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MORE GENERAL SUPPORT
ESSENTIAL FOR MUSIC
INDUSTRY'S ORGANIZATIONS
By C. ALFRED WAGNER
President, Music Industries Chamber of Commerce
W
I T H I N a very few days
after this paper is in the
hands of its readers the
annual conventions of the
Music Industries Chamber of Commerce
and its affiliated organizations will be in
full swing in Chicago, and the attend-
ance at the sessions, together with the
general affectiveness of the various meet-
ings, will depend upon the rank and file
of those in the trade who have been con-
sistent supporters of association activities.
It is hardly necessary for me, as presi-
dent of the Chamber, to call attention to
the problems that are facing the industry
at the present time and which demand
at least some efforts towards solution.
These problems are too well known to
every manufacturer, wholesaler and
C. ALFRED
dealer, and I think I am warranted in
declaring that few, if any, of the members of the trade still
persist in the idea that they alone caii alter conditions or de-
velop effective means for meeting a situation that is national
in scope. They realize the need for concerted effort and
concerted thinking by the best minds of the trade if the in-
dustry is really to be benefited to a substantial degree.
There are those, recognized as the old guard in all trade
association movements, who have, over a period of a few
years or many, given freely of their time, energy and money
toward association activities with the view to benefiting the
industry as a whole. Full credit is due to this group, for
without it many of the trade activities would have been
discontinued long ago. It is unfortunate, however, that they
represent such a small proportion of the industry; that they
are representative of the minority rather than of the majority.
My message this year is to those members of the trade,
both manufacturers and retailers, who have remained in-
different to or aloof from Associations, who have been content
to enjoy the benefits that have been derived from organiza-
tion activities, but have not seen fit to join in them except
in a most casual way. This year, more than in any other
preceding year, it is essential that those who have been care-
less or indifferent in their association affiliations give
thought to more active participation, not only in the finan-
cial support of the various organizations, which should not
prove burdensome under any conditions, but in the active
support of what these various bodies are doing and planning
to do to arouse public interest in music and the personal
THE
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW,
June.
1931
performance of worth-while music.
It is my hope to see in Chicago many
new faces, not new to the trade, but new
at association gatherings. We may well
make use of the phrase that has been
pounded out by the student typist for a
generation or more, "Now is the time
for all good men to come to the aid of
the party." It may be trite but it is
distinctly pertinent, for without a more
generous and general support from the
industry at large, these organization ac-
tivities must be seriously curtailed. I am
not in any sense the dean of the industry,
but I have had sufficient number of years
of contact with the trade to realize that
if these organization activities are cur-
tailed, it is going to prove a serious blow
to the music trade and mean that the
WAGNER
work of building interest in music, indeed
sales of musical instruments, will be made much more difficult.
The meeting in Chicago will afford us an opportunity of
seeing just who have the interests of the industry at heart;
how many can put away selfish ideas and desires to devote
a little time and a little work to the benefit of the trade as a
whole. Certainly anything accomplished of a forward nature
is going to benefit everybody connected with musical in-
strument merchandising whether they belong to the associa-
tions or not, or whether they have contributed or not. Under
normal conditions a substantial number of broadminded in-
dividuals have seen fit to support and work for organization
movements regardless of the fact that the non-workers and
the non-members were in a position to benefit quite as much
as association members. The time has come, however, when
this generous spirit cannot prevail, when it becomes neces-
sary to have the support of the majority in order that the
burden may not overtax the few.
In Chicago we are going to tell what has been accom-
plished by the Chamber and its various affiliates during the
past year, and we are going to set forth the plans for the
coming twelve months, stating frankly that the success of
those future plans depends almost entirely upon a broader
recognition of their importance and a more general support
both financially and otherwise. It will well pay the music
tradesman who feels that he is in the business to stay to
attend the sessions and find out at first hand what is going
on, then he can see what his money is being spent for or can
at least find some incentive for contributing his share.
II