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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
MAY
17, 1924
THE POINT OF REVIEW
A
N indication of what one piano house in a city can do by
co-operating for the advancement of music among its popula-
tion is well shown in the recent activities of the Weaver Piano Co.
in York, Pa. Up to a few years ago York was a blank spot so far
as the musical map of the country was concerned. Those who
lived in the city and desired to hear artists of the better class traveled
either to Philadelphia or Baltimore when concerts were held in
either of those cities. Local managers had brought artists to York
at intervals, but for some reason or other they did not draw au-
diences of any considerable size and these enterprises usually resulted
in failure. Amateur concerts were held occasionally, but these, too,
aroused no particular interest and were failures as well more often
than not.
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O create a musical audience in a city of that type was by no
means easy, yet it has been done in the comparatively short
time of two years. The big factor in this activity was the Musical
League of York, which was organized just two years ago at a
luncheon attended by most of the prominent business men of the
city, despite the fact that most of those who proposed it looked upon
it somewhat in the way of being a desperate venture. An executive
committee was immediately appointed, including among its mem-
bers Walter L. Bond, treasurer of the Weaver Piano Co., and P. G.
Mundorf, manager of the local Weaver store. Of course, it was
upon the shoulders of this committee that the entire work rested,
and every member of it worked tirelessly to put the idea over.
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HIS organization has succeeded in building up a surplus in its
treasury which is used for purposes of civic betterment instead
of the expected loss which many prophesied for it at its beginning.
Every concert which it has sponsored has been given to a house
filled to capacity, and in many cases it has been found necessary to
close the doors of the auditorium and refuse admission. Last year,
for instance, the local series consisted of three concerts, one by the
Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, one by Olga Samaroff, pianist, and
Georges Enesco, violinist, and one by Sophie Braslau, contralto, and
Lambert Murphy, tenor. As it can be seen from the caliber of the
artists engaged, the concerts have been of the highest class.
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URTHER evidence of the popularity with which these concerts
are regarded by the people of York is found in the fact that
at the last of the series this year subscription blanks distributed to
the audience for next season brought a heavy return in reservations
with no further work of any kind on the part of the committee in
charge. Those who are familiar with the promotion of concerts
know that this is the ultimate test whether or not there is a natural
demand for them.
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N speaking of this work Walter L. Bond declared that, judging
from his experience in York, piano manufacturers and piano
merchants in every community will find that it is well worth their
while to sponsor or work hard in any effort of this character in the
communities where they are located. His suggestion is that the
manufacturer or the dealer who engages in this work keep hfs own
personality in the background as much as possible, permitting an
organization something like the Music League of York to be in the
foreground actively engaged in promoting the work. The only way
in which the dealer should be tied up to it is in such co-operation
as permitting his warerooms to be used as the headquarters for
selling the subscription tickets to the series, etc. This, of course,
entails a good deal of detail work upon his organization, but it is
selling work of the best kind, the sort that links his warerooms
directly up to local musical activities and which makes them, in the
long run, the musical center of the city. Those who have tried
this plan have discovered that it has a direct result which can be
traced immediately upon the sale of merchandise. One of the
big results of the work in York has been the changed attitude of
the people of that city towards their community. Those who used
to travel to Philadelphia or Baltimore when they desired to
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hear a concert now realize that they can obtain just as high-
class music within their own town and as a result they stay at
home. This tendency has helped considerably in keeping their
•business, and, of course, musical people are always the best type of
prospects for the piano merchants. To have the most musical people
in a city leave it to hear a concert means almost invariably that
they will buy their pianos where they hear their music.
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V ^ O R K , here, is given simply as an example. What has been done
*• there can be done in every other city of the country and is being
done in many through the activity and the brains of the retail music
merchant. There are few people in the musical world to-day who
realize what a large part the local music merchant plays and is
playing in the promotion of musical activities in his section. But
this work has not as yet been carried far enough. There are an
infinite number of opportunities for further progress in this direc-
tion which should not be neglected if a retail music merchant desires
to obtain the full volume of business in the territory to which he
is catering, for it is always proven that the greater the musical
activities in any given section of the country, the greater are the
sales made by the music merchants therein.
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ND here a word or two may be said regarding the part played
by music merchants generally in regard to National Music
Week which ended last Saturday. In many cities and sections of
the country and the retail music merchant did his part in the event,
but in a few, and these were exceptional, it is good to say, he did
absolutely nothing to link up his store to the general event. One
merchant who was specifically asked why he followed this line of
action replied to the effect that he had done it previously but had
never been able to trace any direct results to his work and therefore
considered the expense entailed as so much waste. "I can't afford
to waste any money in my business," he said, "so this year I laid
off the thing." Those merchants who enthusiastically joined in
supporting the event this year would probably give the same answer
as he did if they were asked whether or not they could trace direct
sales to their Music Week work. Music Week does not bring
direct sales; it is far too general in its scope for that.
What it
does do is to interest many people in music for the first time; in
other words, turn prospects for music into buyers of it. It is
foolish to try and sell a musical instrument to a prospect for music.
He has to be sold on the idea of music first, before he will even listen
to the musical instrument salesman.
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OW, this is just as much a part of the music dealer's work as
the sale of the actual instrument itself. Why is he contribut-
ing to the support of such an organization as the National Bureau for
the Advancement of .Music if he does not believe it? That is prob-
ably the most constructive and profitable move that has taken place
in the music industries for several decades and the reason for it is
fundamentally the same as the reason for the music merchant taking
part in such events as Music Week. That the reason is sound is
shown by the great advance that has taken place in musical interest
in this country during the past ten years, for that short time covers
the period during which the greater part of this group of the popula-
tion has been built up. Selling music to its prospects is some-
thing that cannot be neglected if the demand for musical instruments
js to continue to increase.
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as as
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HAT has been done in York, Pa., in the comparatively short
space of two years can be done in every city in the country.
We have the testimony that this work has proven profitable to the
piano merchants of that city as it will prove profitable to those in
every other city who support similar campaigns. The merchant who
neglects it is neglecting one of the most vital parts of his sales policy
and, to put it more directly, such neglect means raising unnecessary
obstacles to future sales. Can any merchant afford to do that in
his business?
T H E REVIEWER.