JUNE
THE
14, 1919
MUSIC
TRADE
IS THE TEN-CENT EDITION DOOMED TO EXTINCTION?
The Greatly Increased Cos t of Produdion Which the Music Publishers Are Paying at the Present
Time Seriously Threatens the Life of lO-Cent Sheet Music-Some Comparative Figures
T he hea vy in creases that have hit the music
publ is hing business w ithin th e last few years,
and for that matt er a ll lines of industry, have
brought the popular publishers, at leas t, to view
wit h some alarm t he problem o f pub lishin g
popular music to sell at 10 ce nts.
These views are by n o means recent ones, as
th e re ha ve been several move ments on foot
dur in g the past few years to increase the retai l
price of popul ar son·g s, thou gh the movem e nt s
have not me t w ith much success.
[ndeed th ey
did n o t seem to have the whol e- hearted supp o rt
of th e trade, not be cause th e problem ~'as one
confin ed to a few interests, but becau se the va
ricus m oves did not appear to be inaugul:a ted
w ith s uffici ent ass uran ce of s uccess.
J t was in order to take u p so me o f these cost
increases whic h have befall en the ind ustry that
th e Music Publ ishe r s' Protective Ass oci at io n
wa s formed.
This orga ni zat ion has s ucceeded
ii' a ccomp lishing most o f the pur poses a nd ob
jcc ts that were contemplat ed at th e time of its
in ce ption. A mong t hese have been th e e li m ina
tion of the ev il of paying va udeville si n gers to
p r ogram popu lar so ngs , w hi ch so me year s ago
was p r eva len t. It has bee n estimate d th at over
$:lOO,OOO a y ear was saved in thi s di r ectio n a lone.
Ot her measures ha ve been tak en by th e pub
li ,hers wh ich have d eve lo ped larg e sav ings an
nu ally, but d es pite this th e in c reased cost of
publishin g mu sic is still a bi g problem.
1\ stud y of the co st of p ublishing l11usic III
the yea r 19 12, as comparcd with the cost to-day,
r("·eals startlin g adva nces , anel eve n in the sma ll
est item conn ected with musi c pub li s hing th ere
ha.ve been s ubstan ti a l incr eased cos ts.
In
printi ng a lone there has been a n adva n ce of 130
per cent., and this is o n e of the largest ite ms
in vo lved in w hat might be t erm ed th e precario us
business of publishing mu sic .
5
REVIEW
Lahor shows an advance o f 75 per cent . The
cost of arranging has in creased c lose to 100 per
ce nt. , music plates sho w a substan tial advance,
and title bl ocks have .i ncreas ed from an aver
age of $28 in 1912 to $43 in 19 18.
Wrapping
paper, twine and ot her incid en tal s, all show
h ealthy increases, while it is, of co ur se, g eneral
ly kn own that the cost of mai lin g. which yearl y
is no small it e m, has ju mped SO per cent.
IiVhil e t h e abo ve does Ilot cover all items by
any means, it wi ll g ive some idea of t he ad
va nces .in th e most n ecessary items co n llccted
w ith music pub li s hing.
In add iti o n, under th e
prese nt condition s involved in popularizing pop
ular so n gs, and the necess ity of every success
ful pub li s her follovvin g the lines of compe tition
as l a id ~ out, there ha s been a larg e i.ncrease in
a ppr opriations for advertising purpose s.
The
increased use of s t reamers, hangers, sho"" cards
and other di sp lay ma terial eac h s ucceeding sea
son is pro vin g a big item, o ne that is gr owing
ccnsta n t ly .
vVh il e the popul ar p ubli shers are not a n x iou s
fo r such a radi ca l c hange as th at in vo lve d in
ste ppin g from the fi eld of publi s hin g mus ic at
H' cents to that of makin g a ll mu sic 30 cents,
the fact is that they are loo king wit h grave
·co ncern on these increases and giv ing· mu c h con
, id e ration to ju st w hat positi o n they will be in
if costs advance m uch further.
