28
PRESTO
December 13, 1924.
SHEET MUSIC AND RADIO
RADIO IN MUSIC STORES
How the Appeal of Radio Today Compares
with That of a Few Years Ago Is
Considered.
Within a very short time the opinion of the music
merchant about radio has changed, and his attitude
towards the new product as a part of his merchan-
dising- has also undergone a change. That radio is
peculiarly electrical and out of place in a music
store is a thought few music dealers hold or voice
today. Radio is of an electrical character, but it is
of a musical character as well.
When the music merchant got his idea about the
impossibility of radio in his stock, radio had only
just evolved from its wireless telegraph stage. Had
radio remained in its earlier uses it would still be
talked about only in a technical way by wireless
experts and would not be a thing of absorbing in-
terest to the majority of music dealers.
While electricity is the motive power of radio, it is
now considered principally as a device for the recep-
tion and production of music. Its ability to give the
music from afar is what advertises it in such a won-
derful way today. But its early handling by elec-
trical shops was perfectly natural from the charac-
teristics of the devices. In the beginning of the big
demand for radio the music dealer was deterred from
embarking in the radio business because of the tech-
nical expertness demanded in the business. Radio
waves, rheostats, condenser and other terms were
words in a language he did not understand. To start
a radio business then meant putting in a stock of
radio parts and employing a man to set up the instru-
ments and make adjustments and repairs.
The early disadvantages have disappeared. Now
the music merchant starting in radio just stocks the
complete radio sets. Few music merchants bother
about the radio parts. There are of course a few
desirable accessories that the dealer can afford to
handle, for instance, loud speakers and vacuum tubes.
In dealing in radio today there is little danger
from unstable sets. There is a big change from even
two years ago. Now the fundamentals are stand-
ardized and the chances of loss from sudden changes
in the products are small. Safe ways to embark in
the radio business may be learned from the reputable
radio manufacturers and it will not pay any music
dealer to associate himself with anybody but the most
reliable.
RADIO TRADE NEWS TOLD
Sale of Sets and Accessories Grow Bigger as Interest
in Broadcasting Grows.
Radio is rapidly becoming a world-wide habit.
Regulations regarding broadcasting laws have been
prepared by the radio committee of Esthonia and are
now to be passed upon by the minister of com-
munication.
The ban on amateur radio telegraph transmission in
Sweden has just been lifted by the government and
thirty licenses for transmitting stations have been
issued.
Radio sets and parts are now beginning to find a
market in Morocco. The French protectorate
authorities have, until within the last few months,
forbidden the use of radio apparatus of any kind by
anyone not connected with the various governmental
departments. This has now been lifted to the extent
of permitting the use of receiving sets.
Last week the director of Station WBS, in Spring-
field, Mass., was asked to broadcast during a certain
evening the well-known wedding marches used at the
processional and recessional. The wedding was ad-
journed, so he was spared the embarrassment of a
refusal.
All the stores of Sherman, Clay & Co., San Fran-
cisco, have radio departments, but, owing to the great
demand at this time, the stocks are low at all points.
The Klein-Heffelman-Zollars Co., Akron, O., has
moved the radio department from the basement to
the first floor of the store.
Free demonstration by radio experts are given to
customers by the Peyer Music Co., St. Paul, Minn.
H. B. Scott, Jr., Washington, Pa., has added radio
to his music stock in the Ruben Building.
The Polish ministry of industry and commerce
states that a new executive order pertaining to radio
regulations in that country is being prepared and
should be signed in the near future, says J. L. Coch-
rane, clerk to trade commission of Warsaw, in a re-
port to the department of commerce.
Radio sets and equipment will be given additional
space in the new store of the Ralph P. Dunlap Music
House, Ossining, N. Y.
JOHN COOLIDGE A COMPOSER
Son of President Has Ability as Violinist and Music
Is His Greatest Joy.
It is well known in Washington that young John
Coolidge, son of the President, is a violinist of ability
for his years, but the extent of his musical talents is
only becoming known outside his family. There have
been reports that he has advanced to the stage of
composer and that several melodies he has composed
have been published. While these reports could not
be substantiated at the White House, those who
know him comment on his musical ability, so that
the expectation of more published compositions is not
unwarranted.
John Coolidge has no idea, however, of making
music his profession. He enjoys it as an avocation.
In this case his music perhaps would play the part in
his life that it does in that of Gen. Dawes, Vice-
President-elect, who enjoys the companionship of
his violin and has composed melodies that have found
places in the repertories of leading concert artists.
Young Coolidge inherits a fondness for music from
his mother, who is an accomplished pianist. Besides
her ability as a pianist, Mrs. Coolidge takes a great
interest in all things musical and is a frequent attend-
ant of concerts of various kinds in Washington.
It has been said that the President's son may try
for one of the scholarships in music granted by Yale
University. He does not intend to leave Amherst,
but under the provisions a summer course may be
taken, it is said, with points made in manuscripts
submitted on musical theory and composition count-
ing toward a degree.
NEW RADIO VENTURES
Latest Incorporations in the Fastest Developing Line
of Industry in All History.
Gotham Artliff Radios; apparatus; $1,500,000;
Myron Kaufmann, H. B. Bintliff, A. M. Sariol, New
York. Corp. Trust Co. of America.
