Classic Mode

Presto

Issue: 1927 2124

Page 5 Text:

April 16, 1927.
COMMISSION PLAN
CALLED A CURSE
Article in Recent Issue of Presto-Times
Prompts Another Piano Salesman of Expe-
rience to Respond with Views on
an Important Subject.
FAVORS SALARY SYSTEM
Reformation in Methods that Is Beginning Will Bring
Piano Business Back to Better Success
Than Ever Before.
By ELMON ARMSTRONG.
The lengthy article on the front page of Presto-
Times of March 26, by Mr. E. C. Landon, is more
or less a series of complaints that arise as a result
of the commission plan of employing salesmen.
Fundamentally the commission plan is based on the
financial cost of marketing goods, or should be, and
from that angle it is all right. But it is fraught
PRESTO-TIMES
of the prospects that come to the house in a general
way.
Or Is It a Curse?
One of the curses of the piano business today is
the commission plan, in common parlance the "starva-
tion contracts" that are offered to salesmen. Every
salesman needs to feel the assurance that at the end
of the week, or month, there is a fixed sum of money
that is going to be paid him as a result of his efforts.
It gives the salesman courage. It carries him over
the rough places. It puts his mind at rest. It fits
him psychologically for achieving desirable ends, and
the net results of business show that the salesman
who is supported and co-operated with properly, as a
general rule is much more successful.
One large house told me that they had tried all
the plans and that this one had shown a gain in
their business of 40 per cent, a better class of sales,
more loyalty among their men, less conflict, and had
put every man on his "metal" with a feeling in his
heart that merit on his part would assure him a just
compensation for the service that he rendered, and
the efforts that he gave.
Piano Salesmen Needed
There never was a time in the history of the piano
business when it was in such great need of real sales-
men as now, and there never was a time in the
history of business when so little effort is being made
by the piano merchants and the piano manufacturers
to cooperate with, sustain and enlist the best efforts
of salesmen. More piano institutions today are suf-
fering, through the weakness of sales managers who
are suffering with "manageritis" than there ever were
in the history of the business. Retail salesmen for
years have been driven from the ranks of service in
the sale of pianos, through the commission methods
that are generally employed.
The many evils that result from it are too numer-
ous to mention. The plan itself is so weak that good
salesmen are constantly going from the piano selling
field to other fields that are more profitable and more
inviting. In short, other lines of employment are
"putting it over" the piano merchants while they sit
in their stores and dream away their opportunity. I
have visited the stores of many piano merchants in
years gone by. I have had occasion to observe the
trend of events. I have weighed all sides of the issues
that are involved. I have heard the philosophies
and theories of every grade of piano merchant. I
have heard the stories and complaints of every grade
of piano salesmen.
Result of Observation.
1 have conferred with a number of wholesale trav-
elers who have had the same experiences in these
matters, and have observed the same conditions that
I am mentioning and, without a single exception, the
verdict has been that the present system of commis-
sions, which is employed by many houses, is not only
weak but very wicked. It is unfruitful and it is
doing more to throttle the success of pianodom than
everything else.
There is an institution in the central part of the
United States that has opposed this evil constantly.
It has advertised against it steadily. That institu-
ELMOX ARMSTRONG.
tion is rated, under its reports to the commercial
with a great deal of trouble. It opens the door for agencies, more than six million dollars. It has made
a great deal of conflict and misunderstanding. The the most phenomenal growth in the last three decades
salesman is always at a disadvantage because the of any music institution in the world. This state-
final arbiter has a selfish interest to serve and, there- ment can be verified by facts and figures.
This ought to be evidence to many of the piano
fore, is very often unfair to the salesman.
