Music Trade Review

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EDITORIALLY SPEAKING
MUSIC MERCHANTS POSTPONE
NATIONAL CONVENTION
T
HERE will be no convention of the National Asso-
ciation of Music Merchants in 1932, according to the
official announcement which appears elsewhere in T H E
REVIEW. The decision to postpone the convention
until next year is in accordance with the expressed opinion
of many of the leading members of the association who felt
that the time and expense involved in attending such a
meeting, whether in New York or Chicago, would be out
of place just now. The course finally decided upon is a
wise one, even though it breaks a precedent that has been
established for over thirty years.
In lieu of a general convention there will be held a meet-
ing of the Board of Control of the Association in New York
early in June at which the annual reports of the officers
and committee chairmen of the Association will be pre-
sented. Those of the general association membership who
desire to attend the Board of Control meeting will be in-
vited to do so.
Last year the Chicago convention, held at the Palmer
House, was a welcome surprise to those who advanced the
opinion that any national meeting would prove a disappoint
ment. There was a strong probability that a convention
held there this year would attract many dealers who
would visit that city to attend the Radio Show. But
even a fair attendance under those conditions is very
much in doubt. By postponing plans for a general an-
nual meeting and starting a campaign for a worth-while
convention in Chicago in 1933, during the period of the
Century of Progress Exposition, the probabilities of having
satisfactory meetings increase immensely. The dealer who
might hesitate to invest the time and money necessary to
attend the trade meeting will make it a point to go to
Chicago if the exposition is made the point of interest.
Meanwhile the association officers, particularly President
Edwin R. Weeks and Executive Secretary Delbert L.
Loomis, will carry on the work and have the stage set for a
worth-while convention next year.
The decision of the Merchants' Association will also
result in the abandonment of convention plans by the Music
Industries Chamber of Commerce, but nevertheless the official
requirements of that organization as well as of the National
Piano Manufacturers' Association and other affiliated bodies
will be taken care of through the medium of executive meetings
held in New York at some convenient time this summer.
LOCAL COOPERATION IN
PIANO PROMOTION WORK
O
U T in Milwaukee recently several dealers in
radio, most of whom are also dealers in other
musical instruments, took over an entire theatre
for an evening in order to demonstrate to the
public the qualities of the latest radio products. The
Exhibition was non-competitive to the extent that no com-
parison tests were made; the purpose being to show the
advances that had been made in cabinet construction and in
the tonal qualities of the various instruments. The event
was well advertised and admission was by card. The result
was a full house.
Why would it not be entirely possible for music mer-
chants generally to develop some such cooperative demonstra-
tion in their own particular cities? The main point just
now is to keep the public conscious of the value of piano
music and its general attractiveness. To arrange a piano
concert with some outstanding artist or with the aid of
local talent would prove comparatively inexpensive and at
the same time impressive. More than one music house has
staged concerts featuring from six to a dozen pianos on the
stage at one time, and such an event put on through coopera-
tive efforts would mean a very small expense to each indi-
vidual contributing. Admission by card insures the dealer
of at least the name and address of each member of the
audience, which should add materially to the prospect list.
The same plan can and has been worked in connection with
band and orchestra instruments and even with harmonicas.
The trouble is that each dealer is fighting as an individual
for his share of business and more, and much sales effort in
a given territory is being duplicated. A little cooperative
effort for the benefit of the industry as a whole will revert
directly 1 to the benefit of each participant. It is something
to be thought of.
CURTAIL THE OVERHEAD
BUT SAVE THE SALES FORCE
T
HE average music merchant, when shortage of busi-
ness makes curtailment necessary, is too often inclined
to shave down his sales force but leave his general
overhead intact. Often he is laboring under a high-
priced lease consummated when times were normal and is
forced to maintain his establishment on a plane in accordance
with his location. As a matter of fact any curtailment that
should be made should take first into consideration that same
fixed overhead, leaving inroads into the sales organization as
the last resort. On a number of occasions recently the
Chamber of Commerce has been called upon to aid dealers
who have found themselves in financial difficulties through
a drop-off in sales 1 and an accumulation of frozen assets in
the form of instalment paper. In a surprisingly large pro-
portion of such instances the situation has been saved by
having the dealer move to smaller and cheaper quarters, the
cost of which is not out of proportion to his business volume.
A lease is a definite obligation and under ordinary circum-
stances is so recognized, but there are few landlords who
will not also recognize the fact if it is properly brought to
their attention that it is much easier to release a tenant than
to insist upon a carrying out of the lease and try and get
satisfaction in the bankruptcy court.
THE
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW,
April,
1932