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THE
REVIEW
flUJIC TIRADE
VOL.
LXXVIII. No. 23 Pibliihed Every Satirday. Edward Lyman Bill, Inc., 383 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. Jane 7, 1924
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The National Music Conventions of 1924
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^HOUGH the advance programs of the various associations meeting in annual convention at the
Waldorf-Astoria hotel this week in conjunction with the Music Industries Chamber of Commerce
were somewhat hazy and far from being as alluring as had been the case in previous years, there
was little haziness about the manner in which the various sessions themselves were conducted with
the result that association business was handled with speed and dispatch.
One outstanding feature of the meetings of the week was the evident fact that the entire music industry
has been welded into a unit with the Chamber of Commerce as a central body assuming and carrying out a
great many of the functions formerly confined to individual associations, thus securing a valuable community
of action and interest.
Although there may be some opinion against this procedure on the theory that it serves to kill individ-
uality so far as the associations go, it is quite certain that the method has the advantage of having matters
handled by a permanent paid organization, which as is always the case, operates more satisfactory than does
a corps of volunteers regardless of how earnest their intentions.
Without holding any brief for or against convention exhibits the fact is worthy of comment that with
a registered attendance much smaller than has been the case for several years past, the attendance at the
meetings themselves was thoroughly satisfactory. Where last year in Chicago the music merchants opened
their convention with an attendance of some thirty odd members the first session this year drew approxi-
mately one hundred and twenty-five merchants together out of a registration of nearly.three hundred.
Whether it was because there were no exhibits in the convention hotel to attract attention or whether
the delegates were more interested in the association work this year, for many of them found time to visit the
displays in the McAlpin and elsewhere, the fact remains that every meeting of the various associations enjoyed
a thoroughly representative attendance.
It is evident that the plan of President Watkin to have discussed in the meetings of the Merchants'
Association those subjects decided upon by the membership itself as being most important, met with general
approval. Perhaps the ultimate results of all the sessions may not be as great as expected but it is quite
certain that talking over such matters as trade-ins, better advertising, etc., is much more effective than any
great number of papers read and passed by without comment.
One striking point brought out at all the meetings was that the trade as a whole is soundly behind the
movement for the advancement of music and that movement has done more to weld the industry together
than any other single factor.
So enthusiastic were the majority of association members regarding the accomplishments in the
cause of music particularly during the past year, that in several cases they felt free to increase voluntarily
the amount of money pledged to the Chamber for this work, in one case increasing an appropriation fixed at
$10,000 to $12,000.
It is a noteworthy fact that in the great majority of discussions there is a strong inclination to get
away from the old time practice of trying to eliminate the so-called evils of the trade through association
legislation and to devote the valuable time of the convention sessions to a discussion of ways and means for
increasing manufacturing efficiency and more particularly improving distribution and sales methods. It is the
sort of work that is going to make the association most valuable to the trade as a whole.
Though it is to be admitted that there were no radical accomplishments at the conventions that have
just closed and nothing sensational that stood out prominently, nevertheless, they measured up quite satis-
factorily to the average convention standard. There was more work and less play than is usually the case
which is to be accepted as a good sign.