Music Trade Review

Issue: 1951 Vol. 110 N. 9

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
RAY S. ERLANDSON
President
Executive Commitee Meets
in Chicago
The NAMM Executive Committee
met at Chicago's Palmer House, Sep-
tember 14 and 15, to approve and
initiate various Association activities,
including appointment of 1951-1952
Committee Chairmen. All committee
members will attend including, Board
Chairman, Hugh W. Randall, Milwau-
kee; President Ray S. Erlandson, San
Antonio; Vice President Harry E. Calla-
way, San Diego; Earl Campbell, Wash-
ington, D. C. and Arthur E. Godfrey,
Sioux Falls, S. D.
December House & Garden to
Feature Music
Dealers will be delighted over the
timeliness of the December issue of
"House & Garden" magazine which will
greatly stimulate sales of musical prod-
ucts if properly used. This issue will
reach subscribers and newsstands the
latter part of November, just in time to
help influence the selection of Christmas
gifts. Feature articles in the issue will
cover band and orchestra instruments,
organs, pianos, radio, television, tape
and wire recorders, and phonographs.
H & G will supply dealers with merchan-
dising kits for window and store promo-
tion. Dealers will also have the oppor-
tunity of ordering bulk copies of De-
cember H & G at the wholesale price.
Newspaper Promotion Kit
The Fall season is the music business'
big season when dealers should open up
all avenues of promotion. NAMM is
readying a "Back-To-School and Fall
Promotion Kit", containing news stories
and pictures acceptable to local news-
papers. This kit will contain stories fea-
turing music and can be tied in with
local music store advertisements. The
stories will promote interest in music and
will be welcomed by Editors. Members
can secure a set of this newspaper pro-
motional material by sending a postcard
request to NAMM. You will receive an
announcement of its availability within
a short time.
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW, SEPTEMBER, 1951
W. R. CARD
Executive Secretary
Tax Collections Reflect Big Sales
Volume
Heavy sales of musical instruments,
radio, television, phonographs, and rec-
ords is reflected in the annual excise tax
collections released by the Bureau of In-
ternal Revenue for the fiscal year ended
June 30, 1951. Collections on musical
instruments tops by $183,555.73, the
previous high of $10,572,682.91 in 1948.
Radios, TV and phonographs also hit
new highs. Comparative figures for 1950
and 1951 are as follows:
ceived special price orders under Section
43 of CPR 7: Steinway & Sons, Allen B.
DuMont Labs. Inc., Magnavox Corn-
p a n y , Packard-Bell Co., Phiico Corp.,
Scott Radio Labs. Tnc, Zenith Radio
Corp.
"Collecting Records" in
American Magazine
John Kobler, in the September issue of
"American Magazine" says, "Disco-
philia is a fascinating hobby the whole
family can enjoy." "Collecting Records
Is Fun!" is an excellent article and
Amount of
1950
1951
Increase
Musical Instruments
$ 8,864,897.36 $ 10,756,238.64 $ 1,891,341.28
Radio, TV, Phonographs
42,084,781.30
128,187,344.37
86,102,563.07
Phonograph Records
5,768,520.92
7,007,075.97
1,238,555.05
Members Urged to Serve
shows how the entire family can become
on Committees
victims of the record bug. The author
President Erlandson has requested the
makes recommendations for starting a
membership to serve on one or more of
collection. The "American Magazine"
NAMM's five standing committees.
article is ideal around which to build a
Those committees are: Advertising,
window and store display. Feature
Legislative, Membership, Sales Training
copies, together with specimens of al-
and Trade Practice. This is an open in-
bums and records suggested as collec-
vitation to all members to give NAMM
tion starters. The "American" is on
the benefit of their ideas. Members are
your newsstands now. The article is on
urged to select at least one of these com-
Page 31. Its promotion is highly recom-
mittees in which he may have an inter-
mended.
est and return his Committee Assign-
OPS Opens Enforcement Drive
ment sheet to NAMM headquarters.
Failure of many retailers in all fields,
Regulation-W Changes
All members have been notified of the
relaxation of Regulation-W, under the
Defense Production Act of 1951. Down
payment on Group B items (Radio, Tele-
vision, Electrical Appliances, etc.) is
now 15% and maximum loan value is
85%. Maximum maturity becomes 18
months. Required down payments may
be obtained (from the customer) in the
form of cash, trade-in or both. On Un-
classified Installment Loans, the max-
imum maturity has been raised to 18
months Remember: Pianos, organs and
musical instruments are not listed items
•, n
i • tvT
under Kegulation-W.
D
Firms Granted OPS Ceiling Prices
The following manufacturers of musi-
cal instruments and products have re-
t 0 file
P™^ cha ? 8
un der C P R 7 h
,
f
prompted OPS to launch a nation-wide
compliance survey. Indications at OPS
a r e t h a t t h e surve
y 1S s e r l o u s a n d n o t
window dressing to indicate activity in
the
enforcement field. Apart from the
fact that actions a ainst
S
individual re-
tailers wiU h a r m t h e
industry's relations
Wlth
consumers and government, wide-
s read lack o f
P
compliance may prompt
0 P S t o im ose m o r e
P
restrictive regula-
t l o n s o n a11
retailing,
New NAMM Constitution and
^
^
^
y
" th * W NAMM
Bulletin
r c * i-
..
f l L r
* or September was a copy ot the Lonsti-
. .
JT> T
J J ^ *I_
tution and By-Laws, as amended at the
Annual Meeting of members. A new
