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SEPTEMBER 3, 1921
THE MUSIC TRADE
45
REVIEW
CONDUCTED BY V. D. WALSH
THE QUESTION OF FUTURE PRICES ONiSHEET MUSIC
Representative Publishers Contribute Their Views on the Price Question and Are Practically
Unanimous in Declaring That Present Prices Cannot Safely Be Lowered
There has been so much rumor afloat, much
of which is propaganda, regarding the contem-
plated reduction in the retail and wholesale
prices of popular sheet music that for the good
of the industry, particularly with the Fall sea-
son approaching, it is well to consider opinions
from authentic and accurate sources as to what
Fall prices are to prevail and thus have facts
to work upon.
There have appeared in these columns a num-
ber of articles which have shown, from the pub-
lisher's standpoint, that there could not be any
radical price changes. The views expressed be-
low, however, many of which are over the sig-
natures of prominent members of the trade and
all of them from substantial houses, should set at
rest any feeling of uncertainty and inspire a
feeling of confidence in the stability of prices
during the coming months, as well as encourage
the dealers to stock goods with assurance.
Depression Not Due to Prices
Benjamin W. Levy, general manager of B. D.
Nice & Co., Inc., says:
"Personally, I do not believe there is going to
be any reduction in the price of sheet music.
I have never quite convinced myself that the
so-called depression is due to the selling price
in any measure whatsoever. I believe the ap-
parent business stagnation (referring, of course,
to our own line) is attributable to other causes.
These are too numerous to state and I believe
should be well known both to the publishers and
dealers. The latter can easily apply the remedy,
but the business is of such a peculiar nature and
has been conducted along certain lines for so
long a time, and by the same people, that those
actively engaged in the industry do not seem to
have the proper perspective of the thing at all.
Here and there one reads and observes a flash
of intelligence in the statements and articles
given out by those high in the field. I have
read one or two good things, for instance, advo-
cated by F. J. A. Forster.
"I do think, however, that conditions will be-
come more stabilized and secure, but the influ-
ence will not be brought about by the change
one way or the other in price."
May Be a Price Advance
Robert Crawford, general sales manager of
Irving Berlin, Inc., says:
"We feel sure that there will be no further
reduction in prices this Fall, as far as popular
music is concerned. As a matter of fact, the
price will more than likely advance.
"A few months ago it was the opinion of a
great many music dealers that if popular music
was sold to the public at 25 cents a copy it
would increase the sale of music. We have found
from our experience that such is not the case.
Therefore, music dealers should base their plans
on the present prices, arrange their overhead
accordingly and go after popular music stronger
than ever before, because the public has not
been buying very much popular music for the
past five or six months, and it is just be-
ginning to become 'music hungry,' with the re-
sult that the dealer who makes a drive on popu-
lar music at this time will clean up."
More Effort Is Needed
Walter G. Douglas, of Waterson, Berlin &
Snyder Co., says:
"We all have our opinion as to the ultimate
outcome of the present instability of retail prices
of sheet music. It really amounts, after all, to
nothing more than speculation, and I don't think
that anyone is qualified to say just what the
future will bring in the way of increased or
flecreased sales.
"History repeats itself in so far as the usual
Summer slump is concerned, but to a greater
degree this Summer than usual, due to the gen-
eral depression in every business throughout the
country.
"There are unmistakable signs of business
picking up, and it is our opinion that the Fall
will bring the usual crop of hits and resultant
large sales—although the volume will possibly
not be as great as it was last year or the year
before.
''It is our opinion that when the people want
an article, whether it be sheet music or any other
item, they will not let a 5 or 10-cent piece stand
u< the way of their buying it. We are satisfied
with the present method of distributing our
publications and do not intend making any
changes in our wholesale prices.
"A lot. of hard work on the part of the pub-
lishers, together with a more optimistic view-
point throughout the music industry generally,
will go a long way toward improving condi-
tions and this, we believe, is more essential than
a readjustment of prices."
Publishers Must Create Legitimate Demand
The general manager of another important
publishing house says as follows:
"I think that the wholesale price of sheet
jMisic is at the lowest possible point to-day, pro-
viding the publishers continue creating a legiti-
SONGS THAT SELL
Irving Berlin's Latest
Overnight Hit
All By Myself
My Mammy
1 Wonder Where
My Sweet, Sweet Daddy's Gone
D r o w s y Head (Waltz)
Oh, My Sweet Hortense
The Passion Flower
You're Just the Type for a
Bungalow
When the Sun Goes Down
The Big Hit of the
Year
Home Again Blues
IRVING BERLIN, Inc.
1587 Broadway, New York
mate demand for their legitimate publications.
Without creating such a demand I am at a loss
to understand how the music industry could
survive. If all the expenses we had were print-
ins we could sell music very much cheaper than
we do, but when we take the cost of printing, the
cost of royalties, plus the cost of exploitation
—and the latter, in my judgment, is the most
important that enters into a song—it is utterly
impossible to sell music at a lower price than
it is being sold at to-day. My personal im-
pression is that the present price is too low
and we should get at least a few cents more per
copy than we are getting to-day, inasmuch as we
are tillable to control the retail price ourselves
(Continued
on pa
THE COUNTRY'S QUICKEST "BLUES" HIT
EVERYWHERE IS HEARD THE
Tk De Da Da Dc Dum
Already obtainable for player-piano
and any talking machine
Publishers J. W. JENKINS SONS MUSIC CO., Kansas City, Mo.
Also Publishers of "12th Street Rag," "Sweet Love," "Colleen O'Mine"