Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
MAY
27, 1922
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
THE 1922 TRADE CONVENTIONS—(Continued from page 3)
other items that are not peculiar to any one division of the industry,
but affect all divisions directly.
Work for the Advancement of Music
Of particular moment will be the consideration of the year's
accomplishments of the National Bureau for the Advancement of
Music. The successful work of "the Bureau in arousing musical
interest and appreciation throughout the country, directly and
indirectly, is well known to the majority of trade members, many
hundreds of whom have participated, to a greater or less extent, in
carrying out the Bureau's work in the promotion of Music Weeks
of city and State-wide scope and in carrying on Music Memory
Contests in some hundreds of cities of the country. It is generally
recognized that present conditions are calculated to prove to some
extent, at least, the value of this advancement of music propaganda
in arousing and maintaining sufficient interest in things musical to
move the public to buy musical instruments as a means for inter-
preting their musical ideas.
The fact that the music trade was among the last to feel the
wave of business depression and has not suffered in most cases to the
extent of some other lines of business would seem to be a tribute
to the foundation of this music-development work. More than ever
manufacturer and merchant have taken occasion to wonder what
would have happened to the trade had the musical interest of the
public not been thus cultivated. It is safe to say that there is no
one branch of organized trade activity that is" subject to less skepticism
than the National Bureau for the Advancement of Music. Indi-
viduals to whom, for one reason or another, credit regulation, co-
operative advertising or legal protection do not appeal as being of
paramount importance, nevertheless declare themselves sold on the
music advancement work. Those who attend the conventions will
have an opportunity of hearing and discussing the annual report, of
the Bureau and the plans that have been made and are in contem-
plation for the coming year. This personal contact will, no doubt,
suggest many ways in which the individual retailer can tie up with
the music advancement program to his own direct advantage.
A Practical Convention Program
In the preparation of the program the effort has been made to
align an array of subjects that will be handled by acknowledged
experts in and out of the trade in a way to enable the convention
delegate to take home with him some concrete and practical thoughts
that may be injected directly into his own business for his ultimate
benefit.
It is generally recognized that the day of the convention pro-
gram made up of many long, meaningless addresses by men who
were called upon simply because they happened to be active in asso-
ciation work is past. The convention delegate to-day demands not
simply a dry resume of the business as he knows it, but addresses and
discussions that are calculated to teach him something of a really
practical and substantial nature.
A Selling Convention for the Merchants
Next to the convention of the Chamber of Commerce itself prob-
ably the .nost important single meeting of the convention period will
be that of the National Association of Music Merchants, for the ques-
tion of selling and distributing is the big question of the day and any
definite results that may accrue from the convention of merchants
will revert directly to the benefit of the other divisions of the industry.
This year the convention of the Music Merchants may be safely
termed a sales convention, for the program, as outlined in full in
another section of The Review, concentrates most thoroughly upon
the sales angle. This, of course, includes the question of advertis-
ing and kindred subjects. The idea has been to list among the
speakers not only men of standing in various lines of business, but
men who, from practical experience, are in a position to further ad-
vise the music merchants regarding the conduct of their various
local business activities.
The fact that the program makers have been alive to current
affairs is evident in the stand made for the further consideration of
the radio question and its relation to the retail music trade. This is
a subject of great importance to every member of the industry
whether or not he is directly affected by the radio craze. The plan
of the meeting calls for the consideration of sales and advertising
problems not merely along general lines, but on a basis that will apply
directly to the needs of the music merchant in his home town. The
ideas advanced will be those that he can understand and use for him-
self in his own territory. Every department of the music business
will be touched upon directly, whether it is the sale of talking ma-
chines, musical merchandise, sheet music or music rolls, etc. It is
quite certain that the suggestions of the specialists in their respective
lines of business endeavor can prove of distinct value to the man who,
in the conduct of his own individual business, has so many things
demanding his attention that he cannot find time or afford to make
an exhaustive study of any one factor. At the convention he will
have the benefit of this specialized advice.
The various activities of the Merchants' Association will also
come up for considerable attention at the convention sessions, and
plans will be discussed for enlarging upon these activities along lines
that will promise the greatest good for the greatest number. The
Trade Service Bureau, for instance, which began functioning only
after the last convention, will have a particularly interesting report
to offer to the assembled merchants, together with a program for the
future that promises much.
The Question of Co-operative
Advertising
The outstanding feature of the convention of the National Piano
Manufacturers' Association will be a thorough discussion and consid-
eration of the national co-operative advertising campaign suggested
early in the year, and in connection with which a rather elaborate and
informative survey has been made by Richard W. Lawrence and
the committee working with him.
The details of this survey, which indicates the favorable attitude
of the majority of manufacturers towards the co-operative advertis-
ing campaign in the interests of the player-piano, have already been
published in part in The Review, and the full details will likely prove
surprising to those who have been laboring under the impression
that it cannot be done. Incidentally, an expert advertising man of
country-wide reputation will be on hand to discuss the question from
numerous angles and give suggestions and advice that have back of
them practical experience in the national advertising field.
The Other Association
Activities
The musical merchandise men, through their association, will also
have many matters for discussion, for, although their business has
been of a very substantial character during the past year, there are
matters of importance affecting their interests, particularly those
who are to be classed as importers—such matters as the new tariff,
for instance, which, although directly affecting only a few, is likely
to have considerable bearing upon the interests of the retail dealer
in imported musical instruments.
Various other trade bodies, such as the pipe organ builders,
musical supply interests, etc., have also arranged definite programs,
the subjects being, of course, those of most practical benefit to the
interests involved.
A Second Week of Conventions
Many of those who attend the conventions at the Commodore
during the week of June 5 will also be called upon to attend the con-
vention sessions the following week when the Music Publishers' As-
sociation of the United States and the National Association of Sheet
Music Dealers will hold their annual conventions in New York, while
at the same time the National Association of Talking Machine Job-
bers will convene at the Hotel Ambassador in Atlantic City. A sur-
prising number of convention delegates have interests sufficiently
widespread to make it to their advantage to attend these latter
sessions.
The Annual Golf Tournament
There are others, too, who will likewise remain over to take part
in the annual tournament of the National Golf Association of the
(Continued on page 7)
. „
^