Classic Mode

Music Trade Review

Issue: 1923 Vol. 77 N. 8

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
WM. H. McCLEA.RY, Managing Editor
CARLETON CHACE. Business Manager
L. E. BOWERS. Circulation Manager
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:
nOSTON OFFICE :
ARTHUR NEALY, Representative
JOHN H. WIl.SON, 324 Washingt o n SI.
Republic Bldg., 209 So. State St., Chicago
Telephone, Main 6950
Telephone, Wahash 5242·5243.
LONDON, ENGLAND: I Gresham Building•• Basinghall St., D. C.
NEWS SERVICE IS SUPPLIED WEEKLY BY OUR CORRESPONDENTS
LOCATED IN THE LEADING CITIES THROUGHOUT AlIIERICA
Published Every Saturday at 383 Madison Avenue, New York
E"t.r.d
lIS
---- ..
secona·class ",.tler September 10, 1892, at the post office at Nerv York, N. Y.,
under the Act of Marcl. 3, 1879.
SUBSORIPTION, United State. and Mexico, $2.00 per year; Canada, $3 .50; all other
countrie., $5.00.
ADVRRTISEHRNTS. ratea on request.
REmTTANCES. should be made payable to Edward Lyman Bill, Inc.
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.
AUGUST
25, 1923
THE
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
5
Basis of Reproducer Merchandising
Good Music at the Bottom of the Average Sale of the Reproducing Piano and Thus Can Not Be Neglected
by the Salesman Who Handles the Prospective Purchaser- Ignorance of What Constitutes
Good Music One of the Great Defects of the Average Salesman at the Present Time
\\llat i, tllc fundalllcntal tllc['chandi , in, ~ prin­
c iple of the '-"p,'o du c in l,; pi a noo Goo d Ili lis ic i
Th c ,,"o rd , had better be printed with capit;d s,
(;ood mu s ic illlpli e s and connot es not llicr e l \' a
lk ,ni l'tion but a , t;r tc 0 1 affail's , \Vh c n ~ne
s p c'a k , of ~ o od l11u s ic it is of a n instituti o n , of
a >'l ate of lJ1ind exi , rillg alll o n )..! certain p e opl e
which ind ee d ou g ht to exi s t amoll ~ a ll peop le
and whi c h alone iurnislre s th e rea s() ns for th e
ex is t c n ce of tbe r e produ c in g piano,
1 n o th e r word s, it would be sim p ly usele s s t o
try to float th e reprodu c in" piano upon the
foun da tion s upplied b y e ven th e m o st e mincnt
ex po ne nts o f piani s ti c s y ncop a tion, Eve ry one
lik es to h ea r l)aul \\/ ilitelllan' s Orcllc st ra , but
i e vi I' ould pa y a hi g h pric e fo r a g ra nd pian o
0 1 cc< th c pl ay ill ~ of th e pialli s t of that o r c he s tra
EI'e l \'O n e lik es t o hear J{ oy llar gy o r lJel can l\>
or Art Kahn o r C:opcl a nd or, in fa ct, any of
th e sy ncopatin g prod i/;;es ; but no one w ould
pay $2,O( iO or $3,000 fo r an in s truillent w hich
co uld do n o be tter th a n m a nif es t Iller e ly the' c
artists' c lfo rt <, In o ther word s, po pul a r Illusic
is 1I1); , t a ll thc world likes; but th e w orld do cs
n o t res pe ct, do cs n o t r c,'e r e ncc, d ocs not in ·
stinelil' e ly turn t o popular mu s ic. l 'o pular IllU
~ ic e ntertains us, but it is not th e s ort at thin,;
(or whi c h w e s h o uld b c w illing t o make a g r eat
sa c , iJi ce , () n e deles n o t ~ o in d e bt to tlt e cc<
t e nt o f o n l" s s pare cas h ior t wo o r thr ee y ear ~
in tl",! so rt o f a ca u sc ,
What the Advertising Shows
On th c o ther h a nd, as we a ll know, the g r ea t
1I1anufa c turer s of reprodu c ing pian os have bu ilt
up th e ir lar ge e nt e rpri ses throu g h thc s u cc e s s
lui ur ;.; e of g oo d lllu s ic, They have sho w n p c r
