THE
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THE
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Cnble Addres~: ~ · E l bj ll , New Y orl,"
Vol. LXXVII
NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 3, 1923
No. 18
DEVELOPING THE LOCAL ASSOCIATION
I
N hi s appointment of a comm ittee to study and report on the
problem s of loca l and sta te associations, Pre siden t Robe rt )T.
\i\1atkin of the Nati ona l As sociation 01 ::v[usic lVJercha nts ha s taken
a very promi sing step in his efforts to encourage clo ser co-operation
between local bodies and the nati onal association and to help develop
;tn d stabilize such local organizations wh enever poss ible .
It is quite apparent that the average loca l association requires
some out~ide ~tiI11ulant and gu idance if its permanence is to be a~
s ured, for we have had exper ience in the t rade of observ in g sco res
of loca l bodies organized amid great enthu siasm and then languish
and pass away thr ough lack of interest hefore a half dozen meet
ings had been held. If the national association, through th e work of
its comm ittee, can evo lv e a pla n that will encourage and develop
loca l bodie:; in th e indu stry th en th e national a""o( iat ion it se lf w ill
be th e chief gainer.
It is acknowledged th at the local assoc iation is the most de
sirab le adjunct to the national body, for the r eason that it makes
possib le close contact between the indi"id ual dealers and prov id es
a channel through 'which the interest and co-operat ion of th e dealer
can be developed. I t is only natural to a5 sume that the average
m erchant is inclined to ~how a grea ter interC'st in a n orga nization
cl ose at hand and in whi ch ht can feel he is an impor tant part
th an he will show in a national o rganization with headq ua rte rs one
or two thousancl mil es perhaps frOI11 his place of busin ess.
/\. study of the attendance a t the national convention em pha
sizes this point very clea rly, fo r the State~ and ci tics best repre
sen ted at the 11ational gathering a r e tho~e II-here loca l :l. ssoc iati ons
keep acti ve throughout the year.
1__
MEETING THE FOREIGN BUYERS' DEMAND
T is not a l wa}~ plea sa nt to have d ispa raging statements madc re
gardi ng our products, and to be told that pi anos u pon w hi ch we
ourselv es comment so bighly a rc rated in th e matte r of fi ni sh
second to those made in Germany. Yet the cOl11l11(' nt o f the A us
tra han piano man published in The l~ev ie\V las t week, whe rein he
declare d that Germ an pianos were forcing\.m er ican in struments
I
REVIEW
NOVEMBER
3, 1923
o ut o f th e A ustralian ma rk et becau~e of their s uperior fini sh, is
info rmat ion that sho uld rro ve of in estimable value to those o f our
piano \' xp[) rt e r ~ who are I\"i,,(:, enough to g ive the foreign buye r
11 11<\\ he Ilan ts rat he r tha n II'hat th ey think he ought to have.
\\' h(, 11 .'\u stra li ;'tn mer cha nts who are frankly partia l to Ameri
ca n produ cts d ec lare that th el' find it nccessary to patroni ze German
manu f ac tu reI'S , a lth o ugh again ~ t th ei I' will, in order to seClI re pianos
th at th ey can se ll readily, the re is sOllle reas on ior American manu
fa cturns studying the situ atio n close ly with the idea of m aking
;, uch changes a nd improvements in their produ cts as will aga in put
th em ill th e runnin g.
\ Ve, of co urse, a re sa tisfied w ith the mann er in which th e keys
in th f ave rage pialJo a re fini shed . n ut th e German finishes and
poli shes th e edges a nd fit s th em together closely, and that is one
fea.t ure which appeal:; to the Au stralian, who also favors French
poli shed case~ as aga in st th e high varnish finish used so generall y
in _'\m e ri can pianos
T o meet th e demands of th e ,'\ustralialls as set forth in the
lett er does not r('q uire the remodeling of the .\merican facto ry,
the cha ng in g of sca les, or any wo rk that \'v'i ll prove complicated or
expensiv e. It simpl y mea ns s pec ia l atte nti on to a few detai ls-a t
tention that wi ll be more tha n co mpensa ted by the volum e of bu si
ness that may b(' expected to result.
\ i\1ith the _'\merican playe r-piano through the intrin sic merits
o f t he player action holding the . \ ustralian market firmly, there
should be no reason why specia l efforts cannot be m ade to win '.
simil ar position for th e strai g ht pi a no .
RADIO DEALERS AND MUSIC MERCHANTS
F
ROM the 'vVest, from I .os A ngeles to be exact, comes the an
no un cement that the Hadio Dealers' . \ ssociation in th at section
has become part and a di v ision o f the l\'fus ic Trade Association of
Southern Calif ornia. The move will hold g reat interest for th ose
in and out of the trade who hav(' pe rsistently maintained that th ere
is a close rela tionship between th e radi o and the music indu stry
which must, sooner or later, bring th e t wo togetber, through dis
tributing channels at lea st.
It is ra th er earl y to proph esy just what thi s new combination oi
th e r adio and mu sic trades in one assoc ia tion is going to a ccompli sh,
or what the general effect wi ll be. But one thing see ms certain,
and that is the move will appea l to th ose who have urged the linking
up of th e two intcrest~ and al so to th os\,; m embers of the music trade
who regard radio as a more or le ss da ngerous competitor. From
the la st angle it \vould seem hetter to have the competitor in th e
sa me camp w here he can be watc hed a nd co-operated Vv'ith r ath e r
than to have him out side the pal e.
\1eanwhile, radio ha s inj ected it se lf into mu sic trade association
affairs in other .~ ection s of the co untr y thro ugh the interes t ev in ced
in the new lin e hy the trade general ly a nd through the fact tha t a
goodly nu mber of talking machine a nd mu sic merchants already
ha ndle r ad io 011 a large scale. The move in Ca lifornia for close r
relati ons between these interests is not, th e refo re, so revolutionary
as might appea r at first g lance.
I
A MISTAKEN ATTITUDE TOWARD ADVERTISING
A
R[TAILER of pianos in the M iddl e West wa s complaining
a few day s ago regarding a fa lli ng off in bu sin ess which had
foll owed a rather active buyin g pe ri od and d eclared that he had
met the situation promptly by cutting hi s loca l advertising in hal f.
Tw'o months ago that particular dealer was worrying how he was
goin g to ge t enough pianos of ce rta in ma ke s to meet the cur rent
and futur e d emand an d vvas at the sam e tim e using large space in
the new spaper s.
The attit ude shown toward advert isi ng hy thi s dealer is unfortu
nately, for the retail trade as a w hole, a ltoge th er too common .
\ i\1hen business is good and coming a long easil y and nicely they
adverti se heav ily. But when sales drop off temporari ly they Cllt
down on th e adv <: J'ti~il1g appropriat ion ju st at th e time they need
it mu f
I t is ~· i.~nifi(, ;illl tk:l the outs tan ding s ucce sses a mong th e
commerci a l h o u ~es in th e Illu~i c trade and oth er indu ,tr ies are th ose
which keep lip th eir a dverti sing gait a nd generally increase it wh en
bu~ine ss is pOol' and the y nee d publicity most. Th ey rea li ze, a~
oth ers shoulcl, that advertising stimul ates busin ess und er a ny con
ditions and is particularly needful during periods of depression not
only to deve lop current business bu t to huild for th e future.