Classic Mode

Music Trade Review

Issue: 1945 Vol. 104 N. 4

Page 8 Text:

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
"The Piano Industry-Has It a Future or Only a Past?"
THE PRIZE WINNING ANSWERS
N THE February issue of THE REVIEW there was reprinted from "Retailing Home Furnishings" an article entitled
"The Piano Industry—Has It a Future or Only a Past" by Harry A. Glasser, vice president of the Colen-Gruhn Co.,
Inc., New York, distributors of electrical appliances and home furnishings. This article stirred up so much controv-
ersy that THE REVIEW offered prizes for the three best answers. From the many answers received the judges, Richard
W. Lawrence, president of the Bankers Commercial Corp., New York, Charles M. Freeman of the Hirshon-Garfield
Co., New York, and Carleton Chace, Editor of THE REVIEW, decided, after much deliberation, that the following four were
the best. First prize, a $25.00 War Bond, goes to Walter L. Bond, secretary-treasurer of the Weaver Piano Co., York,
Pa.; Second Prize, $10.00 in War Savings Stamps, to Arthur W. Wright, retail salesmanager of Wm, Knabe & Co.,
New York; Third Prize to Byron H. Collins, Leonia, N. J., formerly retail sales manager of Steinway & Sons, New York,
and now with the Federal Telegraph and Radio Co., Newark, N. J., and Honorable Mention to J. M. Wylie, piano
merchant in Fargo, North Dakota.
I
2. A piano, as a work of art, is entitled to the most
attractive "furniture appeal" with which it can be clothed.
The piano industry has gone far in developing "furniture
appeal" in the past ten years. Notwithstanding all this
WALTER L. BOND
progress, I feel the surface has hardly been scratched by
our industry in exploring the possibilities of making the
Secretary-Treasurer
piano a better looking piece of furniture. But, I don't believe
Weaver Piano Co., York, Pa.
many homes would give the space for the most beautiful
VERYONE should participate in music and, therefore, piano imaginable merely as a piece of furniture. If the
every family should have a piano. I am thoroughly piano is to be in every home, it must get there and stay
in accord with Mr. Henry A. Glasser's views that the there because it is used as a musical instrument by members
piano should be a much more important item than it ever of the family and or friends. Along with advances in "eye-
appeal" must go the promotion of easy teaching methods for
has been.
I take it for granted that we all learning to play the piano; and the promotion of music
agree that under present condi- participation by all the people. Unless this is done—and
tions almost anyone can sell all of to a more successful degree than ever before—the mass
the pianos he can get by almost market which Mr. Glasser envisions will never be attained.
any plan of selling. In this letter
3. From a sales standpoint, pianos are "specialty" items
I am considering the questions in the highest sense of the word. Radios, refrigerators and
raised by Mr. Glasser from the other appliances are "staples." The selling of "staples" is
standpoint of the highly competi- largely a matter of whether the customer will buy yours or
tive days which are predicted to your competitors—he is going to buy one or the other. The
follow sooner or later after the selling of "specialties' is' largely a matter of whether the
close of the war.
customer will buy any piano of any kind from anybody.
I do not believe Mr. Glasser's Advertising and display will help to do the job, but these
plans will produce the results cannot at their very best be more than auxiliaries to the
highest type of personal educational salesmanship by an
which he predicts because:
1. Pianos as musical instru- aggressive salesman. If appliance jobbers merchandise
WALTER L. BOND
ments are more than precision pianos to retailers on the same indiscriminate basis they
instruments like radios, refrigerators, washers, etc. A do radios and other items, I believe they will creaate dead
$25.00 violin is made to more exact standards of dimensions inventory for a large percentage of those retailers. The
than a $500.00 violin. It is sold to the intelligent buyer 1 not only chance for success is if the wholesaler can and will do
because it is mass produced, but because that is its musical a better job of sales and merchandising service for the
worth. The musical qualities which give the $500.00 violin retailer than piano manufacturers are willing to do. It is
its value are produced by the patient hand-work of the my personal conviction that there is nothing in the physical
experienced craftsmen who cannot obtain these musical set-up or planning of an appliance wholesaler which gives
results on a mass production basis. Art, in any of its mani- him any permanent advantage over the piano manufacturer
festations, is the very opposite of mass production. I believe in giving service to retailers.
through the radio, the sound pictures, the phonograph and
I believe that the piano business requires specialists who
the personal appearances of musical artists, the public is are completely piano conscious in every detail of its manu-
becoming much more musically intelligent and much more facture, promotion and sale. I believe the hope of attaining
discriminating about tone and musical values. The unusual the highest volume of piano business as an industry is
opportunities which our company has had during the war dependent upon an increase in the efficiency and the aggres-
to become familiar with production methods and production siveness of those engaged in manufacture, promotion and
developments in many fields have convinced me more fully sale of pianos and in increasing the number of individuals
than ever that musical instruments of desirable tone and of ability who will devote themselves exclusively to this
performance cannot be produced by mass production meth- one line of endeavor. The whole tendency in business and
ods. Much can be done, and much has been done, to mass professional life is towards "specialization" and it seems
produce component parts for pianos, but the actual building to me that a shift, from distribution direct from factory to
of the piano must be done by careful painstaking highly retailer, to distribution through jobbers of many other items
experienced craftsmen if the result is to be a musical in addition to pianos, would be contrary to the trend of
instrument worthy of the efforts of the pianist.
events.
First Prize
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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW, APRIL, 1945

