Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
VOL. LXXI. No. 2
Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman Bill, Inc., at 373 4th Ave., New York.
July 10, 1920
Single Copies 10 Cents
|2.00 Per Year
O more emphatic proof of the broad, national, industry-wide lines along which music trade associa-
tion work is being carried on at the present time could be found than in the results of the conference
of the Executive and Advisory Boards and State Commissioners of the National Association of Music
Merchants held at Atlantic City last week. Throughout the conference there was distinctly in
evidence a spirit of earnest effort and a desire on the part of the Association officers and the membership at
large to work together with the Music Industries Chamber of Commerce and other trade bodies iri a way that
would bring about the best results for all concerned.
-The fact is likewise emphasized that the Merchants' Association, with over 1,200 members, and with
nearly 500 State and City Commissioners scattered throughout forty-seven States, as well as Canada and
Cuba, is proving, and will continue to prove, the working organization through which much of the work of
the Music Industries Chamber of Commerce, its various subsidiary bureaus, and the different associations
affiliated with it must be carried out. Representatives of the Merchants' Association must be depended upon
to provide the means of contact between the individual dealer and the National Association itself or the Cham-
ber of Commerce.
That the merchants are fully aware of their responsibility in this connection is quite evident, and their
organization has outlined a most ambitious program that is calculated not only to advance the cause of music
generally, but to "sell" that propaganda to music dealers throughout the country.
Perhaps the most interesting development of the Atlantic City meeting was the willingness of the
officials of the Merchants' Association to confer with representatives of other trade bodies, with a view to
co-operating in solving problems of mutual interest. The endorsement of the recommendation made by the
National Association of Piano Tuners that the Merchants' Association co-operate in the campaign to inform
the public regarding the proper care of a piano is one of the indications of this new attitude. Pianos that are
kept in tune reflect credit upon themselves and upon the house selling them, and it is therefore directly to the
interest of the retailer to see to it that the pianos sold by him are kept in such shape that they will reflect to
the credit .of his business rather than serve to discredit him.
Another matter of equal interest was the conference held with music roll manufacturers for the pur-
pose of developing some plan of co-operation between the music roll men and the music merchants to the end
that music rolls may be marketed more intelligently, more profitably, and in all ways more satisfactorily. It
seems reasonable to assume that if both producers and distributors give the proper thought to this matter, and
show a real appreciation of what the music roll means to the success of the player-piano, a campaign of genuine
value can be inaugurated.
Many recent developments in association ranks have indicated that trade members as a whole have come
to a realization of the fact that the term "music industry" applies not to one particular division of the trade,
but to a combination of all the interests, and that these interests are interlocking. If, through the co-operation
of several divisions of the industry, the cause of music can be advanced and the demand for musical instru-
ments increased, or the merchandising of any one particular product placed upon a more stable and satisfactory
basis, then the industry as a whole is benefited directly thereby. Likewise campaigns for trade betterment that
would not be attempted by any one organization, through a lack of facilities or a feeling that non-supporting
organizations would profit, are made easily possible through the co-operation of the various trade factors.
This new attitude in trade association affairs, this industry-wide and nation-wide program of activity, is
worthy of generous encouragement, not alone for its immediate effects, but for its possibilities in the manner of
affording a solid foundation and protection for the industry in the future.
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