4
THE
MUSIC
TRADE
(Registered in the U. S. Patent Office)
PUBLISHED BY EDWARD LYMAN BILL, Inc.
President and Treasurer, C. L. Bill, 383 Madison Ave ., New York; Vice·President,
J. B . Spillane, 383 Madison Ave., New York; Second Vico.President, Raymond Bill, 383
~1adison Ave.~
New York; Secretary, Edward Ly ma n Bill, 383 :Madiso n Ave., New York~
Assistant Treasurer, Wm. A. Low.
-----------------
J. B. SPILLANE, Editor
RAY BILL, B. B. WILSON, BRAID WHITE, Associate Editors
WM. H. McCLEARY, Managing Editor
CARLETON CHACE, Business Manager
L. E. BOWERS, Circulation Manager
Executive and Reportorial Staff
TH OS.
E. B. MUNCH, V. D. \VALSH, EDWARD VAN HARI.INGEN, LEF. ROllINSON,
\V. BRESNAHAN, E. J. NEALY, C. R. 'f10 1-1 1::, FR EDERICK n. DI e HL , A. J. N
A. FR E UF:RICK CARTER, FH ED EJnCK G. SANDBLOM
I CKLI N,
'''ESTERN DIVISION:
BOSTON OFFICE :
ARTHUR NEALY,!. Representative
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NEWS SERVICE IS S{;PPLIED WEJ<;]{LY BY OUR CORRESPONDENTS
LOCATED ~N THE LEADING CITIES THROUGHOUT A~IERICA
REVIEW
OCTOBER
27,1923
on which to congratulate itself. The music store of to-day is a
distinct improvement over the establishmei1t of fifteen or tweaty
years ago. The fact is generally recognized to-day that the grouping
of a few pianos an d some other mu si cal instruments in a bare store
is not going to att ract a sufficient amoun t of business to be worth
while. Not so long ago elaborate wareroom s we re considereu
something to talk about and the older members of the trade were
qui ck to comment upon th e waste represen ted by the money spent
in such decoration an d equ ipment. To-day the attractive equipment
of a music store is to be regarded in the light of an investment
upon which interest is paid by increa sed business.
Thi s movement for more attractive and larger music s tore~
is sprea ding even now, for there is hardly a week in which report~
.are not received from this or th at city where some dealer is put
ting part of his capital into new qua rters, either through the im'
provement of hi s present store or through the developm ent of a
new location that offers promise of more trade. It is a hea lth y
sign in that it indicates a firm belief in the possibilities and perma
nence of the industry, and every such new or improved store adds
just so much to the importance of the retail mu sic trade in the
eyes of the public. \iVhen merchants are expected to sell instru
ments retailing at from $2,500 to $4,000, they cannot expect to
carryon business and reach the proper type of prospect through
the medium of warerooms that have more the appearance of a
store house than of a modern retail establishment.
Published Every Saturday at 383 Madison Avenue, New York
NORMAL INCREASE THE RULE IN INDUSTRY
Entered as secoHd·class matter Septem ber 10, 18 92, at the post office at New York , N. Y.,
under the Act of March 3. 1879.
SUBSCRIPTION, United States and M exico, $2.00 per year; Ca nada, $3.50; all ot her
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ADVERTISE~IENTS, rates on request.
REMITTANCES, should be made payable to Edward Ly man Bill, Inc.
Exposition Honors Won by The Review
Grand Pru: ... ·· .... Pans ExpositlOn. 1900
Silver Medal . .. Charl eston Exposition, 190 2
D.ploma . ... Pan·Amerlcan Exposltlon, 1901
Gold M edol . .... St. Louis Exposition, 1904
Gold Medal- L ewis·Clark Exposition, 1905
TELEPHONES-V AND E RBILT 2642-2043-2044-2045-2647-2648
Cable Address: "Elbill, N cw York"
Vol. LXXVII
NEW YORK, OCTOBER 27, 1923
No. 17
THEY ARE ONLY INJURING THEMSELVES
HE questiQn of competent service at the command of pur
chasers of reproducing pianos continues to be one of the most
important in the trade at the present time and the steps being
taken by the manufacturers to train local repairmen to render
expert service in this connection are being watched 'vvith interest
and are deserving of success.
