Music Trade Review
Issue: 1907 Vol. 44 N. 14 - Page 5
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE
smaller dealers are already finding out, at a severe cost, that it does
not pay to sell instruments on the terms which they have been
putting them out. Only the large monied concerns or institutions
which can secure great capital can continue to do business on the
nothing down and dollar a week basis. It ties up too much capital
if many sales are made, and before the first cost of the instrument
is returned to the dealer in cash his instrument has greatly deterio-
rated in value, and there is likely to be trouble ahead for him.
I
T is said that there will be a general increase on all freight rates
averaging from 2 to 10 per cent. This will apply to all im-
portant commodities. It is said that the various traffic officials on
the Eastern and Western lines have been figuring out new schedules
for some time, and the new classifications are practically ready to
be given out, and it has been announced by the freight officers of
the railroads that the only thing necessary to put the high rates
into actual effect was an order from the railroad presidents of the
Trunk Line Associations. There has been no secret of the fact
that new rates and classifications were being worked out by the
railroad traffic agents appearing to take it for granted that shippers
would make no objection because of the conditions on all lines.
W
H I L E railroad men will not say that the general advance will
. amount to 10 per cent, on the total of business carried,
that is the generally accepted figure among shippers. The claim
is made that the advances are being forced upon the railroads be-
cause of the increased cost of operating expenses through advance
in wages and increases in the prices of all raw materials. Just how
pianos, organs and varilus accessories will figure in the new sched-
ule is, of course, not yet announced. There is a regular appointed
traffic manager for the Piano Manufacturers' National Association,
who has been kept in office for a number of years, and no doubt he
has been doing all that is possible to protect the interests qf shippers
in the music trade industry.
T
H E R E is, however, a growing inclination on the part of piano
manufacturers to let the Piano Dealers' Association take up
the subject of freights in the future.
One manufacturer while recently discussing the matter with
The Review said that he felt that the piano manufacturers had given
the strongest evidence of their desire to win a freight reduction for
the dealers, and they had expended time and money to benefit the
dealers, and he felt, for one, that they had gone as far as thev
should go, and that if the piano trade through associations was to
grapple with the freight problem, it must be through the medium-
ship of the Dealers' Association rather than the manufacturers. He
argued that the dealers were the ones directly benefited, and should
bear the expense.
T
H E trade for the month has been somewhat fitful. In many
cities the retail business interests have suffered through the
inclemency of the weather and through local drawbacks, but with
the approaching bright sunny days it is probable that business of
all kinds will materially improve. The manufacturing department
has been particularly busy, and a good many of the proprietors of
the various factories have concluded that it will be an excellent
plan to run their factories full time, and with a complete factory
force, straight through the spring and summer, even if the demands
should not be as large as last year.
In later years it has been almost impossible to accumulate
stocks in the various factories, but there is a settled belief among a
number of piano men that it is an excellent thing to have a fair
amount of stock on hand at all times in order to meet promptlv the
requirements of the trade.
T
HE South is consuming a good many pianos, and the immense
growth in Southern wealth during the last year furnishes a
still further argument that its consuming power is increasing. The
assessed value of property in fourteen of the Southern States shows
a total gain of more than a billion dollars over the values of 190=;.
It is well to emphasize that the assessed value of Southern property
is less than 40 per cent, of its.actual value.
Commenting 6.1 this fact, the Manufacturers' Record estimates
the true value of property in the fourteen States of the South at
REVIEW
$19,400,000,000—significant when considered with the fact that in
i860 the true value of property in the whole country was only $16,-
160,000,000. The increase in the real wealth of the South during
1906 is placed at $2,656,956,158, which, figured down to details,
means a daily increase of $7,280,000.
And another proof: For 1907 there are 4,200 miles of railway
planned, while 3,055 miles were completed in 1906. First in new
railroad mileage come Texas and Louisiana, with Texas far in the
lead, despite the alleged heavy hand of the Texas Railroad Com-
mission.
These things mean that the South is becoming one of our great
producing sections. And the important fact here for every manu-
facturer and merchant in the country is that the more a territory
produces the more it consumes—the South is to be a great con-
suming field. With new industries being established, new structures
built, new tracks laid, new inhabitants settling, there will be a de-
mand for every class of goods, personal, household and commercial.
O
F course, the Southern field now is an ever-widening one for
piano men, and there are some mighty big concerns who have
branches established in many Southern cities.
Some of our people have been overlooking the possibility of
Southern trade. They do not realize what enormous strides the
South has taken during the past decade. It is a big field to-day,
and a profitable one for dealers in pianos, musical instruments and
talking machines. There is hardly a talking machine jobber in the
South who has not been successful in his business. If he has not
been, something is wrong with his method, for our records show a
vast distribution of talkers all through the country south of the
Mason and Dixon line.
E ability to close with a customer definitely is a specialty in
JL salesmanship. There are perhaps nine piano salesmen who
can talk their instruments, answer objections, knock their competi-
tors and interest the prospect almost up to the sticking point, but
who then fall down, lacking the ability to close in on the customer
and clinch the sale. To succeed in only interesting a prospect will
not make any money for the salesman or for the firm he represents.
It is the sale which counts, and all of the rich, beautiful prospects
amount to nothing when they disappear when just about to cross
the line. It is the closing that tells the story, and it is better to
close one sale definitely than to have a half a dozen almost there,
and yet never quite up to the closing point.
How many men fool themselves by saying, "I have so many
sales which are practically made," and yet the closing time is
always in the dim future. It is coming; it's to-morrow, or next day,
or next week. This manana habit is all right in the Spanish-speak-
ing countries south of us, because while there you never expect to
have a thing definitely closed inside of a month, or even a year, but
in good old progressive America this manana habit should not be
permitted to creep in. It is close now, to-day, that is what counts
for salesman and for employer.
W
HAT constitutes good journalism? It is the old question
over and over again, and many and varied have been the
answers thereto. Pick up a paper teeming with advertising, and
one may be constