Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
FEBRUARY 13, 1926
THE
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
The Dealer Recital as a Means of
Increasing Sales Volume
Demonstration Fundamental in All Selling and Merchandising Work With Musical Instruments — The
Intimate Recital in the Dealer's Warerooms the Least Expensive and Most Effective Way of Having
the Greatest Number of People Possible Hear the Music the Instrument Produces
T
H E merchant who sells musical instru-
ments develops his appeal not through
the instruments themselves, except in
very rare cases, but through the music that they
are capable of producing. That much is con-
ceded generally. Moreover, it is conceded that
music is not something that can be described
adequately in type or exhibited in tangible
form but something that must be actually heard
if it is to win full appreciation.
The Answer
The answer to the dealer's problem of pre-
senting his merchandise properly, therefore,
lies in having as many people as possible hear
the music produced by the instruments in his
stock, either by drawing them into the store
through the medium of the printed or spoken
word, or by arranging regular series of recitals
so attractive that they will obtain substantial
audiences of the right kind of people. The re-
cital represents the most effective form of group
demonstration in that it has the advantage of
reaching a substantial number of people at one
time and at one expense though under certain
conditions with the disadvantage of making per-
sonal contact difficult.
A great many retailers, particularly those
handling reproducing pianos, are quite familiar
with recital work, for they conduct it to a
greater or less degree, finding that it pays sales
A Watkin Program Cover
dividends in direct proportion to the amount
of intelligence shown in tieing up with each in-
dividual event.
There are still those, however, who regard the
recital as a distinctly ambitious form of adver-
tising and who hesitate to invest the amount of
money and effort required to put it over suc-
cessfully. They feel that the plan though good
is too ambitious for them.
An Incorrect Viewpoint
The great difficulty appears to be that most of
these retailers who favor the private demonstra-
tion with its limitations over the public recital,
regard the latter only from its most ambitious
angle, that is presenting artists of international
repute in an auditorium capable of seating sev-
eral hundred or several thousand people. They
cannot conceive apparently of the fact that it is
quite effective to arrange space in their own
premises wherein intimate recitals can be given
frequently and at small cost before audiences
of from twenty to fifty people.
It is significant that the larger retail concerns
who go into recital work on a large scale, either
as individuals or in association with manufac-
turers, in practically every case provide some
form of small auditorium where select groups
may hear recitals demonstrating their featured
instruments and who have at the same time
direct contact with the store and the merchan-
dise it offers. The intimate recital has the fur-
ther advantage that, although the ambitious pro-
ject may bring to the city or town some great
artist, that same artist may through his person-
ality overshadow the instrument itself. The
smaller recital given with the aid of members
of the sales force at times or with the assistance
of local artists of some standing affords an op-
portunity for keeping the instrument itself in
first place as the feature with the assisting
artist in the second position.
The timid dealer will sometimes declare that
the expense of advertising a recital either
directly by mail, over the telephone or through
the newspapers, is out of proportion to the
direct sales results that can be expected. This
objection is easily overcome by those who have
given proper consideration to the matter by
arranging at the opening of the Fall season a
series of regular recitals, either afternoon or
evening, and held on a weekly or bi-weekly
schedule throughout the winter. Operated for a
season or two and given proper publicity at the
outset, these recitals can be made sufficiently
interesting in themselves to develop a following
that brings business.
A Good Example
Any dealer who doubts the fact that regular
recitals can pull capacity audiences might drop
into the auditorium of the Wanamaker Store,
New York, any afternoon and study the crowd
who fill that spacious hall, in most cases to
listen to musical recitals of the better sort. The
advertising the Wanamaker Store devotes to
these auditorium programs is distinctly limited
in proportion to the interest they have for New
Yorkers and visitors to the city. This same
idea can be carried out inexpensively, but with
equal success in proportion by the dealer in the
small community who has developed proper
contact with the schools, the women's clubs and
other local organizations.
The story is told of one fairly prominent
social light in a Western town who was seen
frequently at the recitals given by a local dealer
featuring a well known make of reproducing
piano. Each time she was accompanied by a
different group of women and finally one of the
salesmen commented on the fact in an off-hand
way.
"I find it an excellent way to entertain my
friends after luncheon or before tea," she de-
clared, and as she was perfectly willing to give
the names and addresses of her guests each
time and to introduce them, the dealer reg-
istered no objection. Probably there are many
other women who discharge social obligations
in the same manner but they help swell recital
audiences and bring in the prospects.
One dealer has built up his recitals most suc-
cessfully by developing a close contact with
the local conservatory of music, an institution
enjoying high standing and an excellent reputa-
tion throughout the State. Promising pupils are
invited to appear in recital in the store audi-
torium. They welcome the opportunity and
bring their friends who are thus permitted to
listen to a demonstration of the straight pianos
and reproducing pianos handled by the house.
WANAMAKER AUDITORIUM
Tuesday, January 26th, 1926
Al 1 30 P. M
CONCERT
by
NINA ENTZMINGER, ^Pianist
THURSTON NOE, Organist
-:-
1
PROQRAM
-:•
ORGAN
Choral et Menuet from Suite Oothiquc.
MR NOE
>. Scotch Poem
b. To a Water-Lily
)
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-,.-Btt
.
MISS; ENTZMINGER
: Dame from Suite Gothique...:
MR. NOE
IV
PIANO
a. Claire de Lune
...fiotllnwn
Dibuuy
_Liut
MISS ENTZMINCER
trom Suite Cothique
MR
,
Boellmann
NOE
Note —Immediately following the Program, a Short R « m l by
the Brunswick Panatrope. the (rut Electrical Reproducing Miukal
Infttrament
Mason and Haiulin Piano Used
Dr Alexander Ruiuell, Concert Director
A Typical Wanamaker Program
That the sales resulting from this practice are
numerous is best indicated by the fact that the
plan had been continued for three seasons.
What Creates the Interest
The local recital even without the co-opera-
tion of the manufacturer, is not the bugbear
that some retailers appear to believe. It may
not be possible or wise to give a small town
recital on a big town scale, but it is quite often
found that a local artist can be obtained at an
expense that is negligible. That artist usually
brings to the store a following that is more
distinctly enthusiastic because of personal ac-
quaintance than would be the audience of larger
dimensions gathered to hear an international
celebrity. Incidentally, the piano itself is
afforded a greater opportunity for "doing its
stuff," as the Broadwayite would have it.
Lehigh Ass'n Meeting
AI-LENTOWN, PA., January 30.—The Lehigh Val-
ley Radio Trade Association, of which half a
dozen local music merchants are members, held
its first meeting of the new year recently at
the Elks' Club, on South Eighth street. Among
the benefits to radio owners and to the organ-
ization itself discussed at the meeting was the
co-operation of the Pennsylvania Power &
Light Co. in correcting any leaks or other
causes of interference with reception; the instal-
lation of condensers on electrical devices by
their manufacturers to lessen interference was
also praised. The policies of the association
regarding the demonstration and serving of sets
which had been in force since the inception of
the organization will be printed shortly and
distributed by the various members.