Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
MUJIC TFADE
VOL. LXV. No. 24
Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman BUI, Inc., at 373 4th Ave., New York. Dec. 15, 1917
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The Necessity For Co-Ordinated Effort
E
VERY condition existing to-day emphasizes first of all the necessity for co-ordinated effort—a necessity
greater than has ever existed before, especially in these United States. The Government has led the way
in an endeavor to bring about unified action, and through leading has made it essential for those
conducting private enterprises to take cognizance and adopt the same practice.
Trade organizations that have been weak, or have been divided through petty jealousies, have been forced
to forget past difficulties and for the time being at least present a united front for the protection of every one
interested. The music trade, fortunately, has succeeded in co-ordinating the work of its various associations
under the common direction of the Music Industries Chamber of Commerce, and the resolve so to centralize
effort in the trade is not to be overlooked. In matters where the entire trade requires representation, the general
manager of the Chamber of Commerce can now state that he really does represent officially all divisions of the
music trade and not, as in the past, only one particular division. The general interests of all divisions of the
trade are the same, and the differences are only in the minor details. The more force that can be put behind the
conservation of these general interests, the more secure can the trade feel in any developments that may grow
out of the war, or out of the commercial adjustments that all industries will be forced to make following the
end of the conflict.
The Review has always been a strong and consistent supporter of trade associations in the belief that the
association represents the means for accomplishing the greatest good for the greatest number. For the same
reason The Review has lent, and is lending, its support to the Music Industries Chamber of Commerce, in the
belief that that institution, at the present time, is most representative of the trade. The Chamber of Commerce,
if it does nothing else, offers a rallying point for the trade, a common center through which industry may
organize as need be to conserve and protect its interests.
We feel that this is not the time for bickering, for finding overmuch fault with methods unless it be that
more effective methods can be suggested. All efforts directed through the Chamber of Commerce should be
constructive efforts, and must not be construed as attempts to jockey for trade position. Taken rightly, the
Chamber of Commerce means more than the ambition of one man or set of men. • It does, or should, reflect the
spirit of the trade at large and the individual should see that selfish interests are sidetracked during this period
of stress, in recognition of the rights and needs of the majority.
In supporting the Music Industries Chamber of Commerce The Review has no axe to grind. It has no man
selected for a controlling position. It has no employe for whom a place is desired in the national trade
organization. It has no private propaganda to push forward. The desire is to support the movement that at
the present time most strongly represents the trade majority. The support is not blind and unconditional.
Should it be that some other body be organized that more clearly represents the spirit and aims of the trade as
a whole, that organization will receive the earnest consideration of The Review. Our aim is not to serve one
interest or one division of interests in the trade, but to serve the trade body as a whole, and in that aim we feel
that the Music v Industries Chamber of Commerce, in its work of building up the trade structure, is worthy
of consideration and support, not only by members of the various branches of the music trade themselves, but
also by the trade press.
The music industry is a big industry. It represents an invested capital of many millions, and the livelihood
of some hundreds of thousands of workers and their dependents. It is the sole means through which music
can be brought into the homes of the Nation, but the importance of the trade can never be impressed upon
either the Government or the people except through organization and wholehearted co-operation between the
interests liable to be affected.