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THE
UECEMBER 12, 1925 '
1
MUSIC TRADE
has played, and is playing, in the distribution of radio products.
Things have progressed to a point where the majority of those
who saw in radio a menace to the industry have come to a belief,
in most cases, where they concede that, properly handled, the new
art can be developed into a worth-while ally. This has been due
largely to the stabilization of the radio industry and the elimination
of the fly-by-night and "gyp." Radio receivers have been developed
to a point where they fit well into the furnishings of the fine home,
where they perform with a remarkable degree of certainty, and
where they can be offered by the dealer at a fair price for a good
margin of profit and with the confidence that he is selling some-
thing that will not bring him an overflowing measure of grief a
year or so hence. The music tradesman, in most cases, has not been
inclined to rush into handling radio, and in a large measure he
was justified in his attitude of watchful waiting until matters were
stabilized to a point where he could enter the field with confidence.
That such a situation has arrived during the year is indicated by
the number of new dealers who have taken on, and are handling
successfully, the better-known makes of radio apparatus.
The Association
REVIEW
nection with its announced program depends in no small measure
the future success of that body and, to a certain extent, its asso-
ciated organizations. There has been a certain amount of new blood
injected into the executive councils of the national body, and further
progress along that line will mean much for the future of the organ-
ization, for what is needed are new ideas and new viewpoints, and
these can hardly be developed in an executive body, the members
of which rotate with a considerable degree of regularity. It is by
changing the personnel of the executive forces that the interest of
the lay member is kept active. New individuals bring new thoughts
and new plans calculated to keep step with the progress of the
industry, and there is thus avoided the danger of getting into the
rut that has proven fatal to so many trade bodies. The ideal trade
organization is one that embodies in its directorate the young men
of the industry, for the "freshness of the ideas they bring with them,
and some of the older heads, for the wisdom that is, or should be,
theirs. The National Association of Music Merchants, in this con-
nection, is apparently working in the right direction.
Service
Situation
In association circles there have been a number of important
moves during the year, chief among them being the bringing of
the secretarial work of the National Association of Music Mer-
chants into the offices of the Music Industries Chamber of Com-
merce, thus co-ordinating the central activities of practically all
the national associations in that one office. Tt is hoped, and in fact
believed, that the move will be for the better, inasmuch as it will
provide for closer co-operation between the large trade bodies in
those matters of general trade interest and importance.
Trade Service Work
One thing is very definite and that is that the Chamber should
have the advantage of working more directly with the members
of the Merchants' Association through the Trade Service Depart-
ment, which, in every respect, is designed directly for the aid of
the retailer. By promoting closer contact between the merchant
and the manufacturer, too, the Chamber can serve a useful pur-
pose, particularly in carrying out the new program of the Mer-
chants' Association looking toward the wider development of musi-
cal appreciation in the schools of the nation. This intimate contact
with the Chamber and with its National Bureau for the Advance-
ment of Music should be most helpful. In any event, the Mer-
chants' Association is protected to the extent that the arrangement
runs for only a year and may be changed or abrogated at the end
of that period if the results are not up to expectations.
Local Associations
The year, too, has seen marked progress in the ranks of the
local and State associations. The Western Music Trades Associa-
tion displayed its • strength in no uncertain manner at the annual
convention, held in Los Angeles in June, and has become an im-
portant factor in that great territory west of and adjacent to the
Rockies. The Ohio Association, likewise, showed a marked gain
in membership which may be taken to indicate a gain in interest in
association activities by the music merchants of the State. Illinois
made a fair showing, and although Indiana missed out in the effort
to form a State body the Michigan merchants succeeded in getting
together to launch a new State Association under most favorable
auspices.
An Important Year
It is generally believed that, so far as national affairs go, the
coming year is going to be one of great importance, for on what
is done bv the National Association of Music Merchants in con-
Question
It is likely that no single department of trade activity showed
greater progress during the year than the service department, for
many things were done to bring to the retailers and to their repair-
men and tuners a full realization of the importance of proper serv-
icing to keep the instruments in operating shape in the homes, the
ow r ner satisfied, and thereby create a direct and friendly channel
for future sales.
Several of the leading manufacturers of the industry continued
during the year to operate regular service schools in various cities
of the country, thus bringing directly to many ambitious repair-
men, practically in their own homes, the advantage of a thorough
and practical training in the maintenance and repair of the repro-
ducing piano, as well as giving instructions relative to other instru-
ments of the piano family. The enrollment in these various schools
in itself proved the interest of both the dealer who endorsed the
idea and his repairman who gave of his time and thought to gain-
ing as much as possible out of the courses.
Retailers'
Co-operation
The one outstanding factor in this new status of service work
is that the retailers are beginning to appreciate the fact that if they
are to be successful as'merchants and retain the good-will and con-
fidence of their customers they must themselves build up and main-
tain, in their own establishments-, competent service organizations
able to meet everything but the most extraordinary emergency in
repair and service work.
In short, the day when the manufacturer was depended upon
to furnish expert service and the customer expected to wait several
weeks at least for the factory expert to visit him, while in the
meantime the instrument remained silent, has passed into the discard.
A Branch of Selling
This question of service is beginning to be accepted at its full
value as a distinct branch of selling, for it is through the main-
tenance of the instruments in first-class condition in the homes that
the reputation of the manufacturer and dealer and of the instru-
ment itself is maintained and the customer kept so satisfied and
enthusiastic that he recommends that particular instrument to his
friends. One leading manufacturer declared that 86 per cent of
reproducing piano sales during 1924 was traced directly to the
recommendations of satisfied customers, and many dealers who
have been queried on the subject credit that medium from 35 per
cent to 60 per.cent of their sales. It is good service that makes
such recommendations possible.
TO