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THE
REVIEW
flUJIC TIRADE
VOL. LXX. No. 20
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Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman Bill, Inc., at 373 4th Ave., New York.
May 15, 1920
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10 CentH
J,.fi > ft r8 s Year
IANO merchants, like their brothers in other lines of business, have been contending with extraordinary
conditions during the past month, brought about through the railroad strikes, the tying up of shipments
and supplies and other distressing factors. In addition to this, music dealers in some sections of fhe
country claim they are being over supplied with certain lines of pianos and particularly talking machines,
and are therefore inclined to hedge on orders and to claim that the manufacturers are endeavoring to unload
surplus output, if such a condition possibly exists.
Investigation proves, however, that in a majority of cases these dealers are located close enough to the
manufacturing centers to permit of their receiving shipments by motor truck, and are actually profiting by the
general freight and express embargo to the extent that they are now getting goods that would ordinarily be
shipped to other parts of the country. It is quite likely that some of these dealers have been securing more than
their quota of goods just now, but the sacrifice they are called upon to make to finance their purchases will likely
be found well worth while when transportation problems ease up a bit, and the factories are again able to make
shipments to their representatives in distant sections of the country.
The average manufacturer is endeavoring to strike a balance in the distribution of his product and those
dealers who are fortunate enough to be able to stock up now will likely have to let present stocks carry them
through several months in order that the other dealers who have been cut off from sources of supply may get
their fair share of goods when the opportunity presents itself.
It must be kept in mind that there is in no sense a condition of over-production in the industry and that
were the freight situation straightened out and factory output distributed as in normal times there would still be
occasion for the retailer to complain of stock shortage to a certain degree. The retail trade, or at least the wiser
members of it, have learned their lesson and are working on a basis that provides a sufficient cash reserve to
permit of the financing of substantial stock transactions. The investment of this cash, or its equivalent, in
pianos and talking machines, even though it may prove a strain at the moment, really represents the best
insurance for future business.
Manufacturing conditions are at best uncertain. There have been more or less frequent advances in
prices and it is hinted that more are coming. The labor situation is not at all settled, and there are other factors
that may be calculated to keep down factory production, or perhaps halt it entirely for a period. The dealer who
has his goods on hand is not only enabled to buy more favorably than he might a few months hence, but does not
have to worry to any great extent about the way things are going in manufacturing fields.
We hear statements to the effect that the public is now hesitating about spending its money for luxuries
or even for high priced necessities. The active music merchant, however, should have no occasion to complain
about any non-buying tendency of the public. He has had his measure of the sellers' market, and if his organiza-
tion is of the proper sort he is in a position to sell to the public—to handle pianos as they were handled some years
ago—to go out after business and to get it.
The music advancement work and the propaganda for a more general appreciation of music should now
begin to show results in practically every community. With the public mind attuned to the music idea, and
believing in the musical instrument as a necessity, the dealer should have little difficulty in putting his instru-
ments into homes. He must not accept the drawing of the public purse strings as a death blow to his business,
but should set to work to counteract any tendency along this line by emphasizing the fact that the purchase of a
piano or a talking machine does not in any sense represent extravagance, but on the contrary represents a
permanent investment that will pay dividends in pleasure and instruction. The dealer who claims that he is over
stocked with musical instruments just now will eventually find that his condition is indeed most fortunate.