Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
NOVEMBER 7, 1925
61
IN THE WORLD OF MUSIC PUBLISHING
Conducted By V. D. Walsh
E. Grant Ege of J. W. Jenkins Sons
Talks on Net Price Marking Conditions
SONGS THAT SELL
President of the National Association of Sheet Music Dealers Describes Conditions Created by
New Move of Publishers in Interview With Maurice Richmond of New York
C^RIENDS in the music industry, just gaze at
the gentleman at my side. I take great
pleasure in introducing E. Grant Ege, of J. W.
Jenkins Sons Music Co., Kansas City, Mo. At-
Maurice Richmond and E. Grant Ege
tention please! In my last week's article I de-
scribed Grant Ege and told you all about him.
He has been waiting patiently for a whole
week, so I will now ask you to be perfectly quiet
while Mr. Ege takes the floor. (Applause! ! ! )
"There is such a wide diversity of opinion
among the music publishers and retail dealers
that it is very difficult to arrive at any definite
conclusion as to whether or not the plan of
marking sheet music net is a success after be-
ing in operation for more than one year.
"I recently sat in a meeting which repre-
sented the largest retail sheet music interests
in the United States. The plan was discussed
from every viewpoint, argued primarily from
the angle of the large mail order sheet music
houses having quoted a discount to teachers
ranging from 10 to 20 per cent.
"I am not sure, but I believe there were
twelve or fourteen men in the meeting referred
to, and I think, with but one or two exceptions,
these men were of the opinion that the plan
was ideal, but that, in the face of the discounts
quoted, it would be next to an impossibility to
maintain it.
"From my personal investigation I know that,
while many of these dealers favored the net no
discount, they were themselves allowing a dis-
count to special teachers, which they could not
avoid because of the competition they were
forced to meet.
"At that time the convention of the National
Association of Sheet Music Dealers was just
about to open, and, while these men almost
unanimously believed the one-price no-discount
plan could not be maintained, they were not
in favor of an open discussion with the dealers
in the convention^ It is my opinion the dealers
generally belonging to the National Association
of Sheet Music Dealers should have all the in-
formation that can be collected by those who
are in closest touch with the situation. But in
this meeting every dealer (or practically every
one) was so hopeful of the plan succeeding that
he was not willing at that time to jeopardize
it by throwing it open for a general discussion.
"There are still dealers who hope for a con-
tinuance of this plan, but is it possible for it to
be continued?
"I have just been informed there is a general
fight on in Boston and that it is so serious that
the industry may be back to where it was pre-
vious to 1918, when it was an admitted fact
the sheet music business was unprofitable.
"One large publisher has made the statement
that a country-wide campaign should be made
among music teachers to show the teacher that
the net system is correct. This publisher can't
possibly be familiar with conditions as they
exist in the rural districts. If he is, it is evident
that it is his plan to let a few of the large mail
order houses corral the business, for can any
thinking human being believe a teacher in a
small town will pay more to her local dealer
than to the dealer who quotes her a discount?
Another phase is, most dealers of any conse-
quence do a mail order business, and if such
dealers do not quote a discount corresponding
with the discounts quoted by the big mail order
houses their business is bound to show a
marked decrease.
"It is unthinkable to believe men, and espe-
cially women, are willing to pay to one mer-
chant a higher price than to another. Every-
thing being equal, the teacher prefers to buy
from her favorite dealer. It has been stated by
some that the large mail order houses do not
give service. Can any such statement be more
ridiculous? These large mail order houses carry
the stock and have the best and most experi-
enced people in their institutions.
"It has been stated by this same publisher,
who wants to institute a campaign of education
among music teachers, that all dealers are for
the one price no discount. That is not the ex-
perience of our institution. We do business
with in the neighborhood of 2,300 more or less
small dealers, located in towns and villages
having a population ranging from 500 to 10,000.
These dealers have registered their complete
dissatisfaction with the net no discount plan.
"The argument offered by many is that for-
merly a piece of music which they were com-
pelled to pay 20 cents to 23 cents for, and which
regularly sold in the large cities at 30 cents,
could be sold by them at an advanced price of,
say, 5 cents. That was so with music right
down the line. A piece of music necessarily cost
a small dealer, because of his restricted pur-
chases, a higher price than the dealer buying in
larger quantities.
"That particularly refers to the small dealer
who does business with a jobber, and with the
Yes,
Sir! That's My Baby
Oh,
How I Miss You To-night
Remember (Irving Berlin's Latest)
Yearning
Ukulele Lady
When You and I Were Seventeen
Sonya (Yup Alay Yup)
Cecilia
Silver Head
On a Night Like This
Don't Wait Too Long
My Sweetie Turned Me Down
Ida I Do
Alone at Last
I Wonder Where My Baby Is To-night
Waitin' for the Moon
Summer Nights
So That's the Kind of a Girl You Are
The Whole World Is Dreaming of Love
Say, Arabella
Speech
I Wish That I'd Been Satisfied With Mary
That Certain Party
—
—
—
BOOKS THAT SELL
New Universal Dance Folio
No. 10
Special Edition for 1926
X
—
Peterson's Ukulele Method
World's Favorite Songs
Tiddle De Ukes
Strum It With Crumit
SONG GEMS
from the musical comedy sensation
"THE COCOANUTS"
A Little Bungalow
Florida By the Sea
We Should Care
The Monkey Doodle Doo
Lucky Boy
IRVING BERLIN, Inc.
1607 Broadway, New York
smaller dealer living in far distant points from
New York; he must absorb the transportation
from his jobber in, we will say, Chicago, Kan-
sas City, Denver and San Francisco. In addi-
tion, his overhead may be in excess of the large
dealer, which most frequently is the case.
"We very readily see the teacher's side of
(Continued on page 62)
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Write for descriptive catalog—Order from jobber or direct from publisher
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