JUNE
7, 1919
THE
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
5
THE MARKET FOR AMERICAN PIANOS
[IN SOUTH AMERICAN COUNI RIES
Jose B. Matienzo, Vice-President, the Caldwell-Burnet Corp., Describes Opportunities
for Export Trade in Article Written Specially for The Review
The age-old proverb concerning " the ill wind
blowing" was never mO're to the point than in
reference to the foreign business of American
manufac turers of musical instruments.
Prior to the war there was a limi·ted number
of manufacturers who foresaw the possibilities
of their American-made products in the foreign
field, but found that European influ ence was too
strong to permit them to obtain from local
dea lers an opportunity to show their wares with
anything like a fair chance.
Mu sical Latin America, for ins.tance, was
prejudiced against American-made instruments.
It was contended that Americans did not possess
a musical so.ul, they were a strictly commercial
people, and co uld never produce any instrument
app ealing to the Latin American heart for musi
cal art. Granted that the talking machine was
an American invention, it was nothing but a
mechanical product bo which a personal accom
plishment was unnecessary, and comm ercialism
rather than art was responsible for it.
Reasons for Slow Progress
'With this moral antagonism it was next to im
possible to obtain th e co-operation of dealers in
the importation of American products. The
manufac turers were loath to tackle the problem
without some assurance of dealer co-operation,
and, unfortunately, the Webb Bill did not then
exist to allow them to combine with other manu
facturers or si milar products here in an effort to
obtain at least a share of the import business of
any particular country. It was a slow fight at
best; with no prospect or encouragement of bet
ter business in the end.
The European "blast," to a large extent, was
beneficial in bringing an improvem ent of such
conditions. Stocks of Europ ean- made products
in warehouses and showrooms continued to be
sold with no facilities for replenishing them from
Old World sources. The tight shoe was o·n the
dealer's foot now, and there was nothing to do
but import the despised American products, or
close up shop.
.
Imp'ort they did to the great advanta ge of the
American manufacturer, for once tried, his prod
uCt was found to be vastly superior in workman
ship and toning to th eir European competitor.
vVe find, for instance, that between 1914 and
1918 Latin America increased their importations
of .American-made pianos almost · 500 per cent.,
of play er-pianos abo ut 450 per cent., the oth er
instruments varying between 400 and 500 per
c('nt. in increase. ;\nd a curious fact worth not
ing is that the average price of each instrument,
notwithstanding the enormous increase of im
ports, remained throughout that peri{)<1 about
the same. This was doubtless due to a large in
crease in sales of lower priced products during
the latt er years.
The Manufacturers' Opportunity
Credit must be give n to those manufact urers
who, seeing the chance for whi ch they had long
strived sudd enly appear before them in the
brightest of the colors of success, promptly
realiz ed that in order to' take control · of the mar
ket they must meet the particular needs of the
people. and b'y so doing advantageous'ly, they
are now in the defensive rather than against a
serious opposition. For it need not be tak en for
granted that European competition is a dead
issue; on the contrary it will become very in
tense, with a mighty effort on the part of Eu
rope to regain the trade lost through war con
ditions.
As to the chances of holding on to ·the ad
vantage gained and' the o'PPortunities for a fur- .
ther hold on the market through increased
sales, little fear should be entertain ed as to the
possible I{)ss of the trade as long as our manu
facturers continue in their policies of catering
to the ne eds of th e people. The belief that Ger
many controlled the South American business
in general because she could pro
than we could is now known to have been a
delusion created by a propaganda, based on a
psychological knowledge of Latin Americans,
and promulgated to ~heir advantage so as to
keep our goods away from every port. Quality
COUlltS as everywhere else, and if you give this
price is a seconiJ:ary considerati on.
An increase in sales can only become a pos
sibility If the manufacturers here take the mat
ter under serious Clonsuderation and thoroughly
study every angl e of the proposition.
Deter
mining the sex which the product is most likely
to affect, their buying poten tiality, their char
acte ristics, customs, etc., a proper line of effort
ca n be directed tov:.ards gaining their good will,
which is the vital point of success with the
La tin Americans.
Gaining the Confidence of the Dealers
Dealer co-operation can also be obtained
through particular endeavors to gain their con
fidence, for it is r eas onably sure that once you
have "sold" the dealer he stays so for as long
as he finds you.r treatment along th'O·rough,
truthful and acco mmodating ways.
Ad vertising your wares is no more of a prob
lem than it is right here in our own country.
