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han, Williams Music Co., Columbus,
Ohio; Laurin A. Mueller, Redewill
Music Co., Phoenix, Ariz.; Clay Sher-
man, Sherman Clay & Co., San Fran-
cisco, Calif.
The guest speaker at the annual meet-
ing was John W. McPherrin, Publisher
of the American Magazine and Vice-
president of the Crowell-Collier Pub-
lishing Co., who talked on "It's no Sin
. . . (to make a profit)". Incidentally,
in the course of his remarks, he dwelt
considerably on the evils of discount
houses and how they are a tremendous
detriment to legitimate business.
The Importance Of Brand Names
"There would be no discount houses
or phoney auctions," said Mr. McPher-
rin, "if national advertising had not
created public confidence in famous
brand names. No discount house could
operate if there were no famous labels
on the merchandise they carried. They
would create little excitement if they
offered 50% discount on an unknown
watch or a televison set or a refrig-
erator.
A Temptation To Manufacturers
"Today, because of a bargain hungry
public, it is possible for a discount
house to achieve a larger volume by
offering nothing but discounts. The
large volume that these few thousand
discount houses is getting is, of course,
tempting to the manufacturers. Even
so, many manufacturers have found it
wise not to sell the discount houses and
even make it very difficult for them to
get their merchandise in some irregu-
lar manner."
Mr. McPherrin told the Music Mer-
chants that they face a major problem
because some of their customers are not
aware of the difference between pur-
chasing from a reputable retail store
and some irregular outlet that they do
not know as well.
Dealer Too May Be Tempted
"At times," he said, "you may be
tempted to go into the discount business
yourself and sell on a price basis alone.
But if you do, you can no longer afford
to give the service that you have been_
giving and which has built your reputa-
tion as a responsible merchant. There-
fore, I urge you not to discount your
reputation because that is exactly what
you will do if you start meeting the
prices of those irregular outlets that
offer no service whatsoever.
"Your strongest armor in the current
fight for sanity in the market place is
your well earned reputation for hon-
esty, integrity and reliability.
"I don't think that you or we have
done enough to emphasize the impor-
tance of integrity and reliability in
merchandising. If we allow the public
to forget these qualities of any business
transaction, they will be completely sub-
ject to price and nothing but price."
President Wells' Report
A copy of President Wells' annual
report was given to each member and
fully described the activities of the as-
sociation during the past year. He told
how the Education Division has given
aid in the form of groundwork in plan-
ning initial meetings in San Diego, Cal.,
Amarillo, Tex. and Long Beach, Cal.
and how there are several other cities
being considered at the present time. He
spoke of a piano and organ festival
manual which was presented later to
the members and also pointed out that
due to a number of inquiries which are
arriving at the N.A.M.M. office regard-
ing television, the division is featuring
as a part of the 1954 Convention busi-
ness session a special stimulated TV
demonstration.
In respect to specific services, he
pointed out that the Educational Divi-
sion had organied three local merchants
associations, helped three dealers create
new store-studios, helped organize three
dealer education divisions, conducted
three meetings for teachers with certain
accomplishments at the request of the
dealers, extolled the work of the educa-
tional division in industrial music told
how the division has extended 19 mem-
bers aid through the mail on a variety
of education promotion subjects, helped
three largo dealers with an educational
approach to their advertising problems,
helped one large dealer in making in-
dustrial music plans, investigating and
working on a complete musical festival
plan similar to the Chicagoland Musical
Festival and laid the groundwork for
several industrial music in different lo-
cations for the coming season.
He then explained what the associa-
tion has been doing in respect to sales
training, advertising service, direct-mail
reprints, bulletin services and special
promotion, and also what was being
done on trade practice, the uniform ac-
counting project, group purchasing,
group insurance and other interesting
items. Regarding the latter, he said that
although it was nearly one year old, it
continued to grow and show favorable
progress. At the close of the June en-
rollment period, there were 41 member
companies participating in the plan,
representing 412 employees and over
138 dependents.
He also pointed out that the Junior
Executives of the N.A.M.M. now have
85 members.
He told of the work that N.A.M.M.
did to help promote the idea of the re-
moval of the Excise Tax and also what
was done on the parcel post bill, freight
rates and of course explained the pro-
gram of the Convention and Trade Show
this year.
In closing he paid a tribute to the
music industry trade press as well as
the members of the staff of the associa-
tion, its officers and directors.
Earl Campbell Elected President
On Wednesday, July 14th. at 8 AM
the Board of Directors of the associa-
tion met and elected the following offi-
cers: President—Earl Campbell, Presi-
dent of the Campbell Music Co.. Wash-
ington, D. C.
Mr. Campbell, who heads the Camp-
bell Music Co. was previously vice-pres-
ident of the association. He stated that
a major objective of the NAMM during
his term of office would be removal of
the federal excise tax on musical instru-
ments, a holdover from World War II
days.
"It is obviously unfair to continue
this 10% tax on items that are primar-
ily for the education of children, and
are in no sense luxuries," Campbell de-
clared.
"Eighty-two percent of sales of mus-
ical instruments are to homes and
schools for educational purposes, to
teach youngsters the enjoyment of music
—one of life's essentials." he added.
Mr. Campbell said music merchants
had received no tax relief, whereas the
excise tax on appliances was cut from
10% to 5%, and such items as jewelry
and leather goods have had their tax
cut in half. He stated the NAMM would
work wholeheartedly for a fair adjust-
ment.
Mr. Campbell bought the W. W. Kim-
hall Co. Washington store in 1941 after
earlier experience as manager of Ham-
mond organ studios in New York and
in wholesaling of radios and phono-
graphs.
Other officers elected were: Vice pres-
ident: Paul E. Murphy, treasurer, M.
Steinert and Sons Co.. Inc., Boston,
Mass.; Secretary: H. T. Bennett, presi-
dent. The H. T. Bennett Music Co.,
Santa Barbara, Calif.; Treasurer. Ben
F. Duvall. vice president and general
manager. W. W. Kimball Co.. Chicago;
American Music Conference director:
Frank 0. Wilking, president. Wilking
Music Co., Indianapolis, Ind.
The Thursday Clinic
A "third dimension" was added to
piano teaching today as a Houston pro-
fessor gave piano lessons over "televi-
sion."
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW, AUGUST, 1954