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THE
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW,
II
July, 1931
CONVENTION OF THE MUSIC MERCHANTS
(Continued from page 9)
Association of Sheet Music Dealers, who, with
several members of his organization, attend-
ed the session, talked briefly of the value of
the properly conducted sheet music depart-
ment and urged the music merchants to join
with his association in the fight against vari-
ous evils of the trade.
Others who spoke on the question of the
sheet music department as a prospect getter
included Melville Clark, of Syracuse, N. Y.;
Homer Kitt, of Washington, D. C.; Harold
Flammer, of G. Schirmer, Inc., and others.
In discussing other methods of securing
prospects Homer Kitt explained how his com-
pany secured many prospects and sales by
sending letters to customers asking if they
are satisfied with the service rendered and
if the instrument purchased is meeting with
their expectations.
direct result of this has been the sale of
several small pianos for homes already
equipped with larger instruments, the little
pianos going into the children's rooms for
practice purposes. Moreover, the sale of seven
full-sized grands is directly traceable to the
classwork as is an active prospect list.
REGARDING THE CHEAP GRAND
There was a considerable discussion re-
garding the sales value of the cheap grand
and there was evidently a division of opin-
ion on this matter, some feeling that they
were designed primarily to fit the needs of
the ordinary buyer of an upright and others
that they should be carried simply to meet a
price emergency. The question of destroying
OTHER PROSPECT-GETTING PLANS
Charles H. Yahrling explained the manner
in which his company secures prospects
through former customer?, as well as those
who are still paying out on instalment ac-
counts, by sending out coupon books contain-
ing series of return postcards. The customer
is urged to enter on the postcards the names
and addresses of friends who may be inter-
ested in some type of musical instrument.
The cards are time-stamped when received
by the company, listed in the prospect file,
and if a sale is made within four months'
time the customer who presented the name
receives a commission.
NEW OFFICERS ELECTED
The following officers of the National As-
sociation of Music Merchants were elected at
the Tuesday afternoon session, June 9: Presi-
dent, Edwin R. Weeks, Binghamton, N. Y.;
vice-president, Jay Grinnell, Detroit; C. H.
DeAcres, Chicago; W. W. Bradford, Denver;
Phil A. Lehman, St. Louis, secretary; Charles
H. Yahrling, Youngstown, O.; treasurer,
Carl A. Droop, Washington, D. C. Directors
to serve for three years: Reinhard Kneupfer,
Lawrence, Mass.; Robert J. Shackleton,
Louisville, Ky., and Edward J. Walt, Lin-
coln, Neb.
THE FINAL SESSION
G I V I N G GROUP PIANO LESSONS
Fred Gennett, of the Starr Piano Co., ex-
pressed the opinion that the majority of mu-
sic teachers were lacking in the business abil-
ity to get pupils, investigation having shown
that the average teacher had less than twenty
pupils at any one time and recruited only
between forty and fifty a year. Mr. Gennett
then went on to tell how his company had
sought to solve this problem in Richmond,
Ind. A teacher in the Curtis method was
obtained and classrooms opened in the com-
pany's store. Newspapers were used with
poor results to obtain pupils, so canvassing
was resorted to.
The first effort resulted in only enough
pupils to operate one class, but when at the
end of six weeks a recital was given the
interest was so alive that eighty more students
were immediately registered. A later effort
resulted in the registration of 180 children in
the course, and although the local teachers
refused to co-operate at the outset, • a great
many of them began to show intense interest
in what was going on and a strong desire
not only to help in the course itself, but to
have the pupils' register with them for ad-
vance instruction.
There is no sales solicitation made during
the course but a waiting-room is provided
for parents outside the classroom, made neces-
sary because most of the children are under
ten and must' be escorted to and from the
classes. The warring-room- is equipped with
small uprights and the pupils are encouraged
to give a demonstration for their parents on
these pianos before leaving the building. The
Times, referring directly to the comeback of
that instrument. A number of dealers then
told their experiences in following up as
prospects those who had registered for the
radio piano course. It was found, in a great
majority of cases, that the registrants already
had pianos in their homes, as was natural,
but in a number of cases actual sales were
made and some excellent prospects secured
for replacements.
EDWIN R. WEEKS
The New President
worn-out pianos also came up for consider-
ation and it developed that the majority of
the dealers destroyed all instruments, par-
ticularly uprights that could not be properly
repaired and sold at a respectable price.
H A N D L I N G ELECTRIC REFRIGERATORS
In view of the fact that a recent survey
conducted by THE REVIEW showed that some
thirty per cent of music merchants are han-
dling electric refrigerators at present, a dis-
cussion along this line proved particularly
interesting. It developed that a large num-
ber of dealers in the meeting had met with
much success in the refrigerator field, both
as retailers and distributors'.
In a majority of cases if is urged that the
refrigerator department should be operated
as a separate unit to insure greater success,
although prospects can be obtained from those
who have customers for musical instruments.
It appears that the trade-in problem does not
enter and that saies therefore are net.
PUBLICITY FOR THE PIANO
Secretary Loomis called the attention of
members to the amount of publicity that re-
cently appeared in the newspapers in favor
of the piano, particularly the announcements
of the broadcasting of the "Keys to Happi-
ness" program, and to articles in the Phila-
delphia Public Ledger and the New York
The final session of the convention was
opened with a talk by Miss Helen Curtis,
the well-known authority on group piano
instruction, who declared that success in
class work depended upon properly trained
teachers. The trained teacher understands
how to develop and hold interest and main-
tain discipline and thus make the course a
success. She stated that it was now possi-
ble to train children in music from three
years of age up.
Frederick P. Stieff, of Baltimore, told of the
success of group instruction work in that
city, but stated that it was found necessary
for the company to keep in the background to
avoid any suggestion of commercialism.
Among other details he outlined was the
mingling of owners and non-owners of
pianos. It was demonstrated that a child
without a piano at home seated next to and
talking to another child with a piano at
home proved a mighty strong stimulant to
a sale.
PROTEST DUMPING OF RADIOS
•At the suggestion of Charles H. Yahrling
a resolution was adopted urging the manu-
facturers of radios to cease the practice of
dumping surplus stock through dealers and
other channels as proving detrimental to the
entire trade. Mr. Yahrling later presented
a copy of the resolution to the Radio Manu-
facturers' Association for their action.
C. V. Buttelman, executive secretary of
the Music Supervisors' National Conference,
gave a short resume of what that organiza-
tion was doing for the development of mu-
sical culture in the country and indirectly
for the increased sale of musical instruments
through the training of the child in music,
and at the close of his address was pledged
the support of the National Association of
Music Merchants through the medium of a
formal resolution.
TALK BY CHAMBER'S PRESIDENT
Another speaker was C. Alfred Wagner,
{Picase turn to page 14)