With the possible exception of musical trade
journals, of which , to my knowled'ge, there are
r.one published in Latin America, the media
offered to the manufacturer is correspondingly
the same as he has in the United States. And
once you have studied your prospective custom
ers, it is an easy matter to determine how best
to appr·o ach them, whether through the daily
press or by way of the "revistas"-we ekly maga
Zllles corresponding to our large monthly class.
By way of illustration, let us take a manufac
turer of pianlos wi,th agents alr eady established
ill the city, say, of Buenos Aires in the Argen
tin e. Assume that his product is of a high-priced
quality, and will only appeal to the wealthy class.
He would unquestionably place in his list of
media the "revistas" reaching such class of peo
ple, magazines such as "Plus Ultra," "Caras y
Caretas" and "Atlantida"-and such da·ilies as
"La Nacion," " La Prensa" and "La Razon." If
his product should be medium or low priced and
appealing to the middle olass, his field of adver
tising natural1y WIOuld be increased . There are
magazines such as "Mundo Argentino," "Fray
Mocho," . etc., with a cOllsiderable circulation
among the middle classes. Your farm ers, if a
farmer appeal is desi rable, can be reached
through the farm journals, such as "Gaceta
Rural," "Baskonia," etc. And as the' territory
is increased for selling purposes your advertis
ing goes along into the many other cities of
Argenti na where the LOical press is by no means
to be overlooked in its influence. It is no
more of a problem than covering any territory
ill the United States, where you would have to
co nsider conditions affecting your market before
determining on an advertising appropriation.
Common Sense an Essential
There is no mystery to the export trade, no
problem harder ·than any ordinary commercial
common sense would solve. All in all, success
in export depends upon yourself and' the faith
with which you undertake the business. If you
are devoted to it, studious at it, and confident,
al1 you need is a good business head and you
can never fail to get at least your share of
th e increasing business.
LONG TIME CREDITS IN BRAZIL
would enable the importers to take delivery,
preventing a loss from storing in war ehou ses.
"American banks, manufacturers and ex port
ers should be urged to co-operate on a prac
tical plan to facilitate dispatch and delivery of
rejected merchandise to the Brazilian trade be
fore delay causes depreciation and consequent
loss of money and prestige. It must not be in
ferred that relaxation of allocation of tonnage
is advisable. Repo rts indicate that large quan
tities of construction material, railroad supplies
and other articles are awaiting shipment to
Brazil."
American Exporters Must Be Generous in Ex
tending Credits in This Field
]. E. Phillipi, United States commercial at
tache at Rio JaneIro, said this week that Amer
ica 11 exporters should extend the time for pay
ment on shipments of goods to Brazil to avoid
cancelation of many contracts.
"The port is becoming congested wi~h mer
chandise , much of which has been rejected b}'
the consignees," said Mr. Phillipi. "Some of the
dea lers have good grounds for their action,
w hil e others are me re ly taking advantage vf
technicalities. But the rejection of goods IS
largely due to the fear of talling prices and the
imposs ibility of paying immediately the duties
on accumulated shipments, which are greatly
i 11 excess of ordinary requirements.
"Many cancelations and rejections of orders
\\ o uld be avoided if an extension of time drafts
c(,uld be arranged . Representatives of American
firms are unable to protect their customers by
dispo s ing of rejected merchandise because they
lack the authority. The failure- to send docu
ments on the same steamship with the merchan
dise also is causing delay and difficulties in dis
posing of shipments.
"The banks should extend time drafts already
discounted by the .exporters, who then could ex
tend the same accommodation to the importers.
The importers, ~tho.ugh financially sound, .are
unable to pay immediately .for merchandise
shipped on accumulated orders which have been
dela'yed by the war. An additional six months
IMPORTS SHOULD BE INCREASED
Not Enough Gold Available to Pay What We
Are Owed by Other Countries-Cannot Do
All the Selling Unless We Also Buy Back
If the United States is to maintain its increas
ing ' expor't traae, which is such an essential part
of national pr.o sperity, it will be necessary to
materially increase our imports of foreign goods,
both raw and -u~finished, was the opinion of the
Sixth National Foreign Trade Convention re
cen tly held in Chicago. This coun try is now
facing a difficult situation: in 1918 we exported
$3,000,000,000 worth of goods more than we
imported; we are now to receive half a billion
dollars a year in _interest on· our war loans. The
gold does not '" e:>t;ist with which to pay such
suIrts; not is it' possibl~ to stimulate our invest
mentsabroad to a point sufficient to offset such
'a balance. It is clear that if we are to main
tain our expo,:ts we must increase our imports.
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