si'>t e ntly and with mu c h s ucc c,s that th e bea uty
o f the r e pr o du c in g pi a no lie s in its ability to
g il e 10 ey e r y Jllu s ic lo ver th e be s t mu s ic at ali
lin les, tlt e b est mu s ic, more ove r, as r eco rded b )"
the b es t pi :J ni s t s, thc li\' in g interpr e tation , o f
the gr eate s t th o u g hts in pi a no lit c ra ture by I' h e
g reat es t livin g interpr c t e r s ,
It is only n e cessar y t o read thc ae"'c rti s ing
lit e r a ture of the ,\m e rican Pi a n o Co., o f th e
A eo lian C o , or of th e 'Nelte int e rcsts to under ­
s ta nd exa c tly ho w pr e cise the foregoin g analy­
s is r e all ) i", \V c :' r e h e re deal i n g \\' ith " Ia t ( ­
1I1ent s whi c h ca n be cor ro b o rated in the mo s t
positil' ~ wa y b y all who have an y co ncern with
th e r e producin g pi a no , Salesmen a r e tau g ht to
dClll o n s trat e the be s t music, m e rchants are
ta u g ht tll :1 t the be s t mu s ic mu s t be kcp t in
s t oc k,
l'r o s pec tiye purchaser s arc p e r s uaded
to bu y up o n the r e pr e~ en( a tion and d e monstra­
tion that the be st lllusic i s a vailabl e fo r th e i r
benefit a nd plea s ure at an y and all times, G oo d
lllu s ic is the foundation of the r e pr o ducin g pi­
an o; a nd without g ood mu s ic it w o uld not ex is t,
Where We Fall Down
In the face of su c h ob l' ioll s fa cts wh y is it
th a t the oe n e ral pe r so nal attitud e o [ th e trad e
tow ard s goo d ll1u s ic is s o d ep lorabl e i VV h y ar c
manufa c tur e rs \\,h ose ad ve rti s ing d e partm e nt s
turn o ut we e kl y a nd m o nthly s u c h e xcellently
con ce ive d spe c im e ns of musical a pp ea l u s u a lly
so to t a lly obli v iou s to th e practi ce of g ood mu­
."i c in th e ir personal r e lation s? Vvhy ar c so
fe w piano m er chant s s tead y s upporter s o f good
J11u s ic in th e ir communities?
VVh e n (he Chi cag o Op c r a was in bad s trai ts
and a s ub s cription list w as thrown o p c n t o th e
publi c the Chi cago Piano C lub p le dged its e lf
t o r;lis e $1,000 it nece ssa ry durin g th e p e ri o el of
th c ,;ua ra ntc c , namel y , three ye a r s . ,\part from
til e Club th e individu a l mu s ic tr a de gu arant o r s
w c r e pitifull y fe w and most o f the mu s ic hous e <,
we re simply not represented a t aiL
E \T Il the tUll ch, wh o co me so c on s tantly in
per " " ,, ;;\ t o u c h \\ ith mu s ic, i1 re usually con s pic­
u o u s at co n ce r ts , and at lllu :; ica l event s gen
(:rall y, only b y th e ir a l)s encc. \Vhat is the rea­
SO il i o r thi ,'> ?
It i.s ll "e less to talk about sd lesm e n, fo r th ey
11 0 10ri o U51.\ ;i r e a p paren t ly t.he la s t persons in
the world (sp eak in g ill ge neral t e rm s ) to care
a r;\p a bo l.lt g o o d ,nu :,ic , It is evid e nt that the
pian o trad e d aCe; not numb e r many d ev ot e es
of tlte art for which it furni s h es t he raw mate­
rial.
O ll e ' l1i l:' ht Il1;d" c lll a n y g u esse s as to the r e a­
,o n", but ~~ u e .-se s a r e of ver y s light importanc e
o r int e r cst.
\ -\ h a t should inter es t us is th e
, ta t c o i alLlir s reve aled,
Let Us Be Consistent
.\ 0 1\" tht, p o inl to b e mad e is that th os e
\\h o ,, ('II 1I 1US;( h ;1\'e 110 risht to ig nor e music,
E ope e ially 1 h os e wh o ,e ll tire r e produ , in g piano
h ave itO r ig ht to i!" n o re it Th" incon s is tency
i< loo g r e a t.
