Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
Hie Mislclfcade
Published Monthly
FEDERATED BUSINESS PUBLICATIONS, INC.
420 Lexington Ave.
New York
Music
Industry
Serving
the Entire
Vol. 88
November, 1929
No. 28
Single Copies
Twenty Cents
Annual Subscription
Two Dollars
The
J/usic business
IS doming Back
HE long predicted revival of the music trade has arrived.
Business is better and is improving steadily right along the line.
T
The predictions of the optimists and those who have held their faith
in the future of the industry are being borne out.
tories nights in order to fill orders for that type of instruments,
and mostly of the better grade. Despite the problems that have
been facing the professional musicians and which have curtailed
their buying powers, the band and orchestra instrument demand has
kept up and expanded—chiefly because of amateur interest.
ANUFACTURERS of various musical products, pianos
M
years the call was to make America musical and to develop
among them, are reporting substantial orders from retailers
F was OR a accomplished
high appreciation of music among the citizenry at large. This
throughout the country, and in volume that represents increases over
to a point where it warranted comment and com-
last year's figures in a majority of instances. There are some of
course who still complain, but the great majority have been affected
by the business impetus, have buckled down to the job and are
reaping their rewards.
HE piano is generally hailed as the basic instrument and the
T
piano demand in many respects is regarded as a barometer.of
music trade conditions. In this field we find several concerns who,
mendation fully a decade ago and then it was discovered that, from
a commercial standpoint, a musical public was not all that could
be desired. It was found that what was needed was a public imbued
with the idea of, and desire for, the personal interpretation of music
arid this has been the basis of the work that has been carried on
for some years back. It would seem that the first fruits of this
type of promotion work are being enjoyed this Fall, but if these
encouraging results are to be made permanent, it will be necessary
for the trade to realize that a continuation of this promotion work
on even a broader plane is essential.
right through the year and particularly during the past couple of
months, have reported production and sales well in excess of the
1928 total. One leading company, through the medium of energetic
merchandising campaigns, managed to almost double its unit output
for this year as compared to last, and in one month registered an
increase of close to $50,000 over the corresponding month in 1928.
the music business is decidedly better, and the statement
Y ES, is based
on the actual activities of members of the industry
is significant that the manufacturers of pianos who have kept
I face T their
houses in order and have stuck by their guns even in the
of falling demand are again distinctly active in taking care of
and not simply upon the theory that brave talk will keep the business
bugaboos away. Men who were shaking their heads at the future
some few months ago are now working with renewed courage
because the results are warranting their efforts.
the business that is coming to them. Whether the retailers have
seen the wisdom of concentrating much of their sales effort on
pianos instead of spreading it thinly over a wide field; whether the
extended promotion work of both manufacturers and dealers is be-
ginning to show definite results, or whether the public mind is again
becoming "piano conscious" does not matter so much as the fact
that the business is improving definitely and steadily.
same improvement is evident in other departments of the
T HE
trade. The band and orchestra instrument makers have for
some months past been reporting a growing demand for their
products, particularly for the equipment of amateur organizations.
Several fretted instrument manufacturers are working their fac-
the business improvement is not confined to
F ORTUNATELY
any one section of the country, for the travelers who come in
from various territories from coast to coast report a much better
spirit among the dealers, a spirit that is reflected by the actual orders
on their books. Having started on the upgrade, the courage that
has kept the substantial houses of the industry going right ahead
through a dubious period will unquestionably add to the momentum
of the upward movement.
USINESS is again to be had, and the order books prove it.
B
It will rest with the individual manufacturer or dealer as to,
just how much of this business he will get for his share,