Radio Union, Manhattan; apparatus; $20,000; H.
and S. Gernsback, R. W. Demott. Attorney, J. M.
Herzberg, 342 Madison avenue, New York.
Hecht Radio Industries, Manhattan; 100 shares
common stock, no par value; C. and I. Marcus. At-
torney, A. Marcus, 198 Broadway, New York.
WILL HELP OKLAHOMA SALES.
Trade in radio sets in Oklahoma will be increased
following the completion of station KFRU at Bris-
tow, according to Oklahoma City dealers. Through
the remote control system being established by the
station, any city in Oklahoma can broadcast a pro-
gram through the use of the long distance telephone.
Over twenty-four cities have already made tentative
arrangements to put a program on the air when the
station is completed.
SHEET MUSIC IN MILWAUKEE.
As Christmas approaches the sheet music business
in the Milwaukee music stores continues to improve.
November was fairly good, but the first week in De-
cember showed a seasonable stimulation that was
very heartening to the dealers. The William A.
Kaun Music Co. is featuring sheet music in show
windows in an effective way that shows the com-
pany's appreciation of the importance of the
department.
NEW STORE BUSY.
J. Casper Sauer, who recently opened a store at
306 West Mulberry street, Baltimore, Md., reports a
very satisfactory business since opening day. Mr.
Sauer, who has had wide experience in the sheet
music business, formerly conducted a sheet music
department in the store of A. R. Eisenbrandt Sons,
Inc., in Baltimore.
NEW ZEALAND DEALERS LICENSED.
A bill providing for the licensing of radio dealers
and the application of a portion of the fees thus col-
lected to the assistance of broadcasting agencies has
been introduced in the New Zealand senate, Trade
Commissioner E. G. Pauly, Melbourne, advises the
department of commerce.
FEATURING MUSIC
Most Stimulating Appearance of Liveliness
Usually in Evidence in Stores Which
Make Proper Use of Printed Matter
Furnished by Publishers.
It will be noted in every city that the sheet music
departments doing the liveliest business are the ones
where the most use is made of the material supplied
by the publishers, which includes title pages, cut-outs,
hangers and other effective aids to publicity. Such
matter is a source of encouragement to the heads of
the sheet music departments, and, besides giving
character to the section, the gaily printed things are
highly suggestive to visitors to buy.
The dealers are more appreciative of the matter
when they bear in mind its expensive character. To
the conscientious department head a neglect to make
timely uses of the matter would seem criminal waste.
But its great purposes for stimulating sales are
obvious. Most of it is highly attractive, and all of it
enables the observers to visualize the titles of songs
that have already been impressed upon their minds
by other means.
Use Is General.
It is evident that the greater number of sheet music
dealers utilize the publishers' matter in the effective
ways for which it is designed. The show windows
given over exclusively to one title and the display
further embellished with the attractive hangers, strips
and posters, most effectively feature the numbers and
in every case results in big sales of the number
shown.
The added interest and co-operation of the dealers
lend further encouragement to publishers' appropria-
tions in such publicity matter and undoubtedly in
1925 there will be an increase, not only in its variety,
but in its quantity.
A good scheme found advantageous by live dealers
is that of holding special week or two-week drives
on the songs of individual composers. Sometimes the
drives are made to include the publications of one
publisher and occasionally the effort is made for a
particular number. In such efforts the advertising
window displays and store demonstrations are all
parts of the joint effort.
The scheme increases the intensity of a popular
craze for a certain song, but it is also effective in
creating a demand for meritorious compositions of
composers who have never been properly exploited.
To Exploit Standard Music.
An excellent possibility in the scheme is that of
giving deserved featuring to good standard songs
with the appeal of good music and graceful verses
which never grow stale. An instance of what a
spirited demonstration can do for a number occurred
in a Chicago chain store last week.
The store had engaged the services of a genius at
the piano keyboard to demonstrate the easy-selling
populars. But his equally great ability to sing well
was not considered in the negotiations. His job was
to accompany the jazz-voiced soprano when she sang
the pops in the quiet intervals between sales. His
impromptu accompaniments were so good that the
stock of populars were cleaned out by noon on the
second day.
A Riot of Selling.
Then the temperamental pianist discovered a dusty
pile of copies of a ballad that had failed to sell be-
cause it was too good. Or rather its merits of words
and music were never shown to the chain store
patrons because the yowling thumpers usually em-
ployed hadn't the ability to do so. There were
something over two thousand copies, and after brush-
ing off the dust of a few years he did his stuff.
Two hours later, when the fireman protested at the
jam on the floor, the last copy of the ballad had been
sold.
MARCH COMPOSER DIES.
Edward T. Paull, head of the Edward T. Paull
Publishing Co., New York, and famous as a com-
poser of marches, died in his home in Brooklyn last
week. Mr. Paull's first association with the music in-
dustry was as a piano dealer in Richmond, Va., in a
business established about thirty years ago. When
he moved to New York his work became devoted to
composing. A delegation of the Music Publishers'
Association of the United States, headed by George
Fischer, president, attended the funeral. Mr. Paull
had been secretary of that body for several years.
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