Music Trade Review

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSSC TRADE
credit the statement that he was striving to control the destinies of
the Mason & TIamlin assets.
O
NE thing is certain, Wanamaker has enormous facilities fox"
the distribution of any product which he elects to take on.
Ilis machinery is splendidly organized, and he is to-day conducting
an enormous piano husiness in New York and Philadelphia, and
while no authentic statement is made as to his connection with the
Emerson Piano Co., yet a subject of this kind, where great interests
are involved, naturally forms a topic for lively trade discussion.
It interests the piano trade of America, and they will continue to
discuss for some time the probable effect of this new deal upon
instruments which he now handles.
With the completion of his New York store Wanamaker will
have piano quarters which will be wonderfully attractive to the
musically inclined, and he certainly would not give up such a large
amount of valuable space to a concert hall and to warerooms for
the exploitation of pianos and musical instruments unless he in-
tended to place special emphasis upon this particular department.
He has given the piano business a fair trial, and presumably
he is satisfied with the results reached, for he has become one of
the greatest piano distributing factors in the world.
ill 1 ". Sportsmen's Show, which has just closed at the Madison
Square (iarden, has been a success from every viewpoint.
Jt has attracted thousands of people daily, and it has been featured
prominently in the columns of the leading dailies. It has been much
talked about, and a good many music trade men who have visited
the show have been wondering whether or not it would be possible
to create a vast music trade exhibit along similar lines. While
discussing this subject with a well-known manufacturer he re-
marked that one great drawback to a music trade exhibit would
be the lack of variety in exhibits. He said:
"When I enter my own wareroom and look down at the rows
of pianos they all look alike at a short distance, and would not a
huge display of instruments which must necessarily be of similar
type, be wearisome? Where would the drawing power come in to
interest the public?''
men will no longer contribute to the support, either through fear
or timidity, of any journals unless they exercise a healthful influence.
The day of journalistic blackguardism is past.
There is, of course, opportunity for improvement, and the time
will never come in the trade newspaper field when a point is reached
from which it is impossible to make further advance. The most
progressive men in the trade recognize the advantage of Iradc paper
advertising, and it may be said with some pride by those engaged
in the journalistic profession that the music trade has as representa-
tive papers as can be found in larger and more important industries.
This fact is conceded by the best journalistic experts in the
country, and the statement reflects some credit upon the men who
have endeavored through years of faithful work to elevate music
trade journalism.
They have not only succeeded in placing it as a whole above
suspicion, but they have made it impossible for the blackmailer
to carry on his nefarious practices. And while there may be
sporadic attempts to use the stand and deliver methods they will
not obtain in this industry to any appreciable extent. Clean trade
journalism has put an end to that sort of traffic, and the man who
adopts such methods is not only an outcast among journalists but
he is sneered at and despised by the entire industry.
T
A
T
A
H E question is not easily answered, but of course it would be
possible to introduce some specially attractive features in the
way of musical entertainment which would draw the public and in-
terest them for a while. The charge of admission would have to
be nominal, and if it were arranged on the basis of having all the
varied lines of musical instruments, it would do away with an appar-
ent duplication of exhibits which must necessarily follow if the ex-
position were limited exclusively to pianos.
We are of the opinion that this exposition plan could be de-
veloped by an expert in the business, and if attempted it should
be carried out on a large scale whether or not successful from a
monetary standpoint the first season.
I
N an interesting article on trade paper advertising in a recent
issue of a well-known publication a writer says, "It is easy
enough for any one to record the fact that trade paper advertising
has made material advance during the past ten years, and has made
specially marked improvement during the past five years. I do
not believe that, notwithstanding all that has been done, a tithe of
what is possible has been accomplished."
Then the writer goes on to say that "large dividends are being
made by publishers in the field of general publicity, while com-
paratively small ones are-earned by'publishers in the specialized or
trade journal field." He asks: "Should the monthly or weekly,
created to amuse people, be a wonderful money-maker, while it
mainly advertises cheap, inconsequential things, while the trade
paper, a serious exponent of healthy financial interests, is relegated
to an obscure corner in the congregation of publications ?
"The popular magazine reaches hundreds of thousands where
the trade paper reaches thousands, but the goods offered for sale,
and really sold through the influence exerted by many trade papers,
largely exceeds the volume of trade sold through the influences of
the prominent popular magazines."
T
11E writer quoted above shows that there are opportunities for
advance in the trade paper field, and any one who is familiar
with the subject admits the growing influence of trade journals—
that is, the reputable class of trade journals—and modern business
REVIEW
DKALER asks, what is the health} limit for the expense
account as compared with total sales? Or, what proportion
should be figured between the two?
This question is not easily answered, for local conditions should
govern the rules directing expense accounts, for in some localities
the cost of selling is largely increased by expenses which are very
much reduced in other sections, therefore it is impossible to name
a healthy limit.
There are some dealers who figure their expense accounts as
low as fifteen per cent. We know of one dealer who adds ten
per cent, to the cost of his pianos as the expenses of conducting his
business, and then adds a further per cent, for his profit. And
still another piano man, a well known one who employs a great
many people, says that his average selling expense is twenty-five
per cent.
PIANO merchant asks in enclosing a subscription: "Should
all dealers sell at the same price to every one, or make different
prices to different customers?"
We have written columns upon this topic, some of which were
perhaps not at all times interesting, but most of which were truth-
ful, to say the least, and we never have been able yet to figure out
in our own minds why it was not a good business policy, as well
as an honest one, to sell to all customers on the same day wares at
the same prices, and according to our observation, piano merchants,
who have followed out this rule during the past few years, have been
well satisfied with the results accomplished.
We have not yet heard of a business concern, having once
adopted honest and sincere methods, and the one-price policy, ever
going back to the old system of elastic prices.
I
T is surprising sometimes what a superficial knowledge some
salesmen possess regarding the technical side of the business.
Perhaps that is one reason why some of them do not advance beyond
a mediocre position, for if you test the ordinary man's knowledge
of his trade it is often surprising to discover how little he actually
knows about the business upon which he depends for his daily
bread. He may have a general smattering of the trade, enough to
enable him to make a bluff, but he does not understand it in its
intricacies, and there is reason to believe that if the piano salesmen
would follow out a plan which would insure them a technical
knowledge they would stand a good chance to increase their re-
muneration materially.
The technical department which appears weeklv in The Review
is a feature of a trade publication which has great educational force,
and salesmen, as well as dealers and tuners can gain much from it.
Another means of gaining trade information is from "The Piano
or Tuner's (iuide." published by this institution, a work which has
won a high position as a reliable text book. We have on the
press another book which deals exclusively with piano construction,
and we feel that in producing works of such character we are aiding
in disseminating useful knowledge for members of the craft
generally.