THE
4
MUSIC
TRADE
(Reciatered in the U. S. Patent Office)
PUBLISHED BY EDWARD LYMAN BILL, Inc.
President and Treas urer, C. L. Bill, 383 Madison Ave. New York; Vice· President,
J. B. Spillane, 383 Madison Ave., New '~'o rk; Second Vice· President, Raymond Bill, 383
Madison Ave., New York; Secretary, Edward Lyman Bill, 383 Madison Ave., Ne w York;
Assistant Treasurer, Wm . A. Low.
J. B. SPILLANE, Editor
RAY BILL, B. B. WILSON, BRAID WHITE, Associate Editors
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Executive and Reportorial Stalt
E. B.
~fUNCH.
V. D.
WALSH)
EOWARO VAN
HAl(LIN GEN ,
LEE ROBINS ON,
THOS. W. BnSKAHAN, E. J. NEALY, C. R. TIGHE, FREDERICK B. DIEHL, A. J. NICKLIN
A. FREDERICK CARTER, FREDERICK G. SANDBLOM
WESTERN ))IVISION:
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Exposition Honors Won by The Review
Grand Prix..•••••.. Paris Exposition, 1900
S ilver Medal... Charleston Exposition, 1902
Diploma . •• , Pan·American Exposition, 1901
Gold Medal ..... St. Louis Exposition. 1904
Cold Medal·-Lewis·Clark Exposition, 1905
TELEPHONES-V ANDERBILT 2642-2643-2644-2645-264.7-2648
Cable Addreso: "Elblll, New York'·
Vol. LXXVII
NEW YORK, AUGUST 25. 1923
No.8
OPENING A CHANNEL FOR MORE SALES
USIC merchants operating talking machine d epartments sh() uld
be g-reatl) interested in the ;).lln()Ul1cement of several record
companies of the coming inauguration of weekly r ecorcl re
leases instead of tit e monthly record supplements that haH: prp
vailed up to this time. The majority of piano and mu sic m erc hants
have long regarded the talking machine department, and particu
larly the record section of it, as a direct feen er to the pian o depart
ment and other sectIOns of th e store, and therefore, with the pos
sibility of having record customers visit the establi~hment weekly
instead of once or twice a month as heretof ore, tl1<' chances for
increasing business directly are grea tly multiplied.
This question o f having customers com e in at frequent intervals
to hear the new records, and perhaps pu rcha se them, eillphas i zes
the logic of the general mu sic store, for it provides an opportunity
for making several sales to the same individual. The pi ano pur
chaser may later buy a talking machine and records or a band in
strument or sheet music, and vicf' \er"a, with the result that the
dealer has at hand from his list uf customers an excellent pro~pect
li~t for the salesmen III other divis ions of hi s store.
The idea of the old pialln man of makin g one sale to a fam ily
and then waiting for the growing up of the next generation before
making the next sale to the same family is passe. The hom e with
only one musical in~trument i~ the exception to-clay and \vhen the
dealer has sold only the piano, then somebody else is coming ill for
some very profitab le deals.
M
MUSIC PROPAGANDA THAT COUNTS
M
EMB ERS of the music industry, \\-ho rea li %e that an} move
ment calculated to arou se a nd stimulate public inte re,t in
mu sic is likew ise calculated to prove of direct ben cf:t to th ,:
trade from a dollar-and-cents angle, will do we ll to g-ivl' earne·t
consideration to the w()rk that the :".1ilwaukee Journal ha s a lr ea d\
done for the cause of mu~ic and the work which it plan s to cJo ill
the immediate futur e.
As was record ed in The Review last week, thi " new"papn has
planned for two large contest s for music students to be held ill
REVIEW
AUGUST
25, 1923
c()llnertinl1 \vith the :vlusi c Division of the Fifth Annu a l Food,
Hou,;ehold and Electrical Expo sition taking place in Milwauk ee from
October IS to 21 under th e a uspice" of the J0urnal. The piano
contest is to be conducted for the purpose of deciding upon " \Vis
consin's Champi on Pianist," and the first anno uncement rega rding
it brought forth over 300 entries with several hundred in prospect.
