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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
JUNE 16, 1923
43
HIGH COSTS THE GREATEST PROBLEM OF THE INDUSTRY
W. Rodman Fay, President of G. Schirmer, Inc., States That Greatest Problem Confronting
Both the Music Publishers and the Music Dealers To-day Are High Costs of Production
W. Rodman Fay, president of G. Schirmer,
Inc., for only a period of two years, has lifted
that firm from its former good position before
the trade and the public to a state of prosperity
and eminence which it had never attained before
in its long and honorable history, and this
without possessing any knowledge of the music
publishing business when he entered upon his
duties as head of that house.
Recently a Review representative had a long
talk with Mr. Fay concerning the present con-
ditions in the music publishing and sheet music
W. Rodman Fay
trade. Passing through the splendid retail mu-
sic store which occupies the first floor of the
Schirmer building, he was ushered into Mr.
Fay's handsome private office and was warmly
greeted by a tall slender man who rose from
a large desk filling almost its full width and
welcomed him over a quick handshake by a
firm and modulated voice in which could be
detected traces of the broad "a" which unmis-
takably indicates the Bostonian.
It was the aim of tins interview to find the
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Write Pov out
Complete Catalog
(Popular &5tandard)
reasons for Mr. Fay's success with Schirmer
and those reasons were not far to seek. They
are, first of all, a tremendous energy based on a
nervous and virile force creating strong powers
of business perspicuity and breeding a marked
ability to observe and to analyze all that is
observed. The impression Mr. Fay gives is
that of a fine delicately balanced piece of busi-
ness machinery, balanced with broad human-
ness.
It was with these feelings that The Review
representative hurled his first question at Mr.
Fay.
"The country apparently is entering the most
important era of commercial prosperity since
war times," he said. "What particular problem
will this prosperity offer to the music dealer
and public?"
Mr. Fay thought awhile and then his reply
came without hesitancy: "I believe the greatest
problem will be high costs. High costs to both
the publisher and the dealer. Prior to the
money inflation of 1917-1921 music was pub-
lished at costs which for a business of such
limited returns and hazardous profits were nor-
mally high. When it became necessary to raise
wages, and paper and other material bounded
to very high prices, our manufacturing costs
became excessive. Even now these costs are
abnormally elevated. The wages of the labor
we employ are, on an average, more than 100
per cent above the 1913 level. The same is true
of the prices of the different kinds of paper and
other raw materials that enter into the publish-
ing and printing of our music.
"Directly replying to your question, the real
problem in the present prosperity wave prob-
ably confronts the publishers through the
dealer.
"The music dealer, as you well know, must
work very hard and display a vast amount of
ingenuity to make his store give commensurate
returns on the investment of himself and money.
His stock must be chosen and maintained—I
speak from the standpoint of service—with care
and foresight. Over-buying of music unsuited
to his clientele and inability to weed out a slow-
moving stock have been the ruin of many music
dealers. This takes in the purchasing of in-
ferior music from publishers who tempt with
excessive discounts. A dealer must possess only
enough clerical help and no more, and his store
must be adequately but not extravagantly
equipped. In numerous other ways he must
be close. Tersely expressed, he must scrape
and watch expenses more assiduously than
probably any other kind of merchant.
"Discounts from publishers are, of course, one
of the most important factors in the dealer's
affairs. Inversely to the liberality of the pub-
lisher's discounts shrink the troubles of the
dealer. Big discounts mean greater profits and
they make the dealer happy.
"I would ask you to remember here that the
dealer's costs—that is, labor, rent, wrapping
paper and so forth—are also abnormally high
along with the publisher's manufacturing costs,
and so big discounts may help, but do not en-
tirely stabilize the situation, as one may plainly
see.
"Relative to the high costs of the publishers,
the discounts to dealers should not be con-
sidered. In point of fact, they are widely apart.
The publisher should manufacture his merchan-
dise at the best available costs, and then, allow-
ing himself a fair profit, market his goods to
the public and trade at the most liberal re-
spective discounts general circumstances permit.
This might possibly mean shorter discounts to
dealers than they expect, but at least it would
be logical.
"Alas, though, the trade customers and con-
ditions in the music business do not allow this
common-sense 'supply and demand' principle to
operate.
"The dealer, with his own great costs of
SONGS THAT SELL
You Know You Belong
to Somebody Else
(So Why Don't You Leave Me Alone ?)
Down Among the Sleepy
Hills of Tennessee (new)
Dearest
— You Tell Her—I Stutter
(You're the Nearest to My Heart)
When Yon Walked Out Someone Else
Walked Right In
(new)
Indiana Moon (new)
Pickles (new)
—
—
That Old Gang of Mine (new)
L o v e (My Heart Is Calling YOB) (new)
Ala Moana (new)
I Wish I Conld Cry Over Someone (new)
H o m e (new)
Some Day You'll Cry Over Someone
___ Homesick
Nuthin' But
By the Shall mar
Open Your Arms, My Alabamy
Ivy (Cling to Me)
Some Little Someone
Some Sunny Day
Come on Home
Just a Little Love Song
Yankee Doodle Blues
—
Universal Dance Folio for 1923
IRVING BERLIN'S NEW
Music Box Revue
Crinoline Days
Lady of the Evening
Porcelain Maid
Pack Up Your Sins
and Go To The Devil
Will She Come From the East?
The Little Red Lacquer Cage
Bring On the Pepper
—
—
IRVING BERLIN, Inc.
1607 Broadway, New York
doing business, insists on extraordinarily liberal
discounts from the already badly squeezed pub-
lisher, and for fear of closing his market alto-
gether the latter accedes.
"Thus to answer your question we need but
summarize what I have all too sketchily out-
lined: The publisher and the dealer both have
very high costs, and the former, out of sym-
pathy for the latter, and in order to lighten the
latter's burden, grants him discounts which
actually he cannot afford to do."
"Obviously," went on Mr. Fay, "here is a
problem; one which may become startling if
the prosperity wave engenders still higher man-
ufacturing and labor costs. It may make the
music publishing business, when that business
is conducted in the best interests of art and
music in America, so costly as to be con-
ducted at an actual loss, as was the case from
April, 1920, to May, 1921, although our sales
during that period were the largest in our whole
history."
The speaker pondered a moment and an
almost grave expression flitted over his face.
"The remedy is co-operation. We consider
(Continued on page 44)