MUSICAL
TIMES
PRESTO
Established
1881
Established
1884
THE AMERICAN MUSIC TRADE WEEKLY
10 Cents a Copy
$2 The Year
CHICAGO, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1927
CONSOLING REVIEWS AND CHEERFUL FORECASTS
WHAT CHAMBER
HAS ACCOMPLISHED
Year Just Closing Was Period of Varied Pro-
motional Activities, Including Piano Sales
Promotion, Playing Contests and En-
couragement for Musical Goods.
LEGISLATIVE WORK
Music Industries Chamber of Commerce Gave Par-
ticular Attention to Legislation Affecting
Copyright and Other Measures.
By HERMANN IRIOX.
I am happy to have the opportunity of reporting
to our industry through your columns what the Music
Industries Chamber of Commerce has accomplished
during the year just coming to a close.
In doing so it is necessary to bear in mind that a
large portion of the Chamber's work is of a routine
HLOUMAXN JlllOX.
character. This holds true both so far as the clerical
work and the other various lines of activity, which
the different departments of the Chamber pursue, are
concerned.
The two most important efforts having occupied
the Chamber during the recent past are:
(a) The direct promotional work of the National
Bureau for the Advancement of Music for the fol-
lowing individual associations, to-wit:
1. Piano playing contest promotion for the Na-
tional Association of Music Merchants,
2. School orchestra promotion for the National
Musical Merchandise Association,
3. School band promotion for the National Asso-
ciation of Band Instrument Manufacturers, and
4. Fretted instrument promotion for the National
Association of Musical Instrument and Accessories
Manufacturers.
Aiding the Association.
This work has been especially requested by the
above named associations in their particular interest
and is being carried on in addition to the general
promotional work of the Bureau, which in turn, is
necessary if the specific promotional work is to be
successful.
(b) Legislative Work. This is also most import-
ant, particularly with respect to the necessity for
changing the installment sales regulations of the
Treasury Department which at present are adversely
affecting many dealers who under those regulations
are compelled to pay excessive back taxes. Im-
portant hearings on this subject have already been
held in Washington and it may be said that a favor-
able impression has been created upon the Ways and
Means Committee by the arguments submitted by
our Chamber. It is also necessary for us to continue
our opposition . to the attempts to revise the copy-
right act in such a way as to eliminate the mechan-
ical license feature thereof. This copyright matter
is of particular and direct interest to the large phono-
graph record and music roll manufacturers.
An Admirable Phase.
In addition hereto the Chamber is continually
active on -special work for the various associations
constituting its membership, such as, for instance, on
behalf of the Piano Supply Association for which it
is adjusting the affairs of concerns in financial diffi-
culties, to enable.such concerns either to reorganize
or to conserve their assets as much as possible for
the benefit of the creditors and owners.
The Chamber has also been successful in per-
suading a larger, number of the piano manufacturers
of the United States to submit their monthly produc-
tion and sales .figures for the purpose of collaborating
this data into statistics for the use and benefit of the
industry as a whole. The figures, as they will be
compiled after January 1, will be representative of
the major portion of the output of American piano
factories and will be indicative of the activity of the
industry. Rased upon this valuable information the
individual members thereof can shape their course
and their business policies in such a manner that
they may properly meet the signs of the times indi-
cated by those statistics.
An Active Future.
The Chamber is a live, pulsating, alert organization,
representing the industry and voicing its rights and
demands whenever occasion may arise. It has proven
its worth and its value in the past and, I feel con-
fident, will do so in the future.
As far as the outlook for the year to come is con-
cerned I may confidently say that the work will go
along in the future as it has in the past. The organi-
zation is there to solve the problems of the industry
that may come before it from time to time, and if
any major problems should arise during the coming
year I fee! quite certain that they will be ably dealt
with.
Hopes for 1928.
Permit me to express the hope that the year to
come may prove to be a better year than the one
just closing. Our industry is fully equipped to cope
with the demands which a prosperous country will
make upon it, and if all the activities undertaken by
the industry to promote a larger distribution of its
manufactures come into conjunction with increasing
business activity there can be no doubt but that our
industry will 1 eap the full reward of its intelligent
efforts.
A PORTLAND TIE-UP.
The G. F. Johnson Piano Co. and the Reed French
Piano Co. of Portland, Ore., the Ampico representa-
tives of that city in a tie-up with the American Piano
Co. announced recently in full page advertisements
in the local press the arrival of the new Ampico Sym-
phonique, and invited the public to their stores, which
they announced would be open evenings to give dem-
onstrations of the new instrument.
There are at present approximately 9,000,000
pianos in American homes, but 2,000,000 of these
arc fit only for the scrap heap. With 27,000,000
homes in the country, there is still a large and
growing market, particularly as one-third of the
instruments sold at the present time are really
replacements.—W. E. Guylee, president of the
National Piano Mfrs.' Assn., in speech at Detroit.
GREAT NECESSITY
FOR COOPERATION
All Phases of the Music Trade Can jJeduce
Lessons from 1927 to Effec-
tively Apply in New
Year.
PIANO PROMOTION PLAN
Great Sales Creating Scheme Inaugurated by the
National Piano Manufacturers' Association Has
Proved Potency of Its Effects.
By W. E. GUYLEE.
Reviewing a closing year is of greatest value to
the trade when it stimulates to more energetic
efforts in the year that begins. Optimists can find
W. R. GUYLEE.
cause for the hopeful feeling in events and condi-
tions in 1927. I myself am inclined to observe
causes and effects in their way.
Pleasant Comparisons.
The piano business is probably no lower in vol-
ume than general business for the last half of 1927.
It is in better shape for the future than at the be-
ginning of any recent year. There are facts that
enhance the piano in the opinion of the public; new
piano types, novel case designs and modes of finish-
ing that are pleasantly appealing to the eye of taste-
ful people. The lure of the home is affecting the
American people in the old way and piano music has
an important part therein.
The Piano Promotion Plan
The National Piano Promotion Plan inaugurated
by the National Piano Manufacturers' Association
and operated and financed by that body has its
foundation in the basic thought that the piano is the
center of music in the home. The dealers have
been stimulated by the thought and the public has
reacted to its suggestive influences. To my mind
the piano industry in its history has never inaugu-
rated anything so constructive as the cooperative
piano promotion plan. What it already has accom-
plished is an assurance of a great and widespread
success.
Using Direct Means.
The best and most direct means for reaching the
public and evoking thought leading to piano desire
are employed and it is encouraging to consider how
liberally newspapers and magazines have contrib-
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