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FEBRUARY 9,
THE
1924
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
THE POINT OF REVIEW
people ever seem to consider the amount of work done by
the high-grade manufacturers of the concert grand for the
greater popularization of music. For years before the industry
undertook this work co-operatively they were the most active fac-
tors in this field. Steinway, dickering, Knabe, Baldwin, to name
some of them, were responsible for the appearance of many of
the world's leading musicians before American audiences, and there
was not a movement of any kind in this field in which they did
not play a prominent part. Even though the trade as a whole
participates to-day, their activities have in no way diminished. It
is impossible to estimate the scope of the work accomplished by
Steinway & Sons, for instance, in this field in an average musical
season, but some idea of it may be had from the fact that, in the
city of Cleveland alone and with the musical season not half over,
Steinway pianos have been already used in 102 concerts, and this
number was probably exceeded, due to the fact that the Steinway
piano was probably played in many events which were not recorded.
It is likely that the Steinway alone will appear in more than 10,000
recorded concerts during an average musical season, and this is
but one firm. Take into consideration the number of appearances
of the other concert grand instruments of artistic grade, and the
facilities which these firms place at the disposal of musicians, and
it is probable that it is not too much to say that they, taken as a
unit, still constitute the most important element in music advance-
ment work.
*
ve
vt
O there are to be no exhibits at the next convention. Evidently
a question which has been high in piano politics for the past
few years has been definitely settled. There is no question that
the exhibits were a detraction from the principal aim of the conven-
tion gatherings—the actual sessions of the various associations.
Whether they were profitable or not is also a question. Many a
dealer ordered instruments in the enthusiasm of convention time
which he very carefully cancelled as soon as he arrived home in
his warerooms. The sales, of course, were always talked about;
the cancellations were buried in profound oblivion. It is true that
many manufacturers made exhibits on the theory that it was an
advantage to show their lines and that they had but little expectation
of direct results. ' But even taking this aim into consideration, it
has been claimed that the impression or information carried away
was not permanent and yielded but little in the long run. At any
rate the stand taken by the industry in barring exhibits from the
convention hotel would seem to justify the men who did not believe
they were worth the investment, or who believed that the way in
which they detracted from the real work of convention week did
not compensate for whatever direct business was obtained.
S
%
&
1%
ATIONAL advertising is no new thing in the piano industry,
for one of the most striking campaigns of this type dates
well back to the early eighties and was so effective that it is still
remembered, not only by men in the trade, but by many outside
of it. That was the campaign which Sohmer & Co. ran in the pages
of Puck back in the days when Blaine was running for President
and when he figured in the pages of that then famous, but now
defunct, humorous weekly in the guise of a tattooed man, sky blue
being the color of the fanciful designs which adorned him from
head to toe. Everybody in the industry whose memory goes back
that far remembers the famous series of lithographs showing the
late Hugo Sohmer presenting the Sohmer piano to the world.
While they were appearing the face of Hugo Sohmer became as
familiar to the people of the country as did the facial lineaments of
the presidential candidates. It was a face, too, that would be
remembered. For if ever a man looked the part of the producer
of an art product, such as the Sohmer piano was then and has
always continued to be, it was Hugo Sohmer. And if ever a man
lived up to expectations in his business career, it was Hugo Sohmer
again. Oldtimers in the New York section of the trade, when Piano
Row was in the vicinity of Union Square, when the trade was much
more a matter of personalities than it is to-day, can spend hour
after hour recounting stories of those days which, if they could
be told to some of the younger men in the trade, would be a liberal
education in elementary salesmanship based on the quality idea.
For those who cherish as the most valuable heritage of the piano
industry those old names which have been the basis of its pros-
perity and its progress and which created for it to-day the world-
wide reputation it enjoys, a few moments' retrospect to that old
series of advertisements will bring many recollections, not the least
of which is that the House of Sohmer has continued under the
direction of the late Hugo Sohmer's sons, admitting no compromise
with the traditions that have made it great, in and outside the
industry.
%
%
M
T T NFAILING ingenuity seems to be a mark of the Vocalstyle
^
Music Co. organization in Cincinnati. The house which was
the pioneer in developing the word roll and thus practically doubled
the enjoyment which the average player-piano owner receives from
this instrument has never been content to rest on its oars. A glance
at its catalog shows series after series of special rolls, each out of
the ordinary and each worked out with the idea of showing the
player owner how he or she can really find new ideas for the
utilization of that instrument. It is late now, of course, to talk
about holiday business, but the little Christmas play which the
Vocalstyle puts out on rolls for that trade brought so much joy
to children who were fortunate enough to have it that it is well
worth while going back to it. The company's Minstrel Series,, a
whole minstrel show in miniature on music rolls, is another ingen-
ious feature which is taking a strong hold and selling with the
dealers. Not content with this, the company not long ago enlisted
the radio. Taking its recording pianists to a broadcasting station,
it recorded a roll, the music being broadcasted while the recording
was going on, and then, after a very short interval, the roll itself,
which the listeners-in had heard recorded, was broadcasted in turn.
This with a short talk giving the details certainly won the approval
of the radio fans, to judge by the quantity and quality of the letters
and telephone calls which were received by the radio people. It
all goes to show that a little ingenuity now and then brings home
the bacon.
«f
Mr'
%
A ND talking about radio and the discussion it is arousing in the
•*- *• trade, do those men who fear its effect upon the music indus-
tries so much ever go back and try and remember how the piano
manufacturers regarded the advent of the talking machine? Gloom
that could be cut with a knife was widely prevalent in those days
when the piano manufacturers in many cases saw themselves run
out of the business by the new instrument. All of us know what
happened. The talking machine now stands alongside of the piano
and the player in the average home, and where there was only one
source of music before there now are two. If radio continues to
be popular, and there is every sign it will be, there are going to be
three. Radio is going to take the place neither of the talking
machine nor the piano; it is going to supplement them just as the
former supplemented the latter. Remember, not supplant—supple-
ment. And why not? Music is more popular and more appreciated
to-day than it ever has been in the history of the American people.
And this is not going to stop; it is going to continue and increase.
This increase, and it is not overoptimistic to say it, is making and
is going to make plenty of room for all three. Of course, until a
certain degree of stability comes, we are going to have a good
deal to contend with. But that happens in the history of every
industry, and where the industry fills a real human need and is
based on as firm foundations as is the music industry in all its
branches, it is not a case of destruction but adjustment. Growing
pains are the lot of every individual during adolescence; and grow-
ing pains are also the inevitable lot of industry. That's more or
less what radio is to-day and may be for a short while in the
future. That attitude, and it is the correct one, will stop any idea
of panic and keep brains clear enough to deal with the problems
which it naturally brings in its train.
T H E REVIEWER.