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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
REVLW
PUBLISHED BY EDWARD LYMAN BILL, Inc.
in these campaigns will continue to increase as their value is more
generally appreciated.
The appearance of the advertisements simultaneously in news-
papers throughout the country, in addition to the fact that they
indicate the solidity of the trade behind the cause of music, must
of necessity serve to impress the public most forcibly. The full co-
operation of dealers generally, however, is required to make these
campaigns worth while, and the trade knows by this time just
what they represent, and the final decision should be easy.
President and Treasurer, C. L. Jiill, 373 Fourth Ave., New York; Vice-President,
T. B. Spillane, 373 Fourth Ave., New York; Second Vice-President, Raymond Bill, 373
Fourth Ave., New York; Assistant Treasurer, Wm. A. Low.
J. B. SPILLANE, Editor
RAYMOND BILL, B. B. WILSON, Associate Editors
CARLETON CHACE, Business Manager
Executive and Reportorial Staff
WILSON D. BUSH, V. D. WALSH, WM. BRAID WHITE (Technical Editor), E. B. MUNCH,
L. M. ROBINSON, C. A. LEONARD, EDWARD LYMAN BILL, A. J. NICKLIN, L. E. BOWERS
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Dl «*«!*>«» Olg».n 4 n i l
Departments conducted by an expert wherein all ques-
rl3j"r~rl
turns of a technical nature relating to the tuning,
I W h n f o f l l IW>nartmPIlt« regulating and repairing of pianos and player-pianos
I C U U l l l a l uKjpal UIICUIS are dealt with, will be found in another section of
this paper. We also publish a number of reliable technical works, information concerning
which will be cheerfully given upon request.
__^_
Exposition Honors Won by The Review
Grand Prix
Paris Exposition, 1900 Silver Medal Charleston Exposition, 1902
Diploma... .Pan-American Exposition, 1901 Gold Medal
St. Louis Exposition, 1904
Gold Medal—Lewis-Clark Exposition, 1905
LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONES—NUMBERS 5982—5983 MADISON SQ.
Connecting all Departments
Cable address: "Elbill, New York"
Vol. LXIX
NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 20, 1919
No. 12
THE NATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL
ITH the National Music Festival and Exhibition over four
W
months off, there are abundant indications even now that so
far as the Exhibition itself goes the affair will prove an unqual-
ified success. As has already been announced by Manager Charles
H. Green, practically all the main floor spaces were disposed of
in less than a week after the prospectus had been mailed to the
trade, and the remaining spaces are being signed up rapidly.
The trade has had experience with exhibitions under Mr.
Green's management. They know in a general way what to ex-
pect and feel that with the Music Industries Chamber of Com-
merce, and the other trade organizations strongly behind the move-
ment, there is every reason to expect unusually satisfactory results.
The plans for the Exhibition do not end, however, with the
assignment of the display spaces, for there is much other important
work to be done before the fullest interest of the public can be
aroused. The Festival and Exhibition are primarily designed to
appeal to the public and interest in it should not be confined to the
trade in any sense. It is up to the members of the industry them-
selves to take far more than a passive interest in the affair, and to
lend their practical as well as their moral support to the venture.
The greater the success of the Show the more benefit will the in-
dustry as a whole derive therefrom.
FURTHERING THE CAUSE OF MUSIC
HE announcement of C. M. Tremaine, Director of the Na-
tional Bureau for the Advancement of Music, to the effect
that the copy for the third co-operating campaign under the aus-
pices of the Bureau is now ready, is to be received with par-
ticular interest, inasmuch as the co-operative advertising idea
is not in any sense a novelty, but has been tried out successfully
on two occasions and found to be distinctly practical. While
the two previous campaigns referred particularly to war and post-
war conditions respectively, the third campaign is along general
lines, although with special reference to the desirability of pro-
viding music for the children. It is to be hoped that the interest
T
SEPTEMBER 20, 1919
A RESULTFUL CONVENTION
if any, local conventions of piano men held in the country
F EW,
equal in importance for general interest the annual meeting of
the Piano Merchants' Association of Ohio, for that is an organiza-
tion that really does things. Though essentially a State body and
absolutely under the control of Ohio dealers, the annual sessions
take on the appearance of a meeting of national scope, through the
attendance of prominent members of the trade from all sections of
the country. Not only that, but the members themselves take the
affair seriously. The papers read at the convention last week, for
instance, as well as the addresses made, practically without excep-
tion, indicated that serious thought had been given to their prepara-
tion. The discussions, too, were calculated to give the piano
men something genuine to think about. It is a convention such as
that held by the Ohio men that serves to weld the piano men to-
gether, and helps to put and keep business on a higher plane.
|
PLAYING FAIR WITH THE MANUFACTURER
OR decades past there has existed in the trade the type of
F dealer
who made every effort to secure a representation of an
instrument of high standing, not so much for the purpose of selling
it, through special effort, as with the idea of using it as bait to at-
tract to his warerooms those who were seeking a piano of reputa-
tion and were familiar with the standing of the particular piano
he featured as his leader. Once in. the store it did not often prove
very difficult for a fast talking and not overscrupulous dealer to
convince the prospect of the desirability of some lesser known
piano, possibly bearing the dealer's own name, and upon which
there was a more than generous margin of profit.
The practice perhaps could not be condemned as strictly dis-
honest, although it sometimes happened that the piano eventually
sold did not offer the value the customer was led to expect. The
unfairness of the system lay in tying up a definite territory for a
certain make of piano, and then not giving it the attention it de-
served, or that it was implied would be given to it, when the agency
was first solicited.
If the offending concern had an established standing in its
own territory the manufacturer of a high-grade instrument, after
having the name of his product associated for years with that of
the local distributor, hesitated about making the change and possi-
bly causing harmful confusion thereby. The manufacturer nat-
urally kept after the retailer, but even through that method was
frequently unable to get the desired action. The manufacturer
felt that, with competition rife, to withdraw his agency simply
meant that some other manufacturer of instruments of correspond-
ing standing would move into the gap.
Just now things seem to be changing. With manufacturers
of high-grade piano's having on their books more orders than they
will be able to fill for months to come they are not inclined to be
patient with retailers who are not, or have not been, giving them
a square deal. While the manufacturers may not be able to take
care of the demands of their authorized representatives just now,
they realize that it is the. course of wisdom to keep local territories
well covered and thereby maintain the prestige of their product
until such time as conditions change and supplies are in excess of
demand.
While touring the country to keep in touch with retailers and
the trade situation generally, representatives of a number of lead-
ing houses have found time, with no selling to do, to look into the
sort of representation their houses are receiving at the hands of
various retailers. The result has been in some cases that valuable
agencies have been changed around entirely, for the good of the
cause, while in other cases territory has been redivided so that
neglected sections come under the control of energetic houses.