Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
JUNE 9, 1923
THE
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
155
The Season's Two Song and Dance Leaders
That Red Head Gal"
"No One Loves You Any Better Than Your
M- A -Double M-Y"
Stock and Feature These Fast Sellers
FRED FISHER, Inc.,
224 West 46th St., New York City
THE PUBLISHERS' ASS'N CREDIT BUREAU—(Continued from page 154)
covered are specified in the copy. This oper-
ates as an advance notice that the draft is com-
ing.
When we receive the draft it is deposited in
our bank for collection and goes through the
usual process of presentation. If it is paid the
returns are credited our account and we then
issue our voucher to the publisher and the in-
cident is closed.
If, however, the draft is not paid when pre-
sented, upon its return dishonored it is then re-
turned by us to the publisher with a request
for further instructions. This is done so that,
in event remittance has been made direct, we
will not proceed in ignorance of that fact.
Presuming that remittance has not been
made direct and nothing has been heard direct
by the publisher, he returns the draft to us
with instructions to proceed. We then have an
instrument, as will be seen, that contains on
one piece of paper an itemized statement of
the account, the endorsements of banks show-
ing that it has been presented and payment
demanded, the excuse for non-payment as made
by the debtor, all of which forms an ideal docu-
ment upon which to base further action. There
has been no dispute regarding the account, no
contest of its correctness and validity.
First Notice Sent
Our next step is to send the debtor our first
notice that the claim is now in process of col-
lection through our Bureau and further action
is suspended a sufficient time to allow his re-
sponse to reach us by return mail.
If it is not received our second notice is then
sent. This is a final notice. If no response^ is
received we then send the claim to our local
attorney (we have a representative in every
city in the United States), with instructions to
proceed aggressively.
Careful and accurate card record is kept on
each dealer in the United States of whom we
have record, and as these various steps are
taken entries are made on his card. If several
claims are received it quickly becomes apparent
that that certain dealer is in financial difficul-
ties. Automatically, when any publisher be-
comes uncertain as to the financial condition of
a dealer, he makes an inquiry about him; this
results in a new credit report being gathered
and rendered and the information as to number
of claims in hand, and amount thereof, is em-
bodied therein. Thus, it will be seen that it is
now practically impossible to get into arrears
With any single member of this Association
without the rest of the members very quickly
ascertaining that fact.
It should be remembered that in no case is
any disputed account made the basis for unfa-
vorable action and every consistent opportunity
is afforded the dealer to clean things up with-
out information becoming general that he has
been in arrears.
When it appears that a firm is getting into
serious condition I usually write it a frank letter
regarding the situation, offering to help in a
constructive way to avoid bankruptcies, insol-
vencies and assignments and, in many cases,
we have been able to pull dealers out of serious
difficulties and save their business for them.
This we are always glad to do when the cir-
cumstances and conditions warrant it.
Causes of Failure
After three years of Credit Bureau experi-
ence, gathering data on more than six thousand
firms, handling many bankruptcies and insol-
vencies, from the creditor's viewpoint, in the
sheet music business failures seem mainly at-
tributable to the following causes, and they are
the causes, too, of most failures in most other
lines of business:
1. Insufficient capital. Entirely too many
"Song Shops," "Melody Shops," "Harmony
Shops," and so on, are opened up by ambitious
but insufficiently financed enthusiasts. With a
small payment down on fixtures and a piano,
the payment of a couple months' rent and the
purchase of a small first stock they start out
011 a business career. Probably they have over-
estimated the business they will do during the
early weeks of their existence and underesti-
mated the time it will take them to become
known to the community. The result is an in-
sufficient volume of business, soon they are
struggling to "make ends meet" and, finally,
generally they fade out of the picture through
foreclosure of the liens upon their fixtures and
piano and repossession of the premises by the
landlord. Unlucky indeed is the publisher who,
after the first bill rendered was promptly paid
(and this is the rule rather than the exception),
has extended credit where there was no real
or tangible financial basis for extending it.
These "shops" come and go in an endless pro-
cession of failures. They used to cost the pub-
lishers a lot of money in the way of credit
losses, but they don't now.
2. Unintelligent salesmanship. In new stores
and old, in large stores and small, it seems pe-
culiarly a weakness incident to merchandising
of sheet music that salesmanship is not intelli-
gently directed. Having bought a stock of
sheet music, there is only one logical thing to
do with it and that is to sell it to customers.
A stock of music is, in the main, subject to a
timely demand; that is, songs should be sold
while they are "in the air," while the publisher
is working on them, while the public is inter-
ested in them. To a considerable extent they
sell themselves through the demand created by
the publisher which brings customers in asking
for a certain composition. But that is no ex-
cuse for the dealer and his staff not being ener-
getic and intelligent sales people. Instead of
letting any stock of a song "die" on his hands
the dealer and his clerks should take almost-
{Continued on page 156)
Robert Teller Sons & Dorner
LITHOGRAPHERS
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