"1 0 ', ''' n el : ' i,s t ire ad ve rtisin g
II biclt bri ng·, to th e ir sto res th e prospecti ve
cu s tom e r based up o n th e idea of s preadin g the
cult of g o od lll11 s ic thr o u g h o ut th e h o mes o f thc
cOI11 i1 IL1nit\" but tile d (' lll o ns tr at ion it se lf is
i o unded on cxac t Iy t h l' S ;ell1 c id ea , Til e s<: 1,' ;' ­
1I!;ln, ther efo re, is o bli '~ c d, in th e natur e o f the
~'; ":'"I (' , 10 --; 0 lllruu t. :- h l 1, ( ll j ()! i o l1 ~ at lea s t o f ini­
tiating th e c u s t o 111 c r into lit e deli,'llts oi go o d
1I1USle. l:o rtultat c ly, he ha s n o mor e t o do t!t a n
: 0 il hc l't 'O'" C 11' 1"ic l'c1\1 and turn on the
"witc h, Y et it J11ust b e a dmitted that a littl e
aeCju a i lI(all c e w il h tir e s ubj ec t-l1l a tter, a little
p erso nal in te r es t In t he J11u s ie ibelf, would
mak e lhe \Vlt o le tran sa ctioll v e ry Illu c h e asier
fo r ;"1 co ncer ned, Ca ta lo gs m a y do much and
the grol\·in c: p e rf ect ion 01 r ec ording s may d o
J:lorc; but nothin o ca n Cjl1it e tak e lh e place in
th e s al e s ilian's cqulpment o f a cert a in per s on a l
acquainta nce w il hand 10 ve of the music w hi c h
IS e x h ibited,
H e r e, in th e la c k o f SLlch a familiarity and
il1t e r c ~l, li c.< the w cake s t featur e of th e m o dern
s y s t c m of mer c handi sing th e r e produ c ing piano,
,\11 the a r (,' II 111l' llt s ill I' he w o rld cannot convinc e
~, s en s ible man that a s a le s man is better o ff ,
or a s w ell off, \\' i(hout a n a ctu:ll ac quaintan c e
lIith tli e go o ds h<'. sell s, It is (rue in eve r y
oth e r line; and it is m o re completely tru e 111
th c mu s ic;tl li ne t h an in an y' oth e r whi c h ca n be
n a m e d,
Profession vs. Practice
l)roba bly the g r oss ig no r an c e whi c h piano
s alesm e n g e nerall y s eem to e xhibit in all mat­
t e r s w hi c h r e lat e to g ood mu s ic is to be tra ced
to th e pr eval en t beli ef th a t a m a n who knows
an y thin g ab o ut mu s ic is not ca pa ble of b e ing
a g oo d bus in es s m a n , But eve n if thi s were
t r u e, whi c h it is not , t hc trade w ould sta nd con­
v ic ted of g r o s s in eo tl , is ten cy , For in our ad­
\'I~ rtisin o we st r ess the v a lu e of mu s ic to the
t ir e d b u s iness l11an , \ Ve t e ll !to \\· mu s ic, and
thi s J11 e;,ln s , pl ease rcmemb e r, go o d Illusi c, w ill
lIlak e him a b c ttn bu si ne,s ll1 a n by so o thing
hi s n e n'Cs and hi s fe e lin g s and b y making him
r e lax und e r t h e \v it c h er y of its 1l1a ~ i c s tr a ins,
A ll o f w hi c h is per fect ly s ound a rc:um c nt. Mu­
s ic \\ill d o ;til I h c;e thin e" a nd,. a s th e ad v er­
t i ~ cllleni S (Jf th e r C [lI'oducil1'~ pian o ri g htly sa y ,
" ,ill b e 0 1 the utl no s t ,' alu e , menta ll y and eve n
ph ys ica ll y , 10 th e t ir ed bu s in e ss m a n, /\11 thi s ,
in L~ l't , is b o t h e ffcclil'c a nd tru c; but on e ca n
h;; rd l,\ ;,:~ Ul' , in fa ce o f this, t h a t the business
i1Il' l1 o f th e ve ry tra d e which m a ke > and sells
I'III C ho",,' n u"ie d o not n ee d that w hi c h is
;' o ocl fo r a ll o th e r " Tl,is s il11plv wo n't do. '\nd
n o t only lIill it 11 0 t do, bu t , w hat is worse, b y
pre te ndin g that Ollr p r o f('ss ion and o ur pra c ti c e
n ee d not a g l'e e, we a r c s imply hurting our own
1I1Cl'chandi s in g syst em and r e ducing th e quan­
