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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
MAY
3, 1924
THE POINT OF REVIEW
W
I T H only a month or two more remaining of the present
administration which controls the direction of the National
Association of Music Merchants, it is not perhaps too early to sum-
marize, at least partially, what has been accomplished during the
past twelve months. President Will A. Watkin has unquestionably
been a busy executive and to his credit must be placed a number
of constructive accomplishments which in the future will be of
great value to the members of that organization. But the outstand-
ing feature of the entire year, at least to the Reviewer's mind, has
been the steady and persistent encouragement which has been given
to the merchants' local associations and the success which has been
attained in affiliating these bodies with the National Association.
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&
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UCH has been said regarding the value of the local associa-
tion to the music merchant. But too much stress can not be
placed upon the fact that local association work is basic in all
national organized effort in the trade and that, without the local
associations, the National Association must suffer deeply in its effec-
tiveness. There are, of course, certain matters of national interest
to the retail music merchant which can only be handled through
the national body; but there is a much greater number of such
matters which through their very nature must be handled by the
local or State association, for they spring from conditions existing
within a circumscribed radius and are purely local in their effects
and origins. Along these lines the National Association may be
valuable in an advisory capacity and the executives in charge of it
have done much valuable work in this direction; but, from the very
nature of its organization and from the limitations inherent in it,
its functions must be confined to that alone. This is the field for
the local Association and due to past neglect along these lines of
organization the trade has suffered severely.
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VI
J
UDGING from the plans which have already been formulated
and which are being carried out, it is not too much to hope that
within the measurable future the convention of the National Asso-
ciation of Music Merchants will be primarily a gathering of dele-
gates from local and State bodies, carrying the instructions of their
organizations and working hard to formulate a definite plan of
national policy to meet the need of the music merchant throughout
the country. No national association can be properly efficient, that
is, if it be confined to retail merchants of any type or character, and
be organized on the basis of individual memberships. The most
efficient retail merchants' organizations in the country to-day are
largely on the divisional association basis because practice and ex-
perience have proved that in this way the best results can be
achieved.
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T
H E trend in the retail music trade is steadily in that direction.
This year will mark the first convention of the music trade of
the Pacific Coast, which will meet in San Francisco during the
Summer. A number of local associations will be represented in that
gathering and it will be interesting to watch what will be accom-
plished by the first, if memory serves correctly, sectional gathering
: of retail music merchants in the history of the industry. The Texas
• Music Merchants' Association will meet in Galveston this month,
and it is the announced aim of the men charged with the direction
of that body to have it serve as the basis for a greater organiza-
tion that will be open to the membership of all music merchants in
the Southwestern States. There are a number of other plans under
way that have the same tendency and unquestionably during the
next year or two striking progress will be made.
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N all these developments, however, one fact must always be re-
membered and that is, if the merchants who compose the mem-
bership of these organizations expect to develop efficient bodies
through the medium of voluntary officials, those who serve with
compensation, they are going to make a big mistake. Every organ-
ization of this type should be at least large enough in scope to
make it possible to have a paid secretary, one whose time is de-
I
voted largely to carrying out the wishes of the members. Volun-
tary secretaries chosen from the membership have been tried and
found wanting too often in retail music merchants' associations.
No man who is a merchant and who has his own business to con-
duct can afford to give up a good portion of his time to handling
the mass of detail which is represented in the proper conduct of
an association that really means something more than an excuse for
its members to get together at stated intervals and enjoy a social
time. It is too great an exaction and either the man's business must
suffer or the association must. As self-preservation is the first law
of nature, in nine cases out of ten it is the association that is neg-
lected, no matter how good the intentions of the incumbent of that
office may be, and no more can be expected. The result is that the
association does not fulfill its functions and all those who are mem-
bers of it and who contribute to its support get little benefit.
V£
VI
VI
A T the mid-Winter meetings of the executive committee and the
•*• *• advisory board of the National Association of Music Mer-
chants, considerable time and discussion was devoted to this im-
portant subject. It is to be hoped that at the coming convention in
June further progress will be made in carrying out this idea. There
exist large sections of the country at the present time where the
music merchants are entirely unorganized. They are likely to stay
so unless the impetus towards organization comes from the National
Association. Local associations, after they arq formed and while
they are still in the experimental stage, need constant support,
advice and encouragement from outside sources. It is not until
they have proven their actual worth that they can depend largely
upon their own resources. Then usually they have a body of mem-
bers who attend all meetings and who are willing to devote some
time to the organization, to serving actively on committees and to
participating in the discussions from which the actions of the asso-
ciation come. It should be the work of the National Association
to be always ready with this advice, support and encouragement,
for the time and energy put in this work will justify itself.
VI
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VS
T
H E retail music merchant at the present time is primarily
engaged in a nation-wide campaign to sell music. That basis
of all musical instrument sales comes before the actual unit sale
of a musical instrument, whatever 1 its type may be. It is a work
that can only be done through organized effort. Take the present
National Music Week, which is beginning now. In those cities
or States where the music merchants are organized it is safe to
say that the celebration of this event will surpass in scope and
extent that held in cities where the music merchants, while they
may be contributing as much individually, are working only as in-
dividuals. In fact, it is extremely likely that in cities where no or-
ganizations exist the music merchant is contributing more to
Music Week and receiving less, the only exceptions being where
some particularly energetic music merchant has been giving up his
entire time to the work and has taken the matter into his own hands
to all intents and purposes. But the trade cannot depend for this
most important of all its tasks upon the luck that such a man exists;
to receive full benefits organization is needed.
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T
H E National Association, through the Bureau for the Advance-
ment of Music, is doing its work in this direction. But even
the Bureau itself, efficient as it is, can do little unless it is supported
in the thousands of cities and towns throughout the country by the
music merchant. Hundreds of merchants are doing wonderful
work in this direction, but their work would be still better if they
could work through an organization, rather than individually.
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L
ET the coming meeting of the National Association of Music
Merchants in June be known as the organization convention,
and let the work that has already been done in this direction be
given an impetus that will keep it going until the retail trade is
organized as it should be.
T H E REVIEWER.
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