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THE
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
(Registered in the U. S. Patent Office)
PUBLISHED BY EDWARD LYMAN BILL, Inc.
President and Treasurer. C. L. Bill. 373 Fourth Ave., New York; Vice-President,
J. B. Spillane, 37J Fourth Ave., New York; Second Vice-President, Raymond Bill, 373
Fourth Ave., New York; Secretary, Edward Lyman Bill, 373 Fourth Ave., New York;
Assistant Treasurer, Win. A. Low.
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anil
Departments conducted by an expert wherein all ques-
allU
tions of a technical nature relating to the tuning,
a i i h n a i i l f regulating and repairing of pianos and player-pianos
p a r t i n e i l l S are dealt with, wlTl be found in another section of
this paper. We also publish a number of reliable technical works, information concerning
which will be cheerfully given upon request.
Exposition Honors Won by The Review
Grand Prix
Paris Exposition, 1900 Silver Medal
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Diploma
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Vol. LXXV
NEW YORK, DECEMBER 9, 1922
No. 24
REVIEW
DECEMBER 9, 1922
selected subjects and have been designed to cover many phases of
music trade activity. The opinions expressed and the advice given
should prove of value to those who take advantage of all the infor-
mation obtainable in reference to their business, its problems and its
development.
It is being realized that the music industry is a real industry
with the sales, advertising and financing problems common to all
lines of business, all of them on the same general basis and varying
only in details. T H E REVIEW presents in this issue practical dis-
cussions of these merchandising and financing questions, particu-
larly as they may develop during the coming year, with a view to
giving to the trade the opinions of those whose experience places
them in a position to talk with authority.
OUR ADVERTISING TAKEN AS A MODEL
the prevalence in certain sections of the country of
D ESPITE
"was-now" and "nothing-down" advertising usually featured in a
sensational manner, it is generally conceded that during the past
few years there has been as a whole a remarkable improvement in
the advertising of musical instruments. More attention is given to
the appeal made in these announcements and to the arrangement of
the copy, with the result that music trade publicity compares most
favorably with that carried on by other lines of business.
Particularly significant is the fact that American musical instru-
ment advertising is receiving much attention from the members of
the music trade in foreign countries, notably in England, where
American ideas of publicity have been accepted as examples and
adopted very successfully.
Only recently a prominent British concern wrote to Charles E.
Byrne, secretary-treasurer of the Steger & Sons Piano Mfg. Co., in
reference to the details of an advertising contest featured by that
house, and mentioned in an article in THE REVIEW, which, by the
way, has a large circulation in the British Empire. This concern
took particular occasion to state that its members watched closely
the advertising of the American trade and considered it most up-to-
date.
Advertising cannot be judged by individual example, but by the
publicity of an industry as a whole, and on this basis the American
music trade has very little of which to be ashamed.
SHEET MUSIC FOR THE MILLIONS
The Music Trade Review extends its hearty greetings
to the entire industry, sincerely hoping that every
member thereof may experience in fullest measure
the genuine happiness of a very Merry Christmas.
KIIS^
SURVEYING THE TRADE SITUATION
HE demand for musical instruments from all sections of the
country—a demand that has taxed the facilities of the manufac-
turers, particularly the makers of pianos and talking machines—
offers proof of the fact that there has been a distinct revival of
business that has been most welcome after some months of slow
trade.
There has been some question, however, as to whether all dis-
tricts enjoy the same degree of demand, and whether there is any
likelihood of it continuing throughout the coming year. With a
view to placing the facts of the situation before its readers THE
REVIEW has conducted an extensive canvass of the manufacturers
of, and dealers in, musical instruments throughout the country,
securing thereby a volume of authentic figures together with many
expressions of opinion that should act as a guide to those who are
planning for next year's business. The survey is calculated to bring
to light the weak spots as well as the strong spots in the country
and the facts presented are interesting from a number of angles.
Taking it all in all, the members of the music industry are look-
ing forward to a good business year and offer good reasons in most
cases for being optimistic. The chief basis of confidence, without
doubt, is the fact that in most cases the concerns in the trade will
enter the New Year with unfilled orders on their books—a fact
calculated to insure stability.
The special articles found in the Holiday Number of THE
REVIEW this week are all by men well qualified to speak on the
T
takes the sale of a good many sheets of music to bring a million
I T dollars
in income to the publisher, and yet according to census
figures covering 1921, issued recently and published in T H E REVIEW
last week, the products of the music publishing trade as a whole
last year had a value in excess of $13,000,000, averaging something
better than a million dollars a month, and even this shows a decline
of a million dollars from the 1919 total.
For those who are inclined to figure the music industry on a
dollars and cents basis, in order to show its financial importance in
the business life of the country, the production of the music pub-
lishers should hold considerable interest. It means, for instance,
that last year approximately 60,000,000 copies of music were sold,
or enough to supply half the population of the country with a copy
apiece. Not a very heavy showing, truly, but a production that
keeps in step with, and perhaps a little ahead of, the piano trade,
with which it is by the nature of things so closely allied, although
the fact is not always recognized.
PUTTING THE EMPLOYE'S MIND AT EASE
practice of business concerns in various lines, in-
T HE cluding growing
those of the music industry, in insuring their employes
under the group insurance plan is thoroughly commendable. It is a
practice that is calculated to help the morale of an organization for
a number of reasons, chief among them being that it gives to the em-
ploye a certain sense of security regarding the future that contributes
to his satisfaction and peace of mind and is therefore calculated to
improve the character of his work.
The practice not only aids the employe directly, but proves of
advantage to the company employing him, which by that means
frees itself of the often recognized obligation of contributing more
or less liberally to the relief of the family of a workman who has
passed away suddenly and left them destitute. Group insurance for
industrial workers represents not paternalism, but good, sound busi-
ness practice.