More a nd mor e publish ers are exte nding th eir
operatlons to th e production field , and while it
was often the case a few yea rs ago that an in
terpolated number in a mu s ical com edy was al
lowed to be so ld at a popula r price, m ost pub
li s hers to-cla y are takillg ariva nt age of t he op
portuu ity th ey ha ve In publi s hin g s uch a num
ber, or the hi t class, to mak e it s se ll in.~ pri ce 30
cent s.
Th ere ha s also bee n iu creased activity in th e
I'l:hlishini; of sta nda rd numbers and the extend
ing of th e ope rati ons of the stand ard depart
me nts. The reason for these moves is that t he
publishers have been forced t o look for means
te, in c re ase t he ir pr ofits."
T hese moves are
meeting w ith success, and the pub lishers are
findin g that it is not a n y harder t o se ll most
hits at the price of s tandard nu mbers than it
is to get r iel of c heaper prints.
'v[u c h enco uragement o f this tend ency to
wa rd s s tandard Ilu mber s is expecteel f r om the
Icg:tim a te sheet music (ka lers, anel most of
tl, tm probably arc a lready endeavo rin g to give
the· utmost co-operation.
It was o nl y some
year s ago that t he Nation al .\s sociatio n of She e t
Mu s ic Dealers we nt on record as favor ing an
increas e in the re tai l price o f popu lar music. If
the members of that organ ization alld all the
o ther pr ogressive sheet Jl1u sic deal ers of t he
co untry tak e th e present opportunity of doing
al l they ca n to make su ch issues a s uccess, they
w ill be ab le to accomp lish mo re at the pre sen t
period t ha n would have bee n possible o ver a
peri od of yea rs und er diffe r ent conditions.
Th e g l·eat inter est that has been s h ow n in
Illu sic clllI"illg the pa st eighte ell m o nth s has, of
co urse , developed an in crease el dem and for
s ll eet mu s ic. as we ll as for al l c lasses of musical
il ~S l l"llin ent s .
J t wo uld be ~ cr im e if the leg iti
n ·a te she et Illu s ic dealer di d lI ot take ad va nta ge
of this ill crea s ed interest and absorb mu ch of
the sa les tha t formcr ly lVe llt to th e 10-ce nt store.
\t least. he 1l1u ql, a ud s hould, get ill orc of th e
illcr eas<.Od busi ne ss th at ha s dev e loped .
l-lis ·
I)t"st m ea n s o f do illg· thi s is co-operati o n wit h
thc publish ers.
RECORD ENCORES FOR "DEAR HEART"
c. C. C hurch, of th e C. C. C hur c h Co., .Hart
ford , Co nn ., recently rece ive d a letter frolll Lo ui s
I'V O!ldre e. t h e well-kn own orchestra leader of
Sagi naw, Mich., in which he states that "De ar
Hea rt.·' t he big succes s in the C hur ch cata log.
was encored tw<'o ll ty-on e tim es at a reccnt dance.
Is Everyone "Doing His Bit" for the
American Composer?
American publishing houses are all issuing good works of recognizable merit by American
composers at considerable expense and are spending large sums in propaganda.
What Are American Music Dealers Doing?
At the convention we discussed "a closer form of co-operation between dealer and
pu blisher,"
Here Is Your Opportunity to Prove You Meant It
We have just selected from our publications twenty-two songs that are being sung in con
cert and recital by the world's greatest singers. We are issuing an attractive catalog of
these \wenty-two songs containing a brief description. a thematic and the names of artists
who feature each song. This catalog will be imprinted and supplied to dealers without
charge. We will also send dealers who stock these songs a beautifully bound gold
stamped counter book containing complete copies of all the songs in the keys published.
All that we ask is that the dealer stock these songs. distribute the catalogs and leave the
book on the counter. And your profit is 100%.
Hinds, Hayden & Eldredge, Inc.
11-15 Union Square West
NEW YORK CITY
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