t it y of Ollr sal es,
In oth e r word s, salesmen
who ar e very ni ce ly dress e d and s oft spoke n,
but w h o s tall a nd bluff whrn it comes to ta lk ­
ing au o ut th e v ery thing they are selling, who
d Cl1l o ns(rate without d a ring to go beyond the
let t e r of the in s truction s , are bluff salesmen and
un fi t to b e in the work they are presuming to
undertak e,
That m ay seem like hard language; but it is
n o t. O ur trade is a music trade, our industry
a !Ilu .- i c industry, It is shameful, it is disgrace­
ful, th at th c· m e n of thi s trade and industry
~ lt o uld hold a lo of from the very art for which
tb ey furnish the in s trumental means. What­
c l'er llla y at o ne time have been thought about
it, the fa c t r e mains that to-day no musIc mer­
c hant c e rt a inl y ca n a fford to neglect, or even
a pp ear t o neglect, th e support, both by check­
book a nd b y per s onal att e ndance, of the musi­
cal a c tiviti es o f his com m unity, The time for
"hard-boiled" lllu s ic trad esmen is past and gone,
It is ti1111' for m e n who know something about
th at \\hi,1t th e y sell t o come forward and put
.il e :gllor;) nt (0 " 11 ;, 1:;<, , ~ot until w e have a
; I':; dc cdu catul t o the level of appre c ia ting the
r r p r odu ci ll ; pian o w ill th a t piano com e into it s
o wn.
GOVERNMENT TAKES PIANO CENSUS
Census Bureau Now Preparing to Cover Pro­
duction During the Present Year
V\ ,\ S HI N<.. TON, D, c., Augu s t 22,- -Plans are now
being m a d e in th e Census Bureau for the taking
o f th e n ext ce n s u s of pi a no production, whi c h
\" ill co Ycr th e o utput and activity of piano
l11 a nuiac tur e r s ior th e y e ar 1923. This work
. i'i under the s upervision of E, F Hortley, chief
,' ,(;lti s tician for manufa ctures, who has practi­
,a ll y completed hi s plans,
The schedule on
which th e censu s will be put is now in the
hands of the Government printer and it is
plann e d to distribute copies so that each manu­
fa c tur e r will h a v e his qu e stionnaire by January
1 next,
The 1923 manufactures' census will cover the
s ame ground as did that of 1921, namely, the
o pe ration of manufacturing plants having an
annual pr o duction valued at $5,000 or more ,
The seh e dule s u se d will b e very similar to those
used i" 1921, onl y such changes being made as
wer e found d es irable as a result of experience
in th e last census.
The 1923 c e nsus will provide the industry
with a report showin g the number of establish­
m e nts, th e numb er of persons enga ge d in the
industr y, segregated so as to show proprietors
a nd fir m membe r s , minor officials and salari e d
clerk s a nd w age -earners; the percentage of ac­
ti v it y in the indu s tr y ba se d upon the number of
day s operated by eac h pl a nt, salaries and
w agb, co s t of mat e rials and contract work and
thc total produ c tion , both b y value and quan­
tity ,
L. O. PERRV IN NEW ENGLAND
L. D, Perry, treasur e r of Ludwi g & Co" New
'/ork, is at p re sent t o urinR New England with
hi s famil y , His lett e rs indicate delightful con­
ditions for motorin g in that country, Mr, Perry
will r e turn in a w ee k or ten days,
Consult the Universal Want Directory of,
The Review. In it advertisements are inserted
free of charge for men who desire positions,

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