Music Trade Review

OcrOBER
THE
6, 1923
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
63
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1
CONDUCTED BY V. D. WALSH
CARE NEEDED IN SENDING OUT FREE ORCHESTRATIONS
Promiscuous Distribution Will Be Greatly Checked if Dealers Will Develop Service to Take Care
of Needs of the Local Orchestras-Dealers Who Have Developed Demand for These
For the protection oi the dealer an d profit
lo themselves, as well as for the general health
of the industry, popular publishers should watch
with greater care than ever the di s tribution of
free orchestrations. Accordin g to one of the
leading Fas tern music jobbe r s, th e sal es of
orchestrations have increased in considerable
volume during the past eight months. Some
of the leading retailers who make a feature of
the sale of orchestrations al<;o report a con­
siderable increase in this department of their
business.
There has been no little talk in recent years
of plans for curtailin f! g ivin!?; away of orches­
trations by pu blish ers and with some result.
Nat ur ally there is justification in placing free
or c hestrations in the hand s of top-notch or­
gani za tions throu g hout the country.
Bdore,
howev er, any attempt for a more general c ur­
tailment could be made upon a national scale
it should be necessary to have the universal
approval and co-operation of practica lly eTery
dealer in the country.
If the legitimate dealer will sto ck orchestra­
tions in quantities which would enab le him to
render service to his local orchestras, no doubt
th e popular publishers wo uld look with greater
favor IlpOn the move to charge for practically
all orchestratio ns. At the prese nt time on ly
a verY'smali percentage of the dealers carry a
fu ll catalog of orchestrations, yet this is nece s­
sary, not only to g iv e the publishers the co­
olwration which would be vital with the elimi na­
tion of free orchestrations, hut as a matt e r of
sp rvice a nd a gene ral mo\emcnt of the goods
on the deal e rs' s l]('lv,'s through the wide pro­
gramming resulting from orchestral publicity.
Stock Needed
It is said that the avc.rage dance orchestra
uses anywhere frol11. twent y to forty numbers
during an evening's performance. The cabarets
and hot e. l orchestras u se somewhat k ss. To
cater, th e n, to th e needs 01 such orc hestras will
require, on th e part of the dealer, a n up-to-date
and a large s tock.
\'\'ithout this planning
on the part of the retailer th e popular pub­
lishers will hardly look wit h favor u pon any
move for the gen eral elim in at ion of free orches­
trations, a lthou g h to-day, wherever po ss ible, the
caliber of orchestra re ceiving su c h good s gratis
• mu s t be of a high standard.
Some dealers are under the impress ion that
s locking orchestrations requires time and atten ··
ti on and add ition al trouble. Probably the re al
reason for this, however, is the fact th a t in
,
SONGS THAT SELL
I
Down Among the Sleepy Hills 01
many instances in the past, stocking such goods
has not prove d profitable. With the move as
outlin ed above this situation would be changed
materially.
As far as popular orchestration s arc con­
cerned, several dealers have evolved a s impl e
method for the stocking and display of such goods.
The method is similar to that us ed frequently
for the di s play of titles of sheet music, using a
specially constr uct ed wall rack, in which th e
orches trations are inse rt ed an d which shows
the titles of th e numbers on display adva nt age­
ously. This takes up very littl e space, is in a
manner a sile nt sa les man and allows for the
displa y of practically all the active .numbers in
popular cata logs. It is sim ple in form and a
re co rd of the st ock is hardly necessary, as the
pock e ts in which the orchestrations are inserted
are a ll v isibl e to the eye, and when need for
replenishing the particu lar ti tk ar ises the dealer
can easi ly see what numbers h e needs.
Without doubt, if a considerable number of
dealers wou ld agitate for a further eliminat ion
of free orc hestratio ns and would make plans
to co-op er ate with publishers on a 100 per cent
ba<;is in the sale and distribution of s uch mate­
rial, the pu bli shers would give the idea furth e r
con s ideration and undoubtedl y some means
""ould be found for a great e r sa le of orch es tra­
tions, g iving additional profits to the dealer
and, of course, profits to the publisher.
Ten-Ten-Tennessee
Indiana Moon
That Old Gang 01 Mine
When You Walked Out
Someone Else Walked Right In
Love (My Hearl Is Calling Yo.)
You Tell Her-I StuHer
You Know You Belong
to Somebody Else
-
(So Why Don't You Leave Me Alone 7)
Dearest
(You're the Nearest to My Heart)
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VISITORS TO PORTLAND TRADE
September 28.· The sheet mujc
deal e rs of the city were vi s ited during the past
week by E. C. Schroeder. He left l'ortlancl
with many orders from the dealers. Among the
nllmb e rs w e re Kerns' "Romance a la Valse,"
"Happy M eadow Lark" and New land's "Valse
Ca pric e. " :Mr . Sc hr oeder also feature s a li s t of
French publications and s pecializes in the for­
ei g n edition s.o f Edward MacDow e ll's composi­
tions. The trade \va s also visi led dllring the
week by John Harden, of Chappell-Harms, In c. ,
and by Dick Howells, of Enoch & Son s.
1'()lnLA N IJ, O RE.,
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NEW BERLIN PHILADELPHIA BRANCH
The fifth floor of the building at 1228 Market
s treet , Philadelphia, has been ac quir ed by Irving
Berlin, Inc., music publishers, as a Philadelphia
headquartns. It is und(' r the s upervision 01
Harry Pierson, who for the last s everal yea rs
has been the Philadelphia representative. The
Nobody Can Love Me Uke
My Old Tomato Can
Sittin' in a Corner
If I Cant Gellhe
Sweetie I Want
You
Salt Your Sugar
Three Thousand Years Ago
Shuille Along
Bit by Bit You're
Breaking My Heart
Some Day
I Wish I Had Someone to
Cry Over Me
IRVING BERLIN, Inc.
l
1607 Broadway, New York
Berlin headquarters occupy the same building as
Leo Fei s t, Inc ., and are on the floor just above
the latt er concern.
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II
A FOX TROT BALLAD-with a punch in both melody and lyric
@LfO.FEISTI"'("
N.Y.C.