Rut, this same selfish interest will often cause the merchants that are still hanging on to the old com-
pendulum to swing the other way. The piano mer- mission plan, that it isn't the best way to proceed.
chant is inclined to "hang on" to the salesman on a There is a reformation beginning in the piano field.
commission basis that is profitable. There is no ques- Slowly but surely many of the piano merchants are
tion but what there is occasionally a piano dealer dropping this old troublesome commission evil. They
who is neither liberal nor fair as an employer. But are having to do it in self defense. The piano busi-
•that is an individual matter. There are also sales- ness is "sick" and it has been in ill health for quite
men that are unfair, overly contentious and decep- a while. It is needing the treatment of common sense,
and the doctor is on the way. Let us hope that the
tive and tricky, just as some piano merchants are.
patient will be well and hardy before so very long.
Is Commission Plan Good?
The fundamental question and the one that should
45 MILESTONES OF PROGRESS.
be decided, in the interest of the general trade, is
Speaking
of Dallas, Texas, the representatives of
whether the commission plan of employing salesmen
is the best plan. The argument may be made that the Meissner piano there—the Will A. Watkin Com-
the commission plan is fair because the salesman pany—have been celebrating their 45th birthday.
gets returns for the service rendered, which is the They have sent out a mighty interesting circular,
most equitable and just manner of compensation. "The Watkin Way of Selling Pianos-" Nationally
But the practical results have not been as satisfac- advertised lines; standard prices, plainly marked; no
tory as other plans. This conclusion has been inflation to permit fictitious trade-in allowances—
reached by some of the best organized and most suc- these are the sound policies that have spelled success
for the Watkin organization.
cessful music institutions of the country.
There are three better ways of employing sales-
A CHICAGO VISITOR.
men than a straight commission basis. The best
plan is found to be the one of paying the salesman
Secretary and Sales Manager Shailer, of Philip W.
a nominal salary each week, and a percentage on the Oetting & Son, Inc.. New York, is in Chicago this
sales made, giving the salesman equal rights with the week, called here by the serious illness of his father.
sales manager and every employee in the institution, Mr. Shailer, Sr., was for many years connected with
with no discrimination of any character against any Comstock, Cheney & Co., at Loyroton, Conn., as
salesman, and a due and just regard for any prospect superintendent of one of the divisions of that great
secured by that salesman, and an equal distribution industry.
FRANCONIA'S QUESTS
ENTERTAINED EN ROUTE
Bergstrom Music Company of Honolulu Ar-
range Special Ampico Concert with
Assisting Artists on Board Ship.
During the stay in Honolulu of the Cunard liner
"Franconia," now on her celebrated World Tour un-
der the direction of Thos. Cook & Son, the ship's
company enjoyed an evening of music arranged by
the Bergstrom Music Company of that city. The
program offered, in addition to several numbers pre-
senting the latest recordings of Ampico artists, the
singing of J. Frederick Stone, the noted Irish tenor,
THE AMPTCO ON BOARD THE "FRANCONIA" NOW
ON u o r x n T H E W O R L D TOI'R.
and the delightful playing of Lucile Randle Stone,
pianist. The Ampico, which was installed in New
York on the "Franconia" for the World Tour, pro-
vided the accompaniments for Mr. Stone, as well
as concert numbers by the principal Ampico artists.
The ship's salon was handsomely decorated for the
occasion, which was notable for the artistic manner
in which it was carried out.
WALTHAM PLAYER PLEASES
PENNSYLVANIA AUDIENCE
Concert Arranged by Windsor Music Co., Tarentum,
Demonstrates Tonal Merits of Instrument.
A large and highly appreciative audience was ex-
ceedingly pleased with a splendid program in .the
Y. M. C. A. auditorium, Tarentum, Pa., featuring
Rego Casey, concert violinist, and Mrs. R. H.
Knowles, of Vaudergrift, a pleasing soprano. The
accompaniment was by the Waltham player-piano,
made by the Waltham Piano Company, Inc., and
the expression interpreted by the operator through
this mechanical instrument astounded the crowd at-
tending.
The concert was arranged by the Windsor Music
Company of that city, as a demonstrative presenta-
tion of the new Waltham piano. This piano was
among the very first makes handled by this pioneer
music house there.
Mr. Casey's program included classical numbers,
with one exception. The audience received the whole
program with keen delight. He has appeared in the
concert stage for a number of years. Mrs. Knowles'
vocal numbers were also classical. She is quite well
known throughout the valley as a soloist. She studied
at New England Conservatory, Boston.
