Music Trade Review

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
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VOL. LXXII. No. 23
I
Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman Bill, Inc., at 373 4th Aye., New York.
June 4, 1921
Single Copies 10 Cents
92.00 Per Year
T appears to be the consensus of opinion among both manufacturers and retailers in the music industry
that no real revival of business activity can be expected until the coming of the Fall months, or at the
earliest in September. Not that there will not be improvement right along—for that has already evidenced
itself in sections where the general industrial situation has changed for the better—but any material
advance must await the coming of the recognized Fall business season.
The idea is probably all right and sound in principle provided the members of the trade do not take it so
seriously that they cease making any real effort to get business until the Fall under the impression that any effort
made during the Summer will be wasted. The fact of the matter is that upon the energy placed in the Summer
campaign, both for immediate and future business, will depend in no small measure the success that may be
expected during the later months of the year when the hoped-for normal activities are resumed.
Somehow or other the Summer season has always been a bugbear for the average retail piano man who
has accepted the annual dull period as a matter of course, and in most cases has ceased efforts to develop business
during the hot weather. It is to be admitted, of course, that the monthly average of sales during June, July and
August cannot be expected to compare with the. results during the Winter months, but that is not to say that there
is not business to be had if it is gone after diligently. The proportion of people who close up their homes and go
away for the Summer represents only a small percentage of the total population, for to the great majority of
families the Summer vacation season is limited to the standard two weeks, and the rest of the year must be spent
at home. The buying period of the average family, therefore, is fifty weeks in each year.
-;.: •
Under existing conditions, it is particularly advisable for music merchants to keep up sales efforts right
through the year, forgetting that there is such a thing as a Summer season. There have been spent, and are being-
spent, thousands of dollars each year for music advancement, and strong forces throughout the country have
been co-ordinated in an effort to stimulate a more general appreciation of the art. Much of this music advance-
ment work is carried on in the. Summer, with musical conventions, Chautauquas and open air concerts included
among the organized activities. It is thus seen that the interest of the individual in music is just as likely to be
stimulated to the buying point in Summer as in Winter.
Music is not a seasonable commodity; it is rather an article that can be sold all year around. Human
nature is just as responsive to the lure of music during sweltering weather as it is when the thermometer is below
zero, and while the opportunities for listening to music indoors are greater in Winter than in Summer, still the
cause of music can be furthered most efficiently in Summer if the dealer will but take advantage of the obvious
opportunities open to him.
According to the effort put into the Summer campaign by the retailer will depend whether or not he enters
the Fall season cold as it were and with the business building problem before him, or whether he is prepared at
that time to realize upon the trade-building efforts put forth during the less active business months. Summer
work that does not bring immediate results is more than likely to develop a substantial list of prospects ready for
closing when the time comes to spend the evenings indoors. The logical course is to utilize the time during less
active business periods in building up prospect lists and developing leads in preparation for the period when there
is greater activity, and when the limited amount of time can best be devoted to the actual selling.
The manufacturer and merchant who is simply waiting for Fall is actually wasting time and neglecting
opportunities. He has gotten in the habit of dealing in futures and has forgotten that today's business turnover,
even though small, is much more important than next month's prospects. It is all very well to think and plan
ahead, but it's quite another thing to sit down and idle while waiting for something to happen. Summer business
may not break sales records, but it can be made to pay expenses and to open the way for taking full advantage of
any business opportunities that the Fall may offer.