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THE
VOL. 85. No. 24
REVIEW
Published Weekly. Federaled Business Publications, Inc., 420 Lexington Ave., New York, N. Y., Dec. 10,1927
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Piano Sales Promotion
far as publicity is concerned, in daily press and elsewhere,
the piano can no longer be considered in the light of a step-
child, for, during the past year as a result of the promotion
work that has been carried out along several definite lines,
it has been brought to the forefront in the newspaper columns of
the country to a greater extent than ever before in its history, and,
in fact, to an extent not anticipated by those who are among the
most enthusiastic supporters of the various promotional campaigns.
We have long heard the plaint that in matters of publicity the
piano was out of the running; that, while automobiles, books, new
types of furniture, decorative materials, and other products, were
discussed at great length in newspapers as matters of public inter-
est, the piano, even on the concert platform and backed by the sup-
port of artists of international prominence, was practically ignored.
That may have been true of 1910, of 1920, and even of 1926. But
it is certainly not true of 1927, for during this year in the
majority of representative newspapers of the country there has been
direct reference to the piano in one form or another, and in a num-
ber of representative publications extended articles on the piano
and piano playing to tie up with piano contests or group instruction
courses that were being carried out locally.
Willingness to Co-operate
Nor has all this publicity been of general character and with-
out a definite goal except to make the piano man feel good. On
numerous occasions the newspapers have displayed a willingness to
co-operate with the industry in supporting the cause of the piano
through group instruction drives and by other means. They have
not only given freely of their space, to the extent of thousands of
dollars based on advertising lineage rates, but they have made con-
tributions of cash and employes' services in forwarding the cause.
The results that have been accomplished within the past twelve
months alone lead to the belief that any apathy toward the piano
that has been evident during the past years on the part of the public
press has been due not so much to the indifference of these agents
of the public, as to the indifference of members of the industry it-
self. When the industry woke up and did something worth talking
about, it has been duly considered as news worth the printing. It
affords a lesson that should not be lost sight of in connection with
future trade developments.
The Reason Why
The secret of the success that has been enjoyed in the matter
of publicity for the piano is not hard to find. It has not been an
accident or a flash in the pan, but the result of what may be termed
the first soundly organized effort on the part of the industry to
bring itself and its products to public attention. The fact that sev-
eral agencies of both a private and organization nature have con^
tributed to this general result is not so important as that the work
itself has been accomplished. There are those who have favored
one form of campaign, and others another, but in a large sense all
the work has been directed toward a common end—that of placing
the piano in a prominent position before the American public
and in the American home. Those who have been alive to the
work that has been carried on are naturally gratified by the accom-
plishments. And there are many others who, taking but a passive
interest in this great movement in the industry, will be surprised
and in some cases genuinely skeptical when they learn of the
Entered as second-class matter September L0, 1892, at the post ofiice at New York, N. Y., under the act of Congress of March 3, 1879.