AMPICO AT BON AIR-VANDERBILT.
The fine orchestra of the Bon Air-Vanderbilt Hotel,
at Augusta, was accompanied by the Ampico on Sun-
day evening in a delightful program in which the
recording of several Ampico artists was heard, also
two groups of songs the assisting artist being Miss
Maud Barragan. soprano. For one group the accom-
paniments were supplied by the Ampico. The spec-
tacle of superb accompaniments emanating from a
piano at which no living artist was seated again ex-
cited the amazement and enthusiasm of the large
audience who enjoyed this artistic offering of the
hotel management. Miss Barragan also appeared re-
cently at a similar concert at the Forrest Hills Ricker
Hotel arranged under the auspices of the hotel man-
agement and the J. B. White Co.
DEATH OF EMMA BLUMENBERG.
Miss Emma Blumenberg, sister of the late Marc
A. Blumenberg, long-time editor and proprietor of
the Musical Courier Extra, died April 6 at her resi-
dence, 215 West 92d street, New York, after a long
illness. Miss Blumenberg was a daughter of the late
Julius and Fanny Blumenberg of Baltimore and sis-
ter of the late Mark A., Louis and Ida Blumenberg
and Mrs. Joseph (Caroline) Varga.
Enhanced content © 2008-2009 and presented by MBSI - The Musical Box Society International (www.mbsi.org) and the International Arcade Museum (www.arcade-museum.com).
All Rights Reserved. Digitized from the archives of the MBSI with support from NAMM - The International Music Products Association (www.namm.org).
Additional enhancement, optimization, and distribution by the International Arcade Museum. An extensive collection of Presto can be found online at http://www.arcade-museum.com/library/

Page 6 Text:

PRESTO-TIMES
tain calls for men suitable to conduct the affili-
ated stores, and in a single locality adjacent to
a great city there are already something like
The American Music Trade Weekly
twenty of the chain stores already in oper-
ation.
Published Every Saturday at 417 South Dearborn
Street, Chicago, Illinois.
Jt is not easy to estimate the influence oi
C. A. DANIELL and FRANK D. ABBOTT - - Editor*
so broad an enterprise, or its effect upon the
retail trade in general. A few years ago such
Telephones, Local and Long Distance, Harrison 234
Private Phones to all Departments. Cable Address (Com-
a condition would not have been considered
mercial Cable Co.'s Code), "PRESTO," Chicago.
possible. But the principal thought in con-
Entered ag Second-cjass matter Jan. 29, 1896, at the
Post Office, Chicago, Illinois, under Act oi March 3, 1879. nection with it is not alone the large ambition
Subscription, $2 a year; 6 months, $1; Foreign, $4.
and astute management of the Wurlitzer
PayabSa In advance. No extra charge In United States
possessions. Cuba and Mexico. Rates for advertising on
house. It is that the public has at last ar-
application.
rived at the point where music is so essential
Items of news and other matter are solicited and if
of general interest to the music trade will be paid for a part of every day life that such a system
at space rates. Usually piano merchants or salesmen can be made practically profitable. It is a
in the smaller cities are the best occasional corre-
plan suggestive of the Atlantic & Pacific or
spondents, and their assistance is invited.
even the Piggly Wiggly plan of distribution
Payment is not accepted for matter printed in the of the essentials adapted to luxury and edu-
editorial or news columns of Presto-Times.
Where half-tones are made the actual cost of pro- cational phases of business. And it will be
duction will be charged if of commercial character, watched with interest by thinking members
or other than strictly news interest.
of the music industrv and trade.
When electrotypes are sent for publication it is
requested that their subjects and senders be carefully
indicated.
