October 9, 1920.
PRESTO
27
A G R E A T "SONG H I T . "
A song writing genius in Kansas has composed
something he calls "Flying High with Sweetheart
Will." If that doesn't find fame, there's little left
worth trying! The first lines go this wise:
"Flying high with Sweetheart Will,
Near the sky so blue and still,
All the world recedes below,
And the further up we go
All the more we feed the thrill
And our love grows deeper still."
Inasmuch as there is no prohibition against that
sort of thing, no doubt some "Song Wanted" con-
cern will get it and the ten-cent counters grab it.
SHEET MUSIC PRICES
public good, as well as help to sustain good
business methods in the sheet music business.
We have carried an advertisement of the
McKinley Music Co., and this paper has ad-
vised piano dealers to put in a sheet music
counter and sell the McKinley publications.
A good house, that understands the needs of
the popular trade, and does business along
correct and clean lines, is a good thing in the
sheet music business. The McKinley Music
Co. is that kind of a house. And there are
others. The time is here when the sheet mu-
sic business can be put back, at least part
way, to its oldt~ime respectability. Let's do it.
Prices of the essentials are coming down.
In time the things of semi-luxury will follow
suit. The things of real luxury may continue
to soar until doomsday without doing any
special harm to people of good sense.
Sheet music is an essential in a very large
sense. People who have musical susceptibili-
ties must have sheet music. They must play
and sing. The player music rolls are fine in
their place, but there will always be people
who like to do the playing themselves. And
other people will want to see and hear their
children and friends also play and sing.
Therefore sheet music will continue to be an
A POPULAR WALTZ.
essential to human happiness, even after the
The "Arizona Moonlight Waltz," recently put
player-piano shall have given place to some- forth by T. Dunston Collins, of Phoenix, Arizona,
meeting with success. It is a playable composi-
thing else. In other words, the "srtaight" is
tion with the necessary swing to win popularity.
piano will be with us, in some degree of pop- The melody is catching and the arrangement in oc-
ularity, after every other modern device for taves just meets the fancy of players of moderate
ability. There is a picture of Roosevelt Lake on
making music easy shall have passed away.
the title page.
The condition referred to may be a very
THINKS HE IS CAUGHT.
long time in the future. . Probably no one now
A
poetaster
named Sam Rud Cook, of Rockport,
pumping the pedals of the player-piano will
Ind., writes that he has been "stung" for $40 by
be here when that instrument finds its way to some "Song Wanted" schemer in Chicago. Mr.
the scrap-heap, and the manual "straight" Cook proposes to pay well if his money can be re-
piano, perhaps in some new form, makes its covered. We don't see how it can be done. At-
tempts to mount Pegasus is sometimes as costly and
apperaance. But, no matter what takes place, dangerous as trying to find the moon in a flying
the sheet of music will be here, and coming machine.
from the presses as fast as a Sunday news-
A GOOD SONG.
paper supplement. Therefore the price of
Dream," words from Shelley, music by H.
sheet music will always be an item of music V. "Day
Jervis-Read, is a delightful song issue by a Lon-
trade importance.
don publisher. Not many of Shelley's poems have
The prices of sheet music have been pros- been set to music. The quaintly sweet words pro-
vide the composer with material that should ever in-
tituted. The dignity of the sheet music in- spire harmony, and the musical setting is distinctive
dustry has had the "stuffing" kicked out of it, and clever.
and the profits of the business have so far
VENETIAN DREAMS.
suffered that the retail music merchants look
A McKinley Music Co. publication that has the
sideways when, a publisher's salesman enters "go" in it, and is winning success, is "Venetian
the front door. Nevertheless there are still Dreams." It's one of the Root Standard Editions,
music publishers possessed of reason enough and it is handsomely gotten up. The title has a
of the famed canal, and both words and
to see that sheet music prices must be made picture
music are winsome and worth while. Put it in
better. They know that the "something for stock.
nothing" system will set a certain class of
BEST NAME OF ALL.
people crazy, and keep them awake nights in
H. S. Dickey's Music Store, Newton, Kansas, has
order that they may get down town early in published a song entitled, "What I Like To Be
the morning to grab something that's offered Called." It's a simple melody and easily arranged.
