Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
MARCH 23, 1918
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
MAINTAINING BUSINESS GOOD-WILL IN WAR TIMES
(Continued from page 3)
as to reduce our output for the duration of the war. Our usual customers will then have to resort more
and more to other channels for stock. How are we going to win them back when we are again able to
supply them?
"Wc have tried to look at this matter from every angle, and ivc have concluded that the only safe
solution for cither conscription or oversold output is to insure the future of our business by making a suitable
investment in advertising to retain the good-will of our trade. By this means we can continue to remind
them of the value and quality of our product, and to assure them of our desire to serve their interests when
present conditions are history.
"In this connection we contend that customers in this modern age are the result of cultivation and not
of snap selling. All great institutions, whether social, political, religious or commercial, in this twentieth
century, are forced to conduct an educational propaganda bringing out the merits of their proposition before
they can hope to begin to win concrete support for their major endeavor.
"Advertising by the oversold or conscripted business is in effect a selling propaganda, and like the crops
of the earth, before sales may be expected, it is necessary to sow seeds away in advance of the harvest."
pianos and therefore find it most convenient to rent them, with the
result that the demand has exceeded all expectations.
Our Washington correspondent pointed out last week that
practically every piano merchant in the capital city has difficulty
in obtaining an adequate supply of instruments for rental, and
the lack has been, in literal truth, an "'aching void," because
scores of wealthy men who have flocked to Washington to
serve Uncle Sam as dollar-a-year volunteers have offered rentals
of double or triple the usual amounts in the effort to obtain
instruments for use in the apartments or houses which they
have leased in that city, or in the suburbs.
Meanwhile the market for pianos for outright purchase is
continuing most active, and with a prospective increase of 100,000
in population in the capital by the end of the year, it is easy to
credit the prediction that Washington will rank this year as the
best piano market in the country.
HAT is to be accepted as a matter for congratulation by
W
the business world generally is the evident tendency at
present to place in positions of authority in the various war
bodies at Washington business men of recognized standing and
ability. In other words, it seems as though the day of the
theorist is passing away, and that the practical business man—
the man who while realizing the demands of war, has at the
same time a proper conception of means for meeting those de-
mands at a minimum sacrifice on the part of business—is taking
his place. It is true that since the outbreak of the war business
men have been in the service of the Government, but in a ma-
jority of the cases they have been subordinated to Government
departments, and their efforts made ineffectual by the yards of
peace time red tape. It looks now as though modern efficiency
is taking the place of hide-bound precedent in Governmental
work, and it is a good sign for the country in general. It means
that we will get more action and quicker action for the money
we are called upon to spend.
N the making of instalment contracts during the period of
I provisions
the war, piano merchants would do well to be guided by the
of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act passed
last week, and thereby avoid the chance of facing a loss that may
be guarded against by the exercise of foresight. Although the
act is calculated to protect the soldier or sailor while still being
fair to the merchant, in deferring but in no sense canceling the
obligation, the dealer selling on instalments can, unless he
watches things carefully, tie up considerable money in instal-
ment accounts that under the law need not be met until after
the war, which at best is rather an indefinite length of time.
George W. Pound offers some good advice and suggests
that where practical the wife or some person other than the
soldier, or likely-to-be-soldier, be called upon to execute the con-
tract. There will no doubt be numbers of unscrupulous people
quick to take unfair advantage of the new law with fraudulent
intent, and special efforts should be made to guard against
this class.
Do You Want to Expand the Retail Market
For Player-Pianos and Music Rolls?
You can do this by educating the people in your territory to a keener appreciation of the amazing
possibilities of the player-piano. This will be admirably done for you by the volume entitled
Price, $1
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Tlie Player Pianist deals with lucidity and
clearness upon the many problems which from
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This new volume is designed to afford a
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This work is the result of many years' close
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The book deals with the elements of music,
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sketch of musical history from early times
to the present day.
There are chapters devoted to practical talks
upon the management of the various expres-
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A perusal of the volume will provide the
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and artistic playing.
There are chapters in The Player Pianist
upon practical studies in player interpretation,
illustrated with special drawings made from
EDWARD LYMAN BILL, Inc., Publisher
DISCOUNT TO
THE TRADE
music rolls and designed to show how, step by
*step, the interpretation of pieces may be
worked out artistically and satisfactorily.
It is conceded that interest must be main-
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possibilities must be explained to purchasers,
and there is no work put forth in the entire
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If you are not perfectly satisfied with the
book after examination, your dollar will be
refunded upon the return of the book. That
is fair, is it not?
373 Fourth Ave., New York