Forms close at noon every Thursday. News mat-
ter should be in not later than eleven o'clock on the
same day. Advertising copy should be in hand before
Tuesday, five p. m., to insure preferred position. Full
page dfsplay copy should be in hand by Monday noon
preceding publication day. Want advs. for current
week, to insure classification, must not be later than
Wednesday noon.
iTHE BLUMENBERG FAMILY
Not so many years ago it would have been
impossible to mention the name of Blumen-
berg in the presence of a piano man without
awakening attention. For the name is one
that filled quite a large place in the musical
life, both artistic and commercial. It was
Address all communicatiuns for the editorial or business
departments to PRESTO PUBLISHING CO., 417 South
especially a prominent name in piano factory
Dearborn Street, Chicago, III.
offices and warerooms, because it was that of
a
brilliant and very shrewd music trade editor
SATURDAY, APRIL 16, 1927.
and critic. It flew at the mast-head of both
The last form of Presto-Times goes to press trade and critical journals and it was com-
at 11 a. m. Thursday. Any news transpiring monly understood that it was a name that
after that hour cannot be expected in the cur- sometimes caused a shiver to run down the
rent issue. Nothing received at the office that spinal columns of both "artists" and manu-
is not strictly news of importance can have
attention after 9 a. m. on Thursday. If they facturers.
concern the interests of manufacturers or
But all that passed away when Editor Blu-
dealers such items will appear the week follow- menberg died, and since then death has also
ing. Copy for advertising designed for the
current issue must reach the office not later taken nearly all, if not quite all, of his people
who were directly concerned with music. It-
than Wednesday noon of each week.
presents again the familiar record of the un-
certainty of life and in it is contained a family
history of very unusual kind.
For in the Blumenberg family there were,
in addition to Marc, the editor and crusader,
a skilled violoncellist who had appeared in
many concert halls and—which should prob-
Beginning
ably have been said first—included a remark-
ably fine singer whose art had often delighted
FIRST SUNDAY IN MAY
large audiences. The mother, too, was an un-
usual character—good musician and highly in-
tellectual woman. The father had been, we
CHAIN MUSIC STORES
understand, a rabbi of sincere mind and much
Several months back a promotion concern eloquence.
in New York wrote Presto-Times on the sub-
It is, however, because of Marc A. Blumen-
ject of the chain store system in the music berg's part in music journalism and his in-
business. Today the largest general music fluence in the development of the piano and
house in the United States is vigorously ex- its trade that, notwithstanding his many ene-
tending its business by opening branch stores, mies, and often justified in their animosity,
in increasing numbers, throughout the coun- this article, suggested by the death last week
try. It is something new when the wide ex- of Miss Emma Blumenberg, is written.
tent of the enterprise is considered. It is not
the ordinary branch owned solely by the parent
Slacking-up of piano business in April suggests
house, but a lot of small but well equipped "spring fever" and the locust of fatigue. The ques-
establishments, in which each manager is finan • tion is still unsettled whether fatigue resulting from
ordinary neuro-muscular work is primarily central or
cially interested, and therefore directly con- peripheral. The amount of work required to induce
cerned in its development.
complete fatigue varies according to the degrees of
laziness of the salesman and other workers. In fac-
We need scarcely say that the broad-spread- tories
in only very rare occurrences will the individ-
ing enterprise in mind is the one fostered by ual go to that point where serious organic damage
the Wurlitzer Company and the name alone will result. Self-competition and visible performance
the greatest amount of work on the part of
is assurance of the aggressive manner in produce
the worker. Quickness and intelligence act together
which the chain of music stores is being ex- for the rate of work.
* * *
tended. Every link in the chain is strength-
The Milwaukee Journal's Melody Way Club is
ened by the parent house, the name of which
alone lends security to the public. The adver- under the direction of W. Otto Miessner, teacher,
composer and piano manufacturer, who wrote the
tising columns of the large city papers con- lessons. Melody Way Club rooms, throughout Wis-
National MusicWeek
April 16, 1927.
consin, are open to club members only. In these
club rooms are pianos for free use of club members.
Already more than 1,000 members have been enrolled
to take the free lessons. Members range in age from
5yi to 60 years.
The spread of the band and orchestra movement is
phenomenal.
Literally hundreds of the smaller
cities and towns are resounding with brass band
music where heretofore the occasional circus and
other wandering minstrels furnished all the outdoor
music that was heard.