"free." But they know, too, that people of The words are by Mr. Dickey himself, and they are
the catchy kind. "It's just the one word Sweet-
that kind are worthless front the business of
heart, for that's the best name of all."
point of view, and that really worth-while
ADVERTISE SHEET MUSIC.
people do not want "something for nothing"
Not one dealer in a thousand ever says anything,
and are affronted when they are asked to ac-
in his local advertising, about his sheet music de-
cept it.
partment. Advertise your sheet music and it will
This week it is announced that Chas. A. help to swell your piano sales. The sheet music
Harris, the composer-publisher, has set an ad- counter should be a magnet to draw business, and
vanced price, and a fixed minimum, upon his not a place to pile up^ dead stock.
sheet music. That's a good beginning, for Mr.
ARTISTIC EDITIONS.
Harris has strength and his prints are selling
C. C. Church & Company, of Hartford, Conn.,
well. He can sustain his prices easily. Presto are turning out some fine editions of good music.
That's the right idea. Sloppy prints of poor stuff
has been printing small advertisements of are
on the decline. Get out fine editions of fine music
small publishers who know that they want a and there will be no lack of demand.
better class of trade than the ten-cent counter.
Some of those publishers have written that
the results of their investment were satisfac-
Send for a copy of "Dixie Life Rag." Full of pep.
tory. This paper doesn't care for the adver-
You'll like it. Price one dime.
tising of the cut rate, top story, loud-crying
FRANK E. BROWN
Hit Alley slop-song publishers. We prefer to
Dept. F.
37 Burton Street, WALTON, NEW YORK
prornQte something that will last and do some
ATTENTION MUSICIANS!
CHAS. K. HARRIS PRICES.
Chas. K. Harris, publisher, Broadway and Forty-
seventh street, New York, calls the attention of the
trade to an increase in the prices of sheet music
which has become effective October 1. The an-
nouncment states that the Chas. K. Harris Standard
Song Edition will be twenty-one cents a copy in
the future and the Standard Operatic Edition
twenty-three cents per copy.
MUSIC THE SEDATIVE.
Music is a great antidote for unrest, for the most
primitive and ignorant are susceptible to music. It's
a sedative and a stabilizer and promotes beautiful
thoughts. No normal person could do wrong or
think wrong with the sound of music in his ears.—
Charles M. Schwab.
LEE ROBERTS SUCCESS.
It is worth while that the most successful high-
class song writer of today is a member of the trade.
Lee Roberts, of the Q R S player roll, has written
more good songs which have become, the rage than
almost any other. His "Smiles" is having a revival
in demand.
FORCE IN AMERICANIZATION.
The Bethelehem Steel Corporation has a band of
130 pieces, an orchestral society and a Bach choir,
and Charles M. Schwab, the corporation's president,
considers music one of the many and diversified
constructive forces which can be enlisted in further-
ing Americanization.
The Clark Music House, Syracuse, N. Y., has
declared a Z l /i per cent dividend upon its preferred
stock.
If you are not handling the
McKINLEY EDITION OF
10c MUSIC
Comprising Standard,
Classic and Teaching Music
you are losing an opportunity to make money
Dealers Realize
150% PROFIT
On Sales of McKinley Music
It is the most popular library of 10c music
on the market. Selections contained in this
Edition are used by the most prominent
teachers in the country — Students, Accom-
plished Musicians, and the Music Loving
Public in general.
It is conveniently handled; arranged in
compact form, and is labor saving in serving
the customers.
The dealer is supplied with catalogs bear-
ing the business imprint which serves t«
bring more customers to the store than any
other advertising medium that could be em-
ployed.
WRITE US FOR SAMPLES AND PAR-
TICULARS TODAY
Our Jobbing Department is the largest and
most complete in the country. We can sup-
ply you with every want in the sheet music
line. We fill all orders the day they are
received.
McKinley Music Company
The Largest Sheet Music House
in the World
CHICAGO
1501-13 E. 55th St.
NEW YORK
145 W. 45th St.
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