JUNIil
THE
14, 1919
MUSIC
TRADE
IMPROVING THE PUBLISHER'S SERVICE
By HENRY K. WHITE, Northampton, Mass.
The sheet music business is a business of
small things. vVe ·who are in it do not think in
continents. And becau se it is, from the deal
er's standpoint particularly, one of such small
things I hope T wi ll be for given for mention
ing matters which in a larger field wo uld seem
to be too microscopic to mention at all.
Our trade papers naturally devote their sheet
mu s ic departments to the publisher almost ex
clusively, because he is a lways in evidenc e and
a val uable asset, whi le the dealer is almost un
known, except as a subscriber, being merely
the hopper into which th e publications are
sifted.
How far, or whether at all, the pub
lisher is dependent on the dealer has often been
discussed, but I believe the conclusion now is,
at least so far as standard publications are
concerned, that it is good policy not to be too
indiffel"ent towards him. Something 'more posi
tive, however, a truly friendly co-operation,
would be better. That is found to work well
among the publishers, as where they agree fair
ly well on prices, discounts, etc ., and if prop
erly carried out between publisher and dealer
it woulcl be s till more advantageous . A t pres
ent the former seems to assume that beyond the
discount allowed, an extension of time once in
a while and 'a few other minor concessions there
is nothing left for him to do in the dealer's be
half. He may frequently ask for co-operation
from the dealer, particularly when he has a
new piece to exploi t, but on his own part he
appears to have but little to offer. But there
are other things which might be done to make
the dealer's lot an easier one, and it is to call
attention to one or two of them that I am ask
ing for a little space in The Review.
For I
belie ve it is only necessary to call attention to
them to get a somewhat ready response.
A
few examples will illustrate my point. A piece
7
REVIEW
not found in the catalogs, not immediately avail
able, was wanted and was ordered · from a house
able to supply pi ck-ups generally, but brought
only thi s answer: " Only published in a book."
The price Of the book, its name and whether
it could be furnished or not were not mentioned,
and yet it would have been eas y to have given
one or more of these points, it would seem, since
the answer which was given implied a certain
amount of information.
Here is another example. Just the other day
I saw an order calling for Liszt's "Rhapsodie,
Rackozky March," which was referred to me
by mistake with the notation, "We do not
publish." How easy it would have been to sub·
stitute for the useless answer, which took as
much time to write as a he lpful one would have
required, a hint as to where the piece could be
outained.
For it is not believable that there
is any house devoted to standard music which
could not give a pointer as to where to apply for
a Liszt "Rhapsodie."
Another example: I recently had a call for a
piece by a we ll-kno wn composer whose works
are almost exclusively with a single house, whose
cata log, however, did not show the piece in
question.
As it could not be found in any
other catalog I applied to that house, but was
answered, "Not ours."
I applied again, say
ing, "If not yours please say whose," which
brought 0111y one word, "unknown." I after
wards obtained the piece from an importer who
had it in stock. The composer is an English
man, the publisher is English, and the house
which was so destitute of information for my
benefit is largely a representative of English
publishers. I must believe, of course, that the
answers which I received were from some irre
sponsible clerk. " Balance o f order not in stock,"
"Outside publication," and in many cases no
answer at all, leaving one in the air, not know
ing whether to expect the music later than when
due or never (sometimes it comes along just
in time to duplicate another copy which in the
nleantime has been ordered elsewhere), all these
are of small consequence from the publisher's
point of view, but to the dealer they are impor
tant.
I realize that my suggestions will give rise
to some objections, the first being, probably,
that in the enormous growth of the music busi
ness it is not possible for anyone publisher to
know all the output of all the other publishers,
nor is he interested to know. Let them take
care of their own publicity. He should not be
called on to advertise their wares. Then, too,
the clerks are less familiar with the publications
of other houses than th eir managers are. Some
or them don't know half the prints of the houses
they are with, and, if they knew, why should they
exert themselve s unduly? Let the dealer use
his catalogs and read the trade papers, where
no pains are spared to make th e new things
kllown, and he will not ne~d to ask for so much
help.
All this is quite true, of course, but I
am assuming that the friendly co-operation
which I am advocating can easily bridge these
difficulties for the benefit of those whose oppor
tunities and experience are limited.
To do
only those things which are imperative is pure
ly selfish, but to go a little out of one's way to
help another who may not seem to deserve it
perhaps is a good way to make a friend who
possibly in time may become a valuable cus
tomer.
Another objection is this: the danger of giving
a wrong direction and then being blamed for
it; that more than real indifference, I fancy, ac
counts for the fact that it has become a settled
policy of most publishers, apparently, not to give
any information at a ll.
But about twenty-five or thirty years ago
when the music business was much smaller than
it is now, to be sure-it was the custom of all
(Continued on page 9)
SPECIAL CONVENTION PRO'POSITION
A Guaranteed Offer to ' Every Music Dealer Who Does Not Carry Our Stock
We have the confidence of every music dealer who sells our publications. Why? Because
our publications SELL! We stand behind the guarantee given with each sale of our catalogue.
"OUR PROPOSITION"
To send our ~100.00 Selected Stock, compnsmg an assortment of best seUing Standard Works in Music as contained in
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assortment of our best selling sacred and secular songs. (See EXCHANGE PLAN under our "GUARANTEE.")
"OUR OFFER"
To send the above in manila (printed) wrappers, all ready for your shelves, together with a reasonable supply of
our various catalogues ·with yo ur name neatly printed upon title. To date invoice as OCTOBER 1st ACCOUNT,
or accept favorable terms of payment from reliable dealers. (See EXCHANGE PLAN under our "GUARANTEE.")
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(1) To Date Invo ice as OCTOBER 1st ACCOUNT, or accept regular monthly payments as may be arranged;
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publications without your permission, and with the understanding that you are to receive your profits
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ONCE.
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246 Summer Street
BOSTON
84 Newman Street, Oxford Street
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