O nl y \ i\jiscons in re o; idents are eli g ible.
The second contest is for amateur orchestra s, abo res tricted
to residents of 'Wisconsin with on ly individual s and organiza tions
connected with the manufacture and sal e of musical in st ruments
and e l11ploye ~ of the newspaper itself barred . The prizes range
iroll1 a S3,sOO reprod ucing grand to $20 worth of piano music,
the in struments and s uppli es be in g furnish ed by N[ilwauk ee Illu sic
hOllses.
There is no que"tion but that lllusic and the lllu sic industry
,)l \\'isconsin will realii:l' thou sands of ciullars" \\'orth of the he~t
sort of publicit y as a re ~u lt ut the conte ~ t and the trade uf the
State i" strong ly back of the :\"Iilwauk ee Journal in its effo rts.
.It might be well ior l1lusic merchants in other large ce nter,.;
to watch the progress of the contest in its various phases very
closely with till: iJea of encuura g ing new spapc.rs in their own locali
tic s tu attempt similar lllo vements. Fven th e contribution of some
of th e prize" m akes the publicity incident to s uch conte sts not only
cheap but distinctly effective.
I WHY
NOT ORGANIZE THAT SALES STAFF NOW?
I
HI ·: T A ILEl\. visiting N('\\ York recent ly voiced the opinion
that when uu sin ess wa s slack, as, for in stance, during the
usu; d Summ er "eason , the factory ~ h ()u ld work with full
Lurces in preparing stocks f or the demand expe rienced in the Fall
fall the remark that he expl: cte d to qart building up hi~ sale~
orga ni %a tiull laLe in Sc pll'llll ll' r as SOO Il ;IS bu sin ess Shf)\H'ci s ign ~
of stitllulation.
This parti cular piano merchant was distinctly in th e position
of a man willing- to give: advice but not willing to tak e hi s o\vn
m edicine. He fe lt that the factor ies ought to take time by the
fo relock, prepa re for war in titne o f peace, as it were , and gamble
to a ce rtain degree on the f utu reo Yet there he \vas w ith a wonder
fu!. oppo rtunity for huntin.!; up new salesmen :-Ind training them to
the particular need" of his busint'ss at a time when he had more
or les" leisure, so that his organi%at ion \\'0 111<1 IJe all ready to take
advantage of the ::; ituation when th e need io r ext ra sa lE'S people
became apparent.
There are many music merchants in the same posit io n, men
who have been ope rating for "Ol1l e month s with skeleton orga ni%a
tions with a full reali%ation that tbe tim(" was coming when they
wo uld need to expand their sa les stalf, but these same mell \vill
wait until th e las t moment, wonde r why the) cannot get sufficient
men and then see pro-pects untouched and sa les lost through lack
of personnel to take care of them.
The pian o salesman who is worth his sa lt is at least able to
pay hi" expenses eve n during th e dull season and therefo re the
r rta il e r who ge ts ex perienced men at a time when the other fellO\v
is not fighting for their servicE'S , o r, on the othe r hand, takes men
n ew to the fIeld and iTain": them during the lull in anticipation of a
real business dema nd , is showing .l.!,oo d judgment. If he gets the
ri ght men hi s fores ig ht is not go ing to cost him anything.
A
FREE INSTRUMENTS THIS ONES PLATFORM
A
'I
T L\ST the piano and talking ma chin e have entered the
political
the report that H enry H aysse n, of 1\laballl a, while on a v isit to that
Cil)" a nllounced that he wa~ a ca ndidate for the Presid ency of the
United States Ull a platform which includ es free distribution of
pianos and talkin g machines to act as harm onizers in ,\me rican
hOl11e". Of course lVIr. Ha)'~~e n promise s many other things, in
cluding the abolition of pri so ns a nd the s ubstitution of rewards
of merit f01' money as a mediuill o f exchange. From the publicity
fre e distribution of musical in struments is interesting, but it is a
question whether tbe l11
,.:trume nt ,.: would k quil<.: enthlhia,.: tic ove r rece iving beautifully
eng rossed reward s of merit, in stea d of cold cash or good in stalment
leases for their instruments.