but the new con- cian proves of little value to the ordinary piano
cerns entering the field in the face of a doubt- player, who must needs go to the local dealer
ful situation have managed to hold fast and and buy the regular copy if he wants a piano
grow. Hardly a publishing house of any stand- arrangement of the piece. The evil of the pro-
ing that did not have at least one fair selling fessional copy and its tendency to get in the
number, if not a genuine hit. Then again some hands of those who should by rights be com-
of the song hits of the leading Broadway pro- pelled to purchase music at retail has long been
ductions were controlled by some of the smaller the subject of discussison in the trade, but it
took increased prices of paper and printing to
houses and served to balance things.
bring about the needed reform.
Flood of Patriotic Music
What Associations Have Done
The prevalence of the wartime spirit nat-
The conventions of the Music Publishers'
urally resulted in a flood of patriotic songs, the
majority of which naturally fell by the wayside Association of the United States, and of the Na-
before gaining any great renown. The writer of tional Association of Sheet Music Dealers in
"I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier," New York, this week, brings to mind the prog-
changed his mind and declared that every boy ress that has been made in the matter of asso-
ought to be a soldier; the songs of 1898 and ciation during the year. Perhaps the most in-
1899 were removed from obscurity, dusted off teresting work was that accomplished by the
carefully and offered to the public. It is to be Greater New York Music Publishers' and Deal-
noticed, however, that the most successful of ers' Association in connection with the use of
patriotic or semi-patriotic songs that have been song words on music rolls. The association
issued are not the ones of the screaming eagle was formed primarily as a strictly social orga-
type, but rather those of the ballad order, thus nization and it was understood that business
again proving Charles K. Harris' famous slogan was to be barred so far as possible from the
quarterly meetings of the body. THis rule was
that the ballad never dies.
followed conscientiously until this spring, when
New Price Standards Established
it
was decided that as many of the association
The season just closing has seen what may
be looked upon as the establishment of a new members as possible gather together weekly at
price standard in trade. Advancing production luncheon. When the word roll question came
costs did not allow much profit upon popular up, therefore, it was found that it could be
music to be retailed at 10 cents. A great ma- handled most efficiently through the medium of
jority of the songs worth while, therefore, were the association in which the majority of the
listed as standard or production numbers with publishers were already joined together.
Status of the Word Roll
a wholesale price of from 12 to 23 cents. The
result has been to take much of the retail music
The word roll discussion has apparently re-
business out of the hands of the ten cent store sulted in victory for the publishers and their
syndicates and place it in the hands of the rights in the matter of words are apparently
regular sheet music dealer. Although there has recognized by the majority of music roll manu-
been an increase of prices right along the line, facturers. When the publisher gives up his
it is broadly hinted that the publishers, particu- rights to the music for -mechanical reproduction
larly those of what may be termed higher class at the price fixed by law, he is doing much, but
music, will advise the dealers during their con- when he releases his word rights, he is giving
vention this week that they must be prepared to the music roll man the basic asset of his
to face still further increases in the not far business, his all, in fact, so far as it affects that
distant future.
particular song. Although the conferences with
the music roll men did not result in any defi-
Retailers Generally Optimistic
With much of the competition of the ten cent nite and absolute agreement, it is significant
stores removed, as stated before, dealers gen- that the terms suggested by the publishers are
erally are taking a very much more optimistic being met in most instances.
The Payment of Singers
view of the situation and they have had a good
season to warrant them in feeling optimistic.
Once again have the publishers taken action
The demand has not been confined to popular on the question of discontinuing the payment of
numbers, but has also run to standard prints. singers or featuring their numbers profession-
Traveling men coming in off the road have ally. ' Previous attempts to accomplish this end
stated that in the majority of cases where early have died out after a short time, but on this
in the season dealers were overstocked with occasion there has been formed the Music Pub-
library editions, for instance, they have been lishers' Protective Association, which is affiliated
with and has the backing of the Vaudeville
Managers' Protective Association, which means
that the payment of singers will stop and stay
stopped if these two organization can exert any
real power.
The Advancement of Music Campaign
At this point it might be well to say a word
regarding the campaign being carried on by
various trade interests for the advancement of
music, or rather for inculcating in the minds of
the general public, and particularly children, a
more thorough appreciation of music and what
it means in the home. It is felt that with a
more general appreciation of music will come
a desire to produce music, which will ultimately
lead to the purchase of a musical instrument of
some sort, preferably a piano. A piano is of
little use unless music is provided for playing
on it, which should afford an excuse for music
publishers and dealers taking more than a pas-
sive interest in the movement as it is being
worked out from various sections of the coun-
try.
The Cost of Doing Business
A feature of the program of the convention
of the National Association of Sheet Music
Dealers which should prove of particular inter-
est and value is the attempt to determine the
cost of conducting a retail sheet music business.
The cost of doing business is one of the essen-
tials and an exact knowledge of that cost em-
bracing all the factors that enter into it, enables
a business man to know just where he stands
to determine his profits, if there are. any, on a
real, instead of a paper basis. There.have been
more failures caused through lack of knowledge
of selling cost than from any other reason,
for many a merchant has felt secure in the
belief that he was actually making money, when
as a matter of fact, the selling cost was not
only eating up his profit, but actually piling a
balance on the wrong side of the ledger. The
music dealers have gone after the matter in the
right spirit, and the move should result in the
gathering of a fund of information that should
serve not only to interest, but to protect the
individual dealer. The profit of a business is
not the difference between the buying price and
selling price, but rather the margin between
the buying price plus the selling cost, and the
selling price. It is a point worth thinking about.
Regarding the Future
As regards the future, there is every reason
to believe that business will keep up steadily.
There will be increased costs, but the public has
become used to increased costs in every line,
why not in music? The experiences in Europe
have proven that music is not only desirable,
but practically essential in wartime, that the
public need music to calm and steady their
nerves; that the soldier must have music to
preserve morale. Anyway, there should be and
will be a demand for music whether peace or
war prevails, and both publishers and dealers
should appreciate that fact and prepare accord-
ingly.