The effective tie-up with the National Association of Piano
Tuners, by which the latter organization arranges for classes held
under the auspices of local divisions in various cities for the study
of service problems, is one direct way of getting to the best ele
ment among th e independent repairmen. But th e accomplishment
of the same result in territories where the Tuners' Association has
no branches creates a problem that rests with the local dealers to
solve.
The endeavors of the manufacturers to have their se rvi ce men
lecture to groups of repairmen, through the efforts or under the
auspices of the local dealer, are still meeting with some narrow
minded opposition from those retailers who profess to see in th e
scheme an opportunity for competitors to get material to be used
against their own interests. It is only logical to assume that the
absence of a competent repair service is going to do the dealer
more direct harm than any possible oral argument offe red by even
the most unethical competitor.
The need of co-operation, and broad-minded co-operation at
that, is evident. The manufacturers are doing their share and
the dealers would do well to follow them.
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BETTER STANDARDS IN RETAIL WAREROOMS
-I
N an address before the Kiwanis Club, of Forth Worth, Texas,
Robert N. \iVatkin, president of the National Association of
. Music M erchants, emphasized the development in musical appre
ciation throughout the country during the past decade and par
ticularly the improvements made in the retail music trade during
the past twenty years, not only in the chara cte r of the establish
ments ~ut in the methods of doing business.
It is a timely topic and one that gives the trad e something
I
M
US IC merchants in one section of the country will report
entire satisfaction with business this year, while merchants in
another section will offer a somewha t peSSimIstic op1l1lOn, making
it somewhat difficult to form an accurate idea as to the status of
the trad e generally. It is interesting, theref ore, to con sider recent
reports as made each month to the various Federal Reserve Banks.
These reports are apparently carefully checked up and a re to be
regarded as quite authentic.
, According to the Federal Reserve figures covering the opera
tion of chain stores in various lines of activity those handling
mu sic and musical instruments showed an increase in business
during August, as compared with August, 1922, of 3.5 per cent.
August, 1923, as compared with the same month in 1919, recog
nized as a peak year, showed a falling off of only 5 per cent,
which, considering conditions genera lly, is a remarkably small loss,
particularly as compared to the dropping off in some other lines
of activity. The mail order houses, for instance, during August,
found business 10 per cent below th e 1919 record. ,\lthough hav
ing no direct bearing on the music business, it is interesting to n ote
that comparisons for both periods set forth above show grocery
stores far in the lead in the matter of gains, with the humble
five and ten cent store a close second.
Although reports on chain stores may not ;·eflect general condi
tions in all their details, they at least have the advantage of com
bining the figures from a large number of different sections and
are not based on reports from anyone single locality or group of
localities.
SHEET MUSIC AND THE STRAIGHT PIANO
HOSE who profess to see in the growing interes t shown in
the reproducing and, for that matter, the ord inary player-piano
the pass ing of the st raight pian o, designed only for manual play
ing, will probably find little comfort in the fact that the sheet mu sic
business is now in a fl ouri shing condition, with the publi shers of
standard and teaching mu sic better off than they have be en for
many years' and the majority of th e publishers of popular mu sic
enjoying the heavy demand that comes ",·ith the marketing of hits.
It is significant that the sheet music bu siness shows more
substantia l ga ins than does th e player roll trade, which in it~ e][
proves th at a good numher of people are still devoted to the art
of playing the piano by han d and demand new music for that pur
pose. All this is in the face of the fact that the popular prints se ll
at retail at from thirty to thirty-five cents as a rule aga in st the
pre-war price o f ten cents and that standard numbers have aver
aged a 50 per cent increase over pre-war prices.
There is no question but that the increased demand for sheet
music, particularly of the betler sort, is clue in , no small measure
to the mu sic advancement campaign carried on by the trade.
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