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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
REVIEW
If PUBLISHED BY EDWARD LYMAN BILL, Inc.
President and Treasurer, C. L. Bill, 373 Fourth Ave., New York; Vice-President,
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RAY BILL, B. B. WILSON, BRAID WHITE, Associate Editors
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Executive and Reportorial Staff
EDWARD VAN HARLINGEN, V. D. WALSH, E. B. MUNCH, C. A. LEONARD, LEE ROBINSON,
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Departments conducted by an expert wherein all ques-
Pljinn anil
tions of a technical nature relating to the tuning,
regulating and repairing of pianos and player-pianos
IW>nartni4»ntc
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a r e d e a I t w i t h ( w i l l b e f o u n d i n a n o t her section of
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b l i h a number of reliable technical works, information concerning
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which will be cheerfully given upon request.
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LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONES—NUMBERS 5982—6983 MADISON 8Q.
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Cable address: "Elbill, New York"
Vol. LXXII
NEW YORK, APRIL 2, 1921
No. 14
THE COMING CONVENTIONS
E
VERY indication points to the fact that the forthcoming national
trade conventions in Chicago, particularly the convention of
the National Association of Music Dealers, will not only be the best
attended of any of the annual sessions ever held, but will hold
unusual interest for those who are fortunate enough to be present.
This year there is being developed a definite constructive pro-
gram of addresses designed to teach the merchant something about
the conduct of his business, and to give him some expert informa-
tion to carry back to his home town and put into practice. Instead
of the convention sessions simply offering an excuse for the presen-
tation of a mass of reports, they will be developed into genuine
business forums. It is recognized that the need of the hour is the
development of selling and advertising plans that will enable retailers
not only to meet present conditions successfully, but to enjoy real
business growth, and there is not a man in the industry who is not
in a position to be aided in the carrying out of this plan by taking
counsel with his fellows. The Qiicago conventions will offer the
opportunity for the taking of such counsel.
A SPLENDID TRIBUTE TO MUSIC
T
H E serious interest which is now being given by newspaper and
magazine writers to music in its various forms, and particularly
to the educational and morale-building qualities of music, was re-
flected with unusual force in a lengthy article appearing in Collier's
last week under the caption "Canned Music—the Player-Piano Fan,"
written by Robert Haven Schaumer. The article in its entirety
represented a strong and at the same time logical endorsement of
the player-piano and its usefulness in bringing to the youthful mind
an understanding of the better things in music.
The day for holding the player-piano or the talking machine up
to ridicule in national publications has passed, and the article in
Collier's is first-class evidence of the fact. The trade has been par-
ticularly interested in the article, and it is felt that it will have an
excellent effect upon the million or more readers of Collier's. Mr.
Schauffler calls attention to the use of the player-piano in teaching
APRIL 2,
1921
music appreciation at Tufts College, of the wisdom of allowing the
player-piano enthusiast to have his musical education come grad-
ually, and likewise of the wisdom of permitting the child to use the
player-piano that he may unconsciously be brought to an understand-
ing of what is good and what is bad in music.
It is understood that Collier's is to run a series of articles by
Mr. Schauffler treating of music, and particularly of mechanically
reproduced music, including that of the talking machine. The trade
will await the promised articles with much interest.
UNITED ACTION ON TAX PLAN ESSENTIAL
A
S was reported last week, the Piano Merchants' Association of
Pittsburgh has gone on record as favoring the "Dean Walker"
tax plan, which provides for a tax on profits only and is opposed to
the commodity tax plan as endorsed by the various business organi-
zations, including the Music Industries Chamber of Commerce.
While the Dean Walker plan evidently has much to recommend
it, it is a question whether Pittsburgh piano men will accomplish
more by getting back of that plan than if they join with other factors
in the music industry in supporting the commodity tax suggestions
of the Chamber of Commerce. The saving grace of the situation is
that both the Chamber's plan and the Walker plan seek to eliminate
excise taxes in favor of other forms of raising revenue,, and any-
thing calculated to accomplish that end is worthy of consideration.
The music trade interests of the country in considering the tax
situation should, however, endeavor to work together along one line
as much as possible. The general endorsement of one plan is
naturally much more effective than the divided endorsement of a
half dozen different plans, even though all of them might be con-
sidered good and logical. It would be well, in fact, for some local
piano men to sacrifice their own opinions in part with a view to
promoting the common good.
A SERMON ON BUSINESS
O
N another page of The Review this week appears an advertise-
ment that is deserving of the earnest consideration of both
manufacturers and retailers of pianos, whether or not they handle,
or contemplate handling, instruments of Cable Company manufac-
ture. The advertisement is more than a simple piece of publicity. In
fact, it is a sermon on business, the business that comes to those who
put the proper effort into looking for it, and concern themselves with
their own problems rather than permit themselves to be influenced
by general conditions, local and national.
Here are ten retailers of pianos who during the month of Jan-
uary this year rolled up a volume of business in excess of that for the
same month last year. It is true that one dealer only reported three
per cent gain, but it was a gain made in the face of conditions that
have made some of the less energetic accept a loss and feel lucky.
Here is a message of optimism that comes supported by convincing
facts. It proves that pianos can be sold—right now—and that the
music dealer who will buckle down to business and spend his time
and energy in going after business instead of bemoaning his fate and
sighing for the "good old days" will find that business is not nearly so
bad as he had pictured it. The Cable Company's announcement is
a sermon, as has been said, and a good one at that.
CONFIDING IN THE PUBLIC
CCORDING to Alvin E. Dodd, manager of the Domestic Disr
tribution Department of the Chamber of Commerce of the United
States, retailers should follow the lead of Public Service Corporations
and manufacturers and take the public into their confidence regarding
their problems. The success of such a move, however, it would seem,
would rest largely upon the attitude of the public in any one par-
ticular locality. There has been too much of this "confiding in the
public" on the part of unscrupulous business interests who, in setting
forth their troubles, have confined themselves to fiction rather than
facts.
There is no question but that the buying public has been more
or less fed upon "liquidation" sales, the offering of goods at "less
than cost," and business figures that tell only one side of the story.
Retailers who go to the public with their products should be prepared
to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, and at the same time offer
proof. The dear public is not believing everything it reads nowadays,
despite advertising vigilance committees and Better Business Bureaus.
A