style membership application adopted
by NAMM was also attached.
with
17
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
Trade Practice
(Continued from Page 16)
10. Deception in respect of Keyboard
or Number of Keys.
11. Defamation of Competitors or Dis-
paragement of their Products.
12. Inducing Breach of Contract.
13. "Push Money," "Gratuities," etc.
14. Misuse of Word "Free," etc.
15. Selling below cost.
16. Discrimination.
The general authority given the Fed-
eral Trade Commission under Congres-
sional act covers all frauds upon the
general public whether or not they are
included in the above rules. Likewise,
when cease and desist orders are is-
sued, the defendant has a right of ap-
peal to the Federal Courts.
Retail Price Agreements Taboo
After the election of Ray Erlandson
as President of the N.A.M.M. in 1950, a
poll was taken of the various dealer
members of the Association asking
which committee they would choose to
work with as members. It is interesting
to note that the highest number of in-
dividuals, 31, indicated their desire to
be members of the Trade Practice Com-
mittee.
During the year contacts were made
with the members of this Committee
asking for ideas and views as to the
purpose of the Committee and objec-
tives it might have for the betterment
of the retail music business. It was very
evident from the reports of the mem-
bers of the Committee, together with
the complaints made to the Committee
Chairman, that "Trade Practice Com-
mittee" usually (and erroneously) meant
something with respect to the correction
of retail price problems.
One of the most popular subjects in
trade relationship, the business of price
cutting, has been very evidently not
included with the above Topics of Trade
Practice Rules. It must be definitely
understood that the Federal Govern-
ment, through the Federal Trade Com-
mission, is determined to assure that the
public be privileged to buy at the low-
est price that anyone cares to quote. Any
evasion of this policy through groups
or associations is not only improper but
will make the group or association sub-
ject to prosecution.
We understand that the Attorney Gen-
eral has just recently listed several plans
which would result in prosecution if
carried out. Among these are:
Agreements among competing retailers
to maintain specified minimum prices.
Agreements to coerce and induce whole-
salers and manufacturers through
threat of boycott or other reprisals,
to refrain from selling to price-cut-
ting retailers.
Agreements to coerce or induce manu-
facturers or wholesalers to enter into
fair trade contracts.
Agreements to coerce or force retailers
to sign such contracts.
Agreements on prices or margins which
should be set forth in fair trade con-
tracts and on methods to require pro-
ducers or wholesalers to specify cer-
tain prices or margins in such con-
tracts.
their right to sell or not to sell to cer-
tain retailers with no right on the part
of retailers to block manufacturers from
selling to so-called unethical retailers.
No one attending the meeting could
help but be impressed with the fact that
notwithstanding all of the changes for
the good during the last 35 years, there
is still much room for the improvement
of our industry.
It was well established during the
meeting that our real need is to inter-
est Association members and to enroll
more of the country's Music dealers in
the Association with the purpose not
only of enlisting their help in promoting
better business methods but of support-
ing the Association's splendid public
relations activities.
It was definitely agreed by all who
attended the meeting of the N.A.M.M.
Trade Practice Committee that some-
thing should be done; that certainly
something could be done to eliminate
the more or less unethical trade prac-
tices of our industry.
Trade Practices Objective
It is possibly natural that the aver-
Trade Practices Discussed
At the Convention this year, the Trade
Practice Committee of the N.A.M.M.
met for the first time to discuss various
retail problems. Again it was made clear
that no action could be taken which in
any manner had to do with the selling
price of merchandise but that other
problems were open for discussion and
suggested remedies. •
An interesting and spirited meeting
was held by committee members repre-
sentative of most all sections of the
country. For some 3 hours all manner
of problems were discussed, such as un-
wholesome advertising, including fake
come-ons in the form of misrepresenta-
tion of merchandise and terms of sale,
and unorthodox selling by wholesalers
and manufacturers who quote wholesale
prices to unqualified individuals and
organizations.
A particularly bitter discussion arose
on the subject of manufacturers and
USED PIANOS —
Bremen Piano Corporation
Manufacturers
spinets qramfi
BEACH
GRANDS (as is) from $150 up
STUDIOS (as is) from $225 up
UPRIGHTS (as is) from $25 up
A choice selection always available
CARILLONETTE CHIMES
TOWER BELL REPRODUCER
and the
WRITE — WIRE —
OR — PHONE — CHELSEA 2-4350
MINI-CHIMES
BRODWIN PIANO CO., Inc.
Est. 1914 — HARRY BRODWIN, Pres.
246 WEST 23rd STREET
Model 37X . . . a popular Bremen
model authentically patterned in
transitional styling, recognized for its
outstanding value in tonal perfection and
superb musical performance.
NEW YORK, N. Y.
"Nothing But a Bell Rings Like a Bell"
SEND FOR CATALOGS
BEACH INSTRUMENT CORP.
165 Oraton St.
Newark 4, N. J.
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW. SEPTEMBER, 1951

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