Classic Mode

Music Trade Review

Issue: 1931 Vol. 90 N. 7

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THE
MUSIC
NATIONAL PIANO MANUFACTURERS'
ASSOCIATION ADOPTS O W N STAMPS
T
HE outstanding feature of the annual
meeting of the National Piano Manufac-
turers' Association held on June 8 was
the decision to discontinue the use of the com-
bination stamp that has been placed on pianos
for some years past for the purpose of rais-
stamp fund computed on the basis of ship-
ments made.
The money raised through the sale of
stamps and paid into the fund in cash will
remain entirely in the hands of the manufac-
turers' association for the carrying on of pro-
motional work and other objects. Annual
dues of $50 per year will continue.
At the meeting the Baldwin Piano Co.,
which has been a consistent supporter of the
association's activities, became affiliated with
the association as a member.
Officers elected for the coming year are:
president, Gordon C. Campbell, Kohler-
Brambach Piano Co., New York; first vice-
president, Lucien Wulsin, Baldwin Piano Co.,
Cincinnati; second vice-president, Otto
S O R D O N G. CAMPBELL
The New President
ing funds in support of the Music Industries
Chamber of Commerce and particularly of
the National Bureau for the Advancement of
Music. This combination stamp was priced
at a dollar, half going to the manufacturers
and the other half to the dealers. A con-
siderable controversy has been developed as
to a proper division of the funds.
Under the new plan the manufacturers
have adopted their own stamp, the purchase
of which will be obligatory upon all mem-
bers of the Association. In order that the
burden may be equitably divided the new
set-up provides that stamps valued at 50
cents be placed on pianos wholesaling under
$300; stamps of a value of 75 cents on
pianos wholesaling from $300 to $600, and
stamps of a value of $1.50 on pianos whole-
saling at over $600. Members of the Manu-
facturers' Association, in lieu of buying
stamps may, with the consent of the officers
of the association, make cash payment to the
CONVENTION OF CHAMBER
OF COMMERCE
(Continued from page 7)
During the course of the annual meeting
the Chamber moved to renew its membership
in the Chamber of Commerce in the United
States.
Plans for the Century of Progress World's
Fair to be held in Chicago, in 1933, were
presented by representatives of the fair.
They include a number of imposing musical
features including series of concerts by
bands, choruses and other musical groups to
be carried along right through the period of
the fair. There will also be exhibits of
FRED. P. BASSETT
Retiring President
Schulz, Jr., M. Schulz Co., Chicago; treas-
urer, C. Albert Jacob, Jr., Jacob Bros., New
York; honorary secretary, Herbert W. Hill,
and secretary, Harry Meixell.
A distinctly unusual event occurred dur-
ing the installation of officers when President
Campbell was formally presented the gavel
by his father, Mark P. Campbell, a former
president of the association. The occasion
served to emphasize the rise of a new gen-
eration in trade association affairs.
musical instruments of all types on a non-
competitive basis.
. In order that music and the music trade
be properly represented the President of the
Chamber was authorized to appoint a com-
mittee of twenty-five members to develop
plans for the participation of the industry
in this important event.
The plans for the celebration of the Bi-
Centennial of George Washington's birth in
1932 were endorsed.
TRIBUTE TO IR1ON
President Wagner paid high tribute to the
earnest work of Hermann Irion as chairman
of the board of control of the National Bu-
reau for the Advancement of Music. C.
TRADE
REVIEW,
July, 1931
M. Tremaine, director of the Bureau, was
also complimented.
Harry Meixell, secretary and general man-
ager of the Chamber, in a brief report of the
financial affairs announced that the organiza-
tion went into the new .fiscal year free of
debt. This was followed by the reading of
the treasurer's report by Gordon Campbell.
Before the election of directors for the com-
ing year it was explained that the direc-
torate would include the three most recent
past presidents, the presidents of affiliated
organizations, and eight directors at large,
four to be replaced each year. The directors
from affiliated associations will be named on
the following basis: one director from each
organization contributing up to $10,000 to the
Chamber and one more director for each
additional $15,000 contributed.
DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS ELECTED
The directors elected and appointed for
the year are as follows: Past presidents E.
R. Jacobson, Hermann Irion and Mark P.
Campbell. For the piano manufacturers,
Gordon G. Campbell; for the music mer-
chants, Edwin R. Weeks; for the phonograph
trade, W. W. Clark; for the organ indus-
try, George W. Catlin; sheet music dealers,
John Harden; national musical merchandise
association, H. C. Lornb; piano and music
travelers, Jacob Schiller; piano tuners, Mels
C Boe; National Association of Musical In-
strument and Accessories Manufacturers,
Harry Simson; for the supply industry, Ar-
thur L. Wessell and John Wickham, and di-
rectors at large, Louis Sterling, A. L. Smith.
I.ucian Wulsin, R. W. Lawrence, G. C. Kav-
anagh, Jay Grinnell, C. Alfred Wagner and
Parhatn Werlein. Additional directors made
possible through additional Chamber contri-
butions are: for the National Piano Manu-
facturers' Association, W. E. Guylee and C.
D. Bond, and for the Music Merchants, Otto
B. Heaton.
Following the election of directors all of-
ficers of the Chamber were re-elected with
one exception, Julius White replacing Gor-
don G. Campbell as treasurer. The officers
for the ensuing year are therefore: President,
C. Alfred Wagner, New York; first vice-
president, Henry C. Lomb, Long Island City,
N. Y.; second vice-president, Parham Wer-
lein, New Orleans; treasurer, Julius White,
New York, and secretary anil general man-
ager, Harry Meixell, New York.
MUSICAL SUPPLY ASS'N
TO LIQUIDATE AFFAIRS
At its annual meeting in Chicago, on June
8, of the Musical Supply Association of
America it was agreed to dissolve the or-
ganization and put its affairs in the hands
of the Music Industries Chamber of Com-
merce for liquidation. The reason given was
that the membership in the association had