* * *
This issue of Presto-Times may be called some-
thing of an "illustrated weekly." And we believe that
the old Musical Times—now a part of Presto-Times—
was the first publication to make a regular feature of
full pages of pictures. It certainly was the first music
paper to do it.
* * *
Music Week is a prominent theme in the trade
papers and in music stores. The subject is a very
important one, for every harmonious sound stimulates
the desire for musical instruments. It is the music
dealer's duty to himself to do all the Music Week
boosting within his power.
* * *
It is now proposed by some Chicago piano men
that the old-time instruments, too far gone to justify
any exchange value, be donated to the interest of the
June convention and sunk in Lake Michigan, with
suitable ceremonies.
WHAT WE WERE DOING
And Saying When the Trade
Was Young
35 YEARS AGO IN THE TRAD|
(From Presto, April 14, 1892.)
'"'\
The business of the Everett Piano Company cqn-
tinues to forge along rapidly. The regular output is
from seventy to eighty pianos a week and yet they
are unable to fill their orders.
It is now reported that a movement is on 'foot to
form a National Association of Piano Manufacturers
next year. The local Associations in the different
cities, it is proposed, shall elect delegates to visit
Chicago during the World's Fair and here form the
National Association.
There seems a lack of interest amongst the older
tuners of this city, in the new association of piano
tuners recently formed. Why this should be we can-
not understand. Surely organization helps individuals,
and the younger man in the profession can help many
of the older ones.
Within Our Gates: H. D. Pease, J. U. Pejise
(Pease Piano Co.), Reinhard Kochmann (Hardman,
Peck & Co.), H. P. Fischer (J. & C. Fischer), H. B.
Tremaine (Aeolian Organ & Piano Co.), New
York—Mr. Baker (Troll & Baker), Geneva, Swit-
zerland.—Jas. Medbury, Escanaba, Mich.—J. M.
Alcott (Alcott & Maynor), Dallas, Tex.—J. E. Gil-
bert, Churubusco, Ind.
25 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK
(From Presto, April 17, 1902.)
Air. E. N. Kimball, president of the Hallet & Davis
Company, of Boston, Mass., is in the city this week.
Messrs. Christman & Son expect to be in their new
piano factory now being built by them at Nos. 869
and S73 East One Hundred and Thirty-seventh street,
New York, on June 15, and they will be glad to re-
move into larger quarters, as they are crowded with
orders.
It is said that a certain nobleman in Madrid com-
bined music with his cooking- apparatus. He has a
musical spit in his kitchen; it will take several roasts
at a time and play twenty-four tunes. The time re-
quired for cooking any particular joint or fowl is
calculated according to the number of tunes played.
During the present week one or more cases have
come under our notice whereby certain well known
and reputable piano makers are not only selling their
products at "all sorts of prices" to the dealer, but they
are also selling these self-same products at retail to
local buyers and at prices that defy description.
Sincere regret will be felt throughout the entire
music trade over the death of Mr. O. A. Kimball,
of the Emerson Piano Co., which occurred at Phoe-
nix, Ariz., yesterday (Wednesday) morning. Messrs.
O. A. Kimball, P. H. Powers, Joseph Gramer and
Geo. W. Carter were the original purchasers of the
business of Wm. P. Emerson, the founder of the
Emerson piano, who established the business in 1848.
A youth went forth 'to serenade
The lady he loved best,
And by her house at evening,
When the sun had gone to rest,
He warbled until daylight,
And would have warbled more,
But morning light disclosed the sign
"To Let" upon the door.
Enhanced content © 2008-2009 and presented by MBSI - The Musical Box Society International (www.mbsi.org) and the International Arcade Museum (www.arcade-museum.com).
All Rights Reserved. Digitized from the archives of the MBSI with support from NAMM - The International Music Products Association (www.namm.org).
Additional enhancement, optimization, and distribution by the International Arcade Museum. An extensive collection of Presto can be found online at http://www.arcade-museum.com/library/

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