4
THE
MUSIC
TRADE
(ReKi.tered in the U. S. Patent Office)
PUBLISHED BY EDWARD LYMAN BILL, Inc.
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of. B. SPILLANE. Editor
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Exposition Honors Won by The Review
Grand Pri............ Pari. Exposition, 1900
Silver Medal.. . Char1;ston Exposition, 1902
Diploma .. .. Pan-American Exposition, 1901
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Gold M eda~-Lewis-Clark Exposition. 1905
TELEPHONES-VANDEBBILT 2642-2648-26U-2646-2647-2648
(Jable Address: "Elblll, New York"
Vol. LXXVII
~HE
NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 22, 1923
No. 12
NATIONAL PIANO STUDENTS' CONTEST
T
HROUGHOUT the Summer period the plan as suggested by
The Review of holding a national piano competition during the
convention in New York next year, entry being open to all students
of high and graded schools wherein credits are granted for music
study, has been gaining ground and winning the support of indi
viduals in and out of the trade who realize that the idea is worth
considering from two important angles- -first, that it is likely to
develop some excellent propaganda in favor of piano study and,
secondly, that it will center increased interest on music ae; an art.
The music week idea and the general work of music advance
ment have progressed to a point where they are well and perma
nently established, and there is no question but that this growth
of music appreciation is calculated to help this trade of ours tre
mendously, even though indirectly. The contest for young pianists,
however, would center interest not alone upon music but upon
piano music and also upon the desirability of having the younger
generation take up the study of piano playing seriously. If the
value of piano study can be impressed upon the public the benefits
to the trade are sure of realization.
MAKING SERVICE SELF-SUSTAINING
T
HE service question in relation to the proper handling of the
piano, and particularly the reproducing piano, after it is in
stalled in the home of the customer is assuming steadily increasing
importance in trade circles due to the interest being aroused in the
problem by the manufacturers and the strong support given to
their efforts toward solving the service problem by the National
Association of Piano Tuners as well as tuners and repairmen n01
affiliated with that organization.
The discussion has developed a new angle of direct import
to the retailer who, through the proper handling of his service de
partment, cannot only keep his customers satisfied with their pur
chases but can realize a profit On the work sufficient to make it
worth while. The main thought is that after the first installation
and the :adj ustment of such troubles as may sometimes develop
through faults in manufacture, service should not be considered
REVIEW
SEPTEMBER
22, 1923
as a free offering to the customer or ;:IS something to be given at
cost.
It is suggested, and properly, that as numerous concerns make
definite annual tuning contracts with their customers to take care of
their instruments at a fixed charge, so should the dealer in reproduc
ing pianos make a contract with his customers to render service on a
yearly basis, adjustments to be made for the definite and fixed
charge and extensive repairs and replacement of parts to be charged
for just as the automobile repairman charges for new piston rings,
his gears or a new rear end.
The individual who pays $1,000 or more,mostly more, for a
reproducing piano is not likely to be the sort to argue about a
fair charge made for keeping that instrument in proper working
condition provided it is mechanically perfect when he receives
it and that fact is demonstrated. \iVith the manufacturers, dealers
and tuners co-operating much can be accomplished to take service
out of the free class and make it self-sustaining if not actually
profit producing.
ATTACK THE SOURCE OF THE EVIL
N Ohio music merchant some time ago saw a new p~odu('t ac~
vertised in one of the trade papers, not The ReView, be It
said, and upon the strength of the announcement visited :-J tvv York
and bought a couple of thousands dollars' worth of the new goods
to be sold to his establishment. He found that the advertised
article did not work and was unsalable. The result was that he
lost his money.
It happened that the advertisers in this case were interested
chiefly in selling stock in the new venture, and did not develop it
to a point where they had any standing in the trade. The dealer
believed, and rightly, that the trade paper in question should have
investigated the concern before publishing the advertisement and
thus placing its endorsement in a sense on the company's product
by carrying the publicity;
It might be said in this connection that The Review has made
a persistent and consistent effort for years to investigat~ new
ventures seeking to reach the music trade through advertisements
in its columns and to see that the products advertised are as repre
sented. The policy has cost a good many dollars offered by COI1
cerns of doubtful standing, who were seeking to float stock on the
basis of misstatements or who had a prorluct to offer that was
obviously not in accord with the claims made for it
The readers of a tmde publication, or for that matter any
other publication, are entitled to all the protection that the publisher
ca:1 give them in seeing that the products advertised and those
advertising them are bona-fide_ It sometimes happens, of course,
that indications are satisfactory and investigation fails to reveal
fraucls that later develop, but for a publisher to present to his
clientele knowingly a scheme that is obviously unsound is ancl should
be calculated to shake confidence in the publication.
Those trade papers, and there ;ue some in the music trade
field, that value the clollar more than they do the confidence of
their subscribers deserve the condemnation which has been directed
towards them, but in ccndemning that class of publication the
attack should not spread to include those who obviously are work
ing in the dealers' interest as well as for their own fmancial gain.
A
REPLACEMENT VALUES THE PROPER GUIDE
D
IRECT interviews with a number of piano merchants in the
East and Middle West within the past week or two indicate
that the majority of them have comparatively limited stocks of
instruments with which to meet even a normal Fall demand, and
that, in the case of pianos and reproducing pianos of the higher
grades, there has already developed a shortage of popular styles
that has caused alarm in certain quarters.
The main point to be considered is that an impending short
age of various lines of pianos is distinctly in evidence and that
retailers should govern themselves accordingly in getting for the
instruments now on hand, or such as will be available later, prices
and terms that will represent a definite and worth-v\hile profit on
each transaction, rather than depending upon the possibilities of a
quantity turnover to offset profit cutting at this time. The situation
has developed to a point, in fact, where replacement values of pianos
are to be taken into consideration in armnging present selling prices
and terms.