shrunken to such an extent that there was
no necessity for continuing it.
The liquidation committee consists of two
members from the East, W. A. Mennie and
Arthur L. Wessell, and two from the West,
John Wickham and James E. Platt, with
Harry Meixell, secretary of the association, as
chairman. Th.e assets of the association were
to be used to liquidate all claims against it,
the balance to be turned over to the National
Bureau for the Advancement of Music.
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
CONVENTION of the
MUSIC MERCHANTS
T
HE open forum plan for the annual
meeting of the National Association of
Music Merchants, which met with con-
siderable approval when tried out some two
years ago, proved a hundred per cent success
at the session held at the Palmer House, Chi-
cago, on June 8 and 9, for never in the
history of the association has there been such
frank and open discussion of merchandising,
advertising and credit problems.
ADVERTISING BY RADIO
Otto B. Heaton, president of the association,
presided and proved particularly capable in
directing the discussions along helpful chan-
nels. The first speaker was Edwin R. Weeks,
of Weeks & Dickinson, Binghamton, N. Y.,
the Knight-Campbell Music Co., Denver, who
described at length the state-wide piano play-
ing contest originated by the music dealers of
Denver and carried on under the sponsor-
ship of the Music Teachers' Association and
the State Federation of Music Clubs in co-
operation with The Rocky Mountain News.
The dealers participating in the event were
the Knight-Campbell Music Co., Charles E.
Wells Music Co., the Baldwin Piano Co.,
and the Darrow Music Co. The contest re-
sulted in a great amount of publicity for the
piano, aroused the interest of teachers and
resulted in a number of real sales. Nine
prize cups were given in the three divisions
of the contest and the total cost to the piano
men was $351 or less than $90 each. This
Colorado State Contest was described at
length in the May issue of THE REVIEW, to-
gether with a reproduction of the section
of the teachers' directory page.
large proportion of the prospects of the house
and most of the sales are directly creditable
to these teachers, who receive no commission.
The company considers the free use of the
hall sufficient compensation.
The statement by Mr. Heaton that his com-
pany got many prospects through the sheet
music department resulted in a lengthy dis-
cussion of the value of such a department
not alone as a pTofit maker but as a prospect
feeder. The Heaton house, for instance, pro-
vides teachers with "prescription blanks"
upon which the teacher notes the selection to
be secured by the pupil. The slips carry the
Heaton name at the top and when they are
turned in the company's store the teacher is
credited with five cents with each sheet of
H O W L O N G IS A PROSPECT ALIVE?
OTTO B. HEATON
Retiring President
who explained in some detail the manner in
which his company utilized radio for adver-
tising. In Binghamton they have lawyers',
doctors', merchants', housewives', club and
children's hours, and some part of the pro-
gram is devoted to the members of the paT-
ticular trade, profession or group singled out
for attention.
Mr. Weeks conducts the programs and they
have become so well established that many
citizens of Bi igh.imton in all walks of life
send in comments and suggestions for them.
In a substantial number of cases these com-
ments have resulted in direct sales. The
experiences of Weeks & Dickinson were pre-
sented in detail in an article in THE REVIEW
in February, copies of which will be sent to
interested dealers so long as the supply holds
out.
COLORADO PIANO PLAYING CONTEST
The next speaker was W. W. Bradford, of
THE
MUSIC
TRADE
The next matter which came up for dis-
cussion was the period during which a pros-
pect should be considered alive. It has been
urged recently that a prospect who was not
sold in sixty days should be discarded in
favor of someone more liable to buy, and
while the dealers present did not agree in
this, the majority felt that if a prospect did
not respond promptly any extended intensive
effort was wasted.
Charles E. Wells declared that too little
effort was being made by many dealers and
their salesmen to analyze prospects in a man-
ner to avoid waste and that weak excuses
were often accepted too easily with the re-
sult that the actual closing was delayed.
Chairman Heaton stated that in the case
of his company it was found that eighty-two
per cent of piano sales were made within
three weeks after the filing of the prospect,
and unless the sale was made in sixty days
the prospect was considered as dormant.
Charles H. Yahrling, of Youngstown, O.,
stated that prospects were carried on the
active list for four months. Three calls were
made by the same salesman or different ones,
as the case requires, immediately after the
filing of th.e prospect. Mr. Detrick, of the
Fitzgerald Music Co., Los Angeles, and P. A.
Lehman, of the Lehman Piano Co., St. Louis,
also spoke on the subject.
H O W TO SECURE PROSPECTS
The discussion then switched to ways and
means of securing prospects. Mr. Detrick
outlined the experiences of his house in co-
operating with teachers. In the Fitzgerald
Co.'s Glendale store, for instance, the Tecital
hall is offered free to teachers for student re-
citals and this year seventy-four teachers
have made use of it at various times. A
REVIEW,
J u l y , 193
DELBERT L. LOOMIS
Executive Secretary
music sold. In some cases, during the rea-
son, teachers receive as much as $8 to $10
per month in such commissions, although in
a number of cases the slips are presented to
competing stores and do not earn a commis-
sion. Similar plans are being used by other
dealers.
VALUE OF SHEET MUSIC DEPARTMENT
The results have brought out that in a
great majority of cases sheet music depart-
ments properly equipped and staffed to give
service prove distinctly profitable in their
own right. In several music stores the de-
partments have staffs of from four to seven
people who are well paid and run up sales
records ranging from $30,000 to $60,000 a
year. In addition the contacts thus made
with teachers and pupils keep prospect lists
alive and lead to many sales.
John Harden, president of the National.
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