Classic Mode

Music Trade Review

Issue: 1923 Vol. 77 N. 17

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
JOHN H. \NILSON , 324 Washington St.
Republic Bldg., 209 :'0. State St., Chicago
Telephone, Main 6950
Telephone, Wabash 5242·5243.
LONDON, ENGLAND: 1 Gresham Buildings, Basinghall St., D. C.
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
countries, $5.00.
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.
T
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.
T
OCTOBER
27, 1923
THE
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
5
Selling Fundamentals Do Not Change
From the Earliest Times Down to the Present the Basic Principles of Salesmanship Have Remained the Same
Complexity of Problem Has Grown With the Development of Modern Minds, but the Salesman
Takes Fewer Risks- -Player Salesmanship and the Present-day Prospect
There is a common d elu sion t hat with nery
succe eding age everythin g begins anew . YoutiI
always ~uppo ses th at its world is a wo rld totally
different [rom that o f its elders. Each wa r,
each politi cal re tu rn, is sup posed to brin g about
a n enti rely new de al of the cards, making obs o­
lete a ll prev io us knowledge of th e ga me. Y et it
is not so. The prin ciples of strategy were by
no means ove rth rown in the las t grea t war;
th ey wer e m erely emphasized and t h ei r e ternal
truth pro ved agai n und.:r condi tions amazi n gly
novel. The principles of political d eal ing are
precisely what th ey were w hen Pericles rul ed
in _'..th ens or when Ma cc hi ave lli po ur ed out the
riches oi his prac ti ca l wi sdom for the b enefit
of the tyran t of Florence. T he principles o f
bus iness a r e the sa me to -day as they wer e
twe nt y-live centuries ago, when th e Phoenicians
t raded their silks and cloth, their wines and
ol ives for the tin of th e Briton, th e ivo ry of
th e Be rber a nd t he slaves of the Gaul. The
princip ks of bu siness have never a ltered a nd
the pri nciples of bu siness are, in effec t, the prin­
cip les of sa les manship.
Salesmanship the Art of Bringing Together
Wheth er it be in th e mos t o bviou s of opera­
tions, s uch as th e exchange of a po und of tea
for so m uch money, or the mos t complex, such
as the Rotation of an iss ue of bonds o r the
reorga ni zation of a commercia l instit u tion which
is to se t forth o n a new jour ney of trad e with
new capital reso urc es and nevv dire c tion, the
und erlyi ng principles n ever change. These p rin­
ciples a re very easily sum med up. They res t
upo n the fact that men and women des ire
things wh ic h the) canno t produ ce of th em­
selves, w h ile som e of the things which they
ca n produce are wanted by others who canno t
produ ce them . The medium of the re sulting
exc han ge is money, and th e a rt of sales manship
cons ists merely in bringing together those w h o
want some t hi n g and those who have that thin g
to dispo se of.
The only d iffere nce b etween the sale smans hip
of a thou san d years ago an d the sa lesma nship
of to-d ay is to be found in t he fact that th e
ge neral co ndi tions of life h ave to -d ay beco me
a grea t de a l m ore complicated. Th ere ar e more
th in gs to want and more things a re offe red to
those ,,vho may wan t th em. As lif e becom es
more complex th e art of fi lli ng n eeds in this
way becomes lar gely th e art of an ticipatin g
public opinion a nd o f s h owing p eo ple, not so
m uch h ow to fill needs a lready definitely vo iced,
but how they may m ake life finer a nd ri cher
b y acq uir ing the materia l means ther eto. Th e
lines t sa les manship, then, is th at whic h sees
tha t a ce rtain thing wi ll co ntribu te to m ake the
life of the people lin er, eas ier, mo re pro spc rous
or spiritually ri cher , a nd whic h then proceed,
Lo se ll the thin g or th e id ea as wide ly as pos­
sib le.
Business and Money
T he pr in cip les of sa lesma ns hi p nc ve rth eles s
have n ot c hantSed. Bu s iness is exc hange a nd
th e most co mple x busi ness is mere ly a process
of exchan ge more p ro t racted and invo lvin g
mo re condi tion s than a simple b arter. Money
is bu t the mediu m thr ou gh which exchange is
ca rried on and th e effe ct of the present chaot ic
condition of cur rencies in so me parts of the
wo rld rea ll y proves th e point. It is the need
and its filling wh ich a re important ; no t th e
monetary considerat ion .
