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Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
VOL. LXXIV. No. 23
Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman Bill, Inc., at 373 4th Aye., New York. June 10, 1922
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The Conventions Hold the Center of the Stage
NCE again it is Convention Week and the meetings of the Chamber of Commerce and the various
allied Associations at the Hotel Commodore, New York, hold the center of interest for the majority
of manufacturers and retailers, even those who for some reason or another cannot attend the sessions
in person. It is felt, generally, that the meet ings this year are of particular importance in view of the
conditions that exist, and have existed, and the necessity for the members of the trade getting together and dis-
cussing problems of the hour and of the future, with a view to promoting business betterment.
As this is written, the members of the major Associations are still in convention session and it is some-
what early to determine just what has been accomplished that will have a noticeable and perhaps permanent
effect upon the industry. Jt is apparent from the spirit of the delegates, however, that something is being accom-
plished, and will be accomplished, of definite value along the lines of the programs that have been mapped out.
The convention of the Music Industries Chamber of Commerce may in a sense be considered the most
important, in that it reflects the co-operative activities of the industry as a whole, and there is much to be
determined regarding what activities the Chamber can engage in during the coming year that will prove of
most direct value to the greatest number. During the past year the Chamber has been put in such form that it is
in a position to expand its activities where its directors and affiliated trade Associations feel there is a need for
expansion.
The members of the National Association of Piano Merchants, with perhaps the most elaborate of all the
programs, put forth earnest efforts to bring to the meetings as speakers authorities in various branches of trade
activity, as well as men from outside the industry, who are competent to speak and give advice and information
on subjects of general interest and importance. The radio, the reproducing piano and the problems of selling
and advertising are all of a vital nature. These, added to the routine Association subjects, give to the program
an interest that has been sufficient to bring an unusually large number of dealers to the session.
The National Piano Manufacturers' Association, however, has taken occasion to map out its activities on
a broader scale than ever before and has been able to send out in advance to its membership a portfolio setting
forth the various suggestions that have been made both in and out of the Association for the convention's consid-
eration and for adoption as a part of the coming year's activities. Presenting these suggestions before the open-
ing of the convention seems to have been a wise move and worthy of adoption by other trade bodies, for by that
means the members were in a position to spread the suggestions presented and be prepared to talk intelligently
and understandingly for or against them when the proper time arrived. The results of such a plan are
already making themselves felt and the idea should prove most successful.
There is evident in the various Association sessions a tendency on the part of the members to set forth
their views freely and fully; to call a spade a spade, and to thresh out to a final conclusion the various questions
and problems that are pertinent to the trade to-day. It happens at times that some of these problems are not par-
ticularly pleasant, but it is deemed much wiser to consider them fully and absolutely rather than to pass them on
without consideration and allow them to spread and grow stronger.
Perhaps the average run of piano merchants who attend the convention sessions are naturally of an
optimistic sort, as proven by their convention attendance, but whatever the cause, it has been found that the
majority of the members of the industry in New York during the week were full of confidence regarding the
future of the industry and the early return of better trade conditions. The majority of them base their optimism
upon the improvement in the situation in various sections of the country, which has made itself evident in the
growing demand for musical instruments, to the advantage of both the retailer and the manufacturer.
The 1922 conventions may now be properly termed of the past, but there has been a definite assurance
that the results of the meetings will make themselves felt for many months to come.
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