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The Music Trade Review
JANUARY, 1931
What Trade Leaders Think of 1931
{Continued from page 5)
dealers' stocks arc running low and they will
soon be compelled to buy merchandise on
a basis of cost and quality if they con-
tinue in business.
There has been apparently a shrinkage of
over 50 per cent in the number of piano
factories in the past three years. This num-
ber may be still smaller by the end of 1931,
but when that time rolls around those who
are still in the business will be doing busi-
ness on a businesslike basis. Meanwhile, we
are catering only to dealers who appreciate
the fact that manufacturers must sell at a
little above cost if they are going to con-
tinue.
You will, no doubt, be interested to know-
that by the end of 1930 there will be a
million dollars' worth of 1930 model Jesse
French radios in the hands of the public,
with improved models for 1931 already
under way.
We honestly expect 1931 to be at least SO
per cent better than 1930 and are banking
on this to the full extent of our resources.
H. E. Capehart, President and General Manager,
The Capehart Corp., Ft. Wayne, Ind.
We hear much discussion nowadays over
what is needed to assist the dealer in the
solution of his problems—problems which
generally have been brought about by a
lowering of unit prices in practically all
radio lines.
I firmly believe in the future of the auto-
matic phonographic and radio combination.
I have had hundreds of dealers tell me that
such an instrument will be one of the solu-
tions to their problems.
With this perfected musical instrument
dealers may look for a return to the days
of higher resale prices. They will further
enjoy the substantial secondary profits
which come from record sales in sets or
groups. Every automatic that is sold im-
mediately sets up a perpetual income from
record sales.
The year of 1931 will find many promi-
nent radio lines containing the Capehart au-
tomatic record changer which plays both
10-inch and 12-inch records. Concentrated
advertising and merchandising programs de-
veloped around these instruments will build
up an increasingly great demand for the per-
fect home instrument appealing to the pop-
ular or mass market.
Now is the time to plan your 1931 sales
program. Study the fundamentals of your
business and then set about to direct the
sales energies of your organization toward
the automatic combination.
When you do this your profit picture
should reveal a more interesting story at the
end of the year. 1931 will be a big year
for the automatic combination.
A. L. Bretzfelder, President, Krakauer Bros.,
New York:
I am of the firm belief that 1931 will show
a modest improvement over 1930 and just as
soon as conditions show the improvement
expected next year, piano merchants will re-
ceive their share of increased piano business.
We are happy to say that we are in the
most liquid position we have ever enjoyed
in the history of our business.
C. Albert Jacob, Jr., Vice-President, Mathushek
Piano Mfg. Co., New York, N. Y.
To prophesy the business outlook for the
year 1931 is a difficult task, but we believe
that the success of any piano manufactur-
ing company during the coming year is
largely dependent on its method of con-
ducting business in the past. Those manu-
facturers who have striven at all times for
production with little thought to quality or
the creation of a financial reserve will find
in the coming year a difficult situation, for
with their production curtailed owing to the
C. Albert Jacob, Jr.
loss of volume market they will be unable
to carry on. After this process of elimina-
tion is over, those manufacturers and dealers
who, through their stability remain active
factors in our industry will be in a most
substantial position and will reap the bene-
fits of their labors during these lean years
just past. 1930 has been "tough sledding"
and we do not look for immediate improve-
ment in general conditions, but we expect
Mathushek during 1931 to continue its steady
advance We believe that the sale of high-
grade grands and uprights will increase ma-
terially, and that those manufacturers who
produce a quality instrument and have the
financial strength to weather the prevailing
depression can look to the future with en-
couragement.
E. G. Clark, President, Clark Orchestra Roll
Co., De Kalb, 111.
Our business is just about as it has been.
We are trying to give service to those who
ask for it, and again we are getting all that
can conveniently be sent our way because
the music industry has been hard hit and
more so through the sense of fear than any-
thing else I believe, and until we get our
bearings again and begin to look to the
right source of supply for confidence we will
still keep on groping in the dark, hoping
to have some relief come from some good
Santa Claus. It just won't come that way.
It must come through individual thinking
and carrying out the good old Golden Rule.
"Do Unto Others as You Would Pie Done
By." I think the selfishness and greed mani-
fest throughout the entire nation or nations
as it might be put, is a great cause for our
condition and won't be changed nor relieved
until we begin to let go of self.
This may sound a little "preachy", but I
don't mean it that way at all. We are trying
to hold our end up here and help the rest
of the universe by good behavior as we
carry on.
A. G. Gulbransen, President, Gulbransen Co.,
Chicago:
As you have asked for my views on the
outlook for business in 1931, it seems to me
that after the long and continued depression
there is, naturally, going to be a change
for the better.
There appears to be a number of funda-
mental reasons for our present depression in
business, and one of them is the mental
attitude of most people, which, however, will
gradually change, and confidence and cour-
age will take the place of fear and pessi-
mism.
It has been asserted on reliable authority
that only twenty per cent of wage earners
and salaried people have been affected by
unemployment or reduction in wages and
salaries.
There has been a decided change in the
manufacturing and distribution of merchan-
dise and this, naturally, has affected the
piano business and, until both the manufac-
turers and distributors of pianos realize fully
that the piano business can only succeed
through the most modern and efficient meth-
ods and the distribution of pianos is put on
a constructive basis, the industry cannot
progress as it should.
The manufacturers, distributors and sup-
ply houses must work hand in hand, and
all have a chance to make a reasonable profit.
This co-operative purpose will aid in attain-
ing the much to be desired goal of success
in the piano industry. The racketeering in
the piano business must be absolutely elimi-
nated, for it is a menace to prosperity.
It is generally understood that the piano
is the basic musical instrument and should
have a place in every home, and this can be
accomplished if the public is properly ap-
proached.
Harry J. Sohmer, Sohmer & Co., New York,
N. Y.
After a year of serious business depres-
sion, I am still of the opinion expressed a
year ago:
The piano, particularly that of the better
type, will continue to be sold, if not in in-
creasing numbers as compared to peak years,
nevertheless in sufficient volume to assure
a nice, profitable business to those dealers
who have always been identified in their
communities as representative music mer-
chants.
In this highly mechanized age there is
still considerable music in the hearts of the
(Please turn to tape 19)
STARR PIANOS
STARR ELECTRIC REFRIGERATORS
CHAMPION and GENNETT RECORDS
ELECTRICAL TRANSCRIPTIONS for RADIO BROADCASTING
THE STARR PIANO COMPANY
Established 1872
RICHMOND, INDIANA