Salesmanship in th e mu s ic in d us tne s is no
differe nt from sal es manship in a ny ot her branc h
o f human a ctivit y. It consists in the art of
brin ging b efo re the unaw ake ned human con ­
s cio usness it s need fo r somet hin g lin er, for the
1l1inistrations of mu s ic and ther efore for the
m ater ia l m ea ns to such ministrations. So, th en,
salesman s hip in music, salesmanship in our own
playe r industry, to be concrete, is t he a rt of
bri n gin g be fore the people what the people
want ; whether they kn ow it or n ot.
Salesmanship Leads, Not Follows
Ih i< not, ho weve r, t he art of waiting until
the p eople sa y w hat th ey want an d then bein g
(;o~te nt with ti llin g this need. )Jor was sales­
ma ns hi p at any time this ab su r d paro dy on the
rea l thin g. The P hoeni cian trader, touchin g with
his littl e ga lley the shores of Co rnw all to gain
sOllle of the tin w hi ch th e pa inted Briton rudely
clu g up as it lay alm ost on the s urface of the
g'fo und, ha d to make that untu to red native see
the need fo r the cloth, the beads and t he trink­
ets h e had to barte r. H e ha d to use precisely
th e same salesmanship as do es th e a bl est ex­
pon e nt of th e a rt in our indu stry to-day. He
had to pe rsuade, and the b eginnin g of per­
suas ion is ed ucatio n. H e had, in fact, to edu ­
cate, to make th e unt utore d Brito n, conte nted
in his coat of blu e paint, realize that the clo th
was necessary to his happi ness . Otherwise he
could not ha ve got hi s tin. The Phoeni cian
m erc h ant did thi s , and he was ri g h t in doin g so.
·fhe a ncient Bri to n was much better off cove rcd
than naked; cove red he had begu n to wa lk th e
path of civ ili zatio n and was a lready be ing mys ­
teri ousl y prepared fur the days whe n a line of
Roma n road s sh ould cover his land, Roman
ci ties spring u p from London to York and the
la ngua ge of Cicero b e h eard in the s treets of
Colches ter a nd Cante r bury . The Phoe ni cian
was takin g his risks , too, a nd thou gh he g ot
much tin for little cloth and few b.:ads, hi s
voyage to get th at much-wan ted m eta l '''ias an
undertaking o f co los sal ri sk in vo lv ing a n im­
mense expend iture of time and lab o r. H e mad e
a g ood profit, but he took a vas t ri sk. H e was,
in fact, a goo d sa lesman; thou gh a spec ul a ti ve
one.
Fewer Risks: More Details
Ou r modern sa lesman take s fewe r ri sks, but
he has a more comple x mind to dea l with. The
m ission of m usic is to civil ize, to humanize, to
softe n, t o refine. Even the mos t vu lgar dance
mu s ic ha s its place, for a h ome whi ch has
no music but th a t is better th an a ho me
without a ny music at all. The pi a no, and es­
pecially th e player-piano, ho weve r, is essen ti a ll y
th e home musica l instrument, and as suc h th e
sa l,'s man sho uld always consi der it. To think
of t he player-piano as mere ly a sort o f noisy
g rind er-o ut of dance music I S to mistake: t ha t
in str um ent's e ntir e meaning and pla ce in th e.
worl d. It is no t goo d salesma nship to do this,
a ll Y more th an it wo uld have been good s~ le< ­
IIl an ,h ip o n the pa rt of our Phoenician to try
to ge t tin fr om the un c loth ed Briton in ex­
cha nge fo r oak wood or wo ad, both of wh ich
\\c re eas il y to be had in the woo d s o f the un­
c lothed one 's na tive la nd . Th" P hoen icia n
o f'fu ed th e Briton somethin g ",.. hich he had
not and co uld not ge t. And there he was ri gh t,
as history a bunda nt ly shows.
Where the Player-piano Shines
The player- piano offers its owne r any kind
of m usic th at owner may wan t ; but it g ives
best t he m us ic whi ch no ri va l ca n give so we ll.