Page 9 Text:

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
Second Prize
Third Prize
ARTHUR W. WRIGHT
Retail Sales manager
Wm. Knabe & Co., New York
BYRON H. COLLINS
Leonia, N. J.
formerly Retail Salesmanager of
Steinway & Son§, New York
T
HE piano of the future as in the past will be sold—
first as a musical instrument and secondly as a piece
of furniture. Once we lose sight of this fundamental
truth the piano industry will deteriorate and it will become
a conglomeration of cheap pianos sold indiscriminately at
a price.
The average piano purchaser, with but few exceptions,
buys with the happy thought in mind that his child or some
member of his family will study
^ SK8S ^
piano. Therefore, in a great major-
^^^
ity of cases the tonal quality is his
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very first consideration—then fol-
W
lows his preference of case design.
If both these requisites are found,
the purchaser is happy in the
thought of many years of musical
enjoyment — and secondly in the
ownership of something decorative
for the home.
If the piano industry is to grow,
then stress must be placed upon the
mnusical quality of the piano and
not on the instrument as strictly a
piece of furniture. The reputation
ARTHUR W. WRIGHT
of the finer pianos of today was
built not upon their attractive-
ness as a piece of furniture but upon their distinctive
musical quality. The piano of the future will undoubt-
edly combine both these features, but must be pre-
sented by the dealer primarily as a musical instrument and,
therefore, cannot be sold by every type of retail establish-
ment having space to display a piano. If the piano is to
be peddled by any and all types of retail establishments,
then the curse of price cutting will be with us again with
the resulting evils that will ensue, for it is most certainly a
fact that a piano buyer would naturally prefer to buy from
a reputable house with sufficient facilities for future service
rather than from a small store offering inadequate service
—unless the inducement is a cut in price.
Perhaps a cheaply built piano will be made to sell at a
price and will probably fit into the picture very well, but I
cannot possibly conceive the idea that fine pianos being
merchandised in such a way without eventually tearing down
and destroying a reputation that was built up throughout
the years by stressing the piano as a means of little Johnny
or Mary learning to play; of musical education through
recitals; of close contact with the music teacher and varied
other means to bring to the attention of the buyer the piano
first as a musical instrument—something in which the user
becomes a participant or a sympathetic listener—not some-
thing to be looked at as only a piece of fine furniture.
Pianos no doubt will be merchandised wherein case design
for eye appeal will predominate—with tonal quality as a
second consideration. But for those who demand quality
of tone and case design, such an instrument must be sold
through carefully selected and reputable dealers. The qual-
ity instrument will be with us long after the cheap piano is
gone and forgotten.
The highest possible standards of manufacture, a stead-
fast ambition to produce the best, craftsmanship and a
pedigree of skill, all are necessary custodians of tone, touch
and durability.
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW, APRIL, 1945
OU ask whether the piano industry has a future, or
only a past.
I would say that the answer depends largely upon
the industry itself.
Of all musical instruments the piano is "basic"; not only
as a solo instrument, but as a supporting and enriching
accompaniment for the singer, the violin, and nearly all
other musical instruments. It is true that one cannot learn
to play it well overnight, but the achievement of almost
everything in this world that is worthwhile requires appli-
cation and patience.
The radio practically eliminated the
player piano, and temporarily made
deep inroads into the sale of "straight"
pianos. The depression which began in
1929 was a body blow. However, its
ravages were not confined to the piano
industry, but almost without exception
to all manufactured articles, and was
due to lack of purchasing power.
For several years before the middle
of 1942, when the Government stopped
the manufacture of pianos because of
BYRON H. COLLINS
the need for certain critical materials
for the prosecution of the war, the manufacture and sale of
pianos was on the up-swing.
In spite of causing a temporary set-back, in my judgment
the radio has been beneficial to the whole music industry.
It has instilled into hundreds of thousands of listeners an
appreciation for music which they did not previously have.
When more people enjoy music it is almost axiomatic that
more people will have a, desire for self-expi'ession, and will
buy more musical instruments, including the piano.
So I believe that there is a tremendous potential market
for pianos. But it will not be self-developing because of
intense competition for the consumer dollar.
By and large, the piano industry has been guilty of iner-
tia and many other mistakes. Too many individual manu-
facturers and dealers have tried to play a selfish game. It
took war to bring them together sufficiently for any preten-
sion to real cooperation, and then only because they were
trying to avoid disintegration.
When peace comes, and restrictions are removed, there
should be unified and whole-hearted efforts to build up the
industry as an entity. The great emphasis should be on the
creation of the desire to buy pianos, never mind what make.
If the demand for any product is intelligently and success-
fully promoted, all worthy manufacturers and dealers will
get their share, and the more effective the promotion the
larger will be the individual share.
Results cannot be expected if a few hundred dealers pay
a couple of dollars in dues to trade organizations each year,
grudgingly, and even wonder whether or not they should
continue their memberships. It will take more than a couple
of dollars each a year to do the things that should be done.
Manufacturers and dealers must recognize the common cause,
and devote time and thought to real cooperative work for the
development of the market for pianos in general.
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