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THE
MUSIC TRADE
ago the piano manufacturer who finished a piano in Chinese red,
blue, green or orange, without having a special order for it, would
have been considered mentally unsound. Yet to-day instruments
in such finishes are comparatively common.
Musical Merchandise
In the band instrument and musical merchandise field the year
has been productive of unusual results, for the demand has kept up,
apparently, without any lull. Through the medium of band and
orchestra contests among high school and graded school pupils,
and by other means, there has been developed a wide field
for band and orchestra instruments, which is not only bringing
immediate results but promises much for the future. The figures
that have been compiled covering the number of orchestras and
bands among the pupils of the high and graded schools of the coun-
try are simply astounding to those who have not kept in touch
with the steady progress in this direction. The books of more
than one "music house during the past year, or at least the early
months thereof, have been kept free from red ink by this orchestra
and band instrument demand.
The New Talking Machines
One of the outstanding events during the last half of the year
has been the placing on the market of the highly improved new
types of talking machines and phonographs which, in certain cases,
can be hailed as distinctly new developments in the art of recording
and reproducing music. Those who apparently saw the beginning
of the end of the phonograph business have had their fears swept
away by the public response to the new instruments, a response
that, during the next year or two at least, and probably for a much
longer period, will be capitalized through the medium of actual
sales. At the outset there has developed a sellers' market for the
new instruments that speaks well for its continuance, for already
at least one concern reports a volume of orders on hand that will
keep its plant, the largest in the country, operating at full force
for over a year, and this without taking into consideration the orders
that will be filed in the interim.
Merchandising Advance
Even periods of dull business have their compensation, for they
generally force the dealer to watch his step a bit more carefully,
check up on his overhead and keep it within bounds, and put forth
. and demand more intensive selling methods. All this is calculated
to make for better merchandising, and if the lesson is kept in mind
when business comes a bit easier there results just that much more
profit. Better terms from the dealer's angle, more care in credits
and close watching of trade are all a part of good merchandising,
and the tendency to give more thought to these matters is that it
gives just that much more security to the trade's future.
Dearth of Good Salesmen
A recurrent feature of the trade during the year has been the
loud calls for competent piano salesmen, particularly those qualified
to handle the better class of trade. Each year this same call is
heard, and though dealers generally bewail the fact that new blood
is not entering the retail field with sufficient rapidity and that such
new men who do come in do not measure up fully to demands, there
is little definite done about it. For several years various trade
members have advocated courses in training for retail piano sales-
men, and a committee of the Music Industries Chamber of Com-
merce went so far at one time as to have a correspondence course
outlined by one of the prominent schools specializing in this sort
of work. No tangible action, however, was taken in the matter.
That a combination of correspondence and personal training is
practical in its results, however, has been demonstrated by one of
the larger companies which, during the year, conducted a special
course in salesmanship for the salesmen employed by its many
representatives. The course was so good that it received the full
endorsement of the dealers and some 1,800 salesmen were enrolled.
•
Who
Is to Blame?
There appears to be no particular reason why energetic sales-
men should not find the piano business sufficiently remunerative,
for there are many who will make as large, and perhaps larger,
incomes than they could command in other fields of endeavor.
REVIEW
DECEMBER 12,
1925
Some there are who place the blame on the .shoulders of those
dealers who have done their share to pull the piano business down
to a low level in the public estimation by using bait advertising and
sharp methods in their dealings with prospects. It is claimed, and
properly, that the- salesmen who must handle that sort of business
find that, as a buffer between the unscrupulous dealer and the
disgusted, if not actually cheated, customer, they are veritably be-
tween the devil and the deep sea and face to face with much woe.
A Co-operative Task
It appears that, coming back to the training of salesmen, the
problem is not one for the individual dealer or for any small group
of dealers to handle, for the expense of a worth-while training course
would prove prohibitive. Under the auspices and with the backing
of the Music Industries Chamber of Commerce, however, or, per-
haps, more properly, under the auspices of the National Associa-
tion of Music Merchants, there is a strong possibility that a course
in piano salesmanship available to retailers throughout the country
could be made productive of excellent results at a comparatively
small expense, possibly as low as $25 or $30 per individual. It
would seem that such an investment would be well worth while, for
the haphazard training of salesmen by the dealer himself is often
far from efficient and costs much more.
Anti-Instalment Propaganda
A menace to the trade as a whole that has appeared on the
horizon during the year has been the propaganda, carried on by
various organizations of credit men and bankers, together with cer-
tain divisions of manufacturers and merchants, to curtail the prac-
tice of selling on instalments. The matter has progressed to a
point where the Government has been urged to take part in the
controversy and to offer some legislative check to the practice.
The Review, some months ago, almost at the outset of the cam-
paign, warned the trade of the necessity for counteracting it, but
little attention was paid by the Music Industries Chamber of Com-
merce and other organized bodies on the plea that the attack was
not directed toward the music industry. In fact, those of the propa-
gandists who have been called on to appear before groups of
trade members and explain their position have, in practically every
instance, given a clean bill of health to the selling of musical instru-
ments on instalments through the claim that music is an essential
in the home and of permanent value and that, therefore, the instal-
ment method for putting musical instruments in homes where they
may be used while being paid for is right and proper.
State It Publicly
This is all very fine from the standpoint of the individual who
listens to the explanation, but in the published propaganda no line
of demarcation has been drawn between those articles that may
and those that may not be sold logically on an instalment basis.
The cry is that the poor working man is going to the poorhouse
because of his obligations to instalment sellers and that the credit
of the country, as a whole, is being undermined by the practice.
There is no question but that the system of selling on instalments
is being abused in many cases. But if the music industry is not
to be included in the anti-instalment campaign the trade should see
to it that that distinction is made before the public, unless the
industry is satisfied to suffer the tremendous cut in turnover that
would result from the necessity jof selling for cash or on ninety-
day notes.
Exit Excise Taxes
It is probable that before the end of the year, or at least dur-
ing the present session of Congress, the music industry will be
freed from the last of the excise taxes placed upon its products
for the purpose of meeting the cost of the World War, for the
new Revenue Bill, as rewritten by the Ways and Means Commit-
tee of the House, eliminates the last remaining tax, that on coin-
operated instruments, which include the coin-operated pianos, or-
chestrions, etc. This represents the final victory in a campaign
that has been one of the longest and most actively waged in trade
history.
The Radio Outlook
Nineteen-twenty-five has been another big year for radio, which
is of direct interest to the music trade in view of the big part it