It bes t gives the music for whic h the piano as
a nlU s ical in strument is best fitted. Ev<'fy nor­
ma l ma n o r woma n who own s, is about to own,
o r wou ld like to own a musi ca l in st rument
desires it because it gives the chance' to it s
owner to p lay beautiful mu s ic in wh a teve r ma n­
ner may be to that per so n th e mos t bea utiful.
Th e tas te of the indivi du a l may not be h ig h ly
ed u cated; but, in ninety-nine cases out of eve ry
hundred, it is an hon es t tast e a nd, on th e whole,
Th e jan fi end s ca n neve r get from th e p layer­
pia no the onl y quali ty that makes the lates t ex­
tensions of syncopated m usic to le rab le; which
is the orches t ra l t one co lor. Co nsequ ently th e
r ight way t o sell the player-piano is as much
as possible to forget that s ide of . its manifold
a ctivities and to con ce ntrate upon the things
which it alone can do w ell; namely, upon th e
s imple joy of touchin g off with the foo t the
little accen t or the little emphasis, th e occ ur­
rence of whic h at th e ri gh t moment tr a nsfo rms
a m ec hanical into an artisti c perfo rman ce.
Eve r~' b ody would li ke to play the player-piano;
and only those who are literally abn o rmal think
or b elieve otherwise.
From Known to Unknown
Salesmanship, we have sai d, is t he art of per­
s uasion. It has a lways been the art of pers ua­
sion. Its principl es h ave neve r changed, and
one of these prin ciples is the principle of lead­
ing from th e known to the unknown by short
and eas ily take n step". The secre t of selling
the p layer-p ia no is to lead thc prospe ct from
some thin g whi ch is perfect ly famili a r to some­
thin g whi c h is less so , giving the mind time a t
(';lch step t o ga th er itself an d to g rasp the idea
pre se nt ed. Bar ter in a savage sta te would be
inlposs ibk un less its su bjects were entirely
familiar to both parties .
The Phoenician
wante d tin , the Briton wanted trinkets. Each
go t what he want ed. The prospective purchase r
of a p layer-piano wants music, music which is
familiar and eas il y unders tood , music which
makes a respon s ive cho rd in the heart, not music
\/hich alarms by its unfamiliari ty or repels by
it s stran ge s tride ncy a nd noi se.
The way of suc cessful salesmanship is, then,
the natural a nd simp le way. Stunts count for
far less th a n sincer ity, sim plicity and a capacity
(rarer than we som et imes think) to enter into
the prospe ct'~ thou ghts and think wi th him. The
bes t salesmen are t hose w ho find out what their
pro spects' id eals in m usic ar e, wh o then show
th ose pr o spec ts how t he player-piano m eets
those id eals and who conten t them selves with
mce tin g them.
This is no more nor less than the ancient
principle of bar te r . It is as old as the hills, and
as str ong. It may thus b e stated. .One per­
,; uade s a ma n th at he h as a need which can and
s h ould be filled, one p ersuades him, not by
aggress ive attack of new a nd s trange proposi­
tio ns, but by ge ntly leading his thought from
the fami liar to th e u nfamil iar.
Or, to put it in anot he r way, more p layer­
pia no s have been 'o ld on "A nni e Laurie" and
the "Wear in g of the Green" than o n "Barkin g
flog Blues" For th e fi rs t can be mad e to sound
like piano music, the last can only be an in­
ellecti ve imitation of Paul V"hiteman or Vincent
Lopez.
..' \nd th e human min d prefers th e
famili a r to th e unfamiliar. The princ iples of
salesmanship do not cha n ge.
MELODEE ROLL TRAVELERS MEET
T he' melllbers of the sales sta ff of th e Melodee
Co. met a t th e h ea dqu a rters of the com ­
pany in th e Aeo li an Bui ldin g this week to di s­
cu ss with Gene ra l Manager Freder ick S under ­
man th e various phases of the busines s and th e
,·ario us plans for the future . Amon g those who
a tlend ed the co nference were : R. E. Miller, who
cove rs the Middle West; W. H. Ricker, for th e
Eas t, ando V.i. ]. Pauli, who represents the M elo­
eie c rol ls in the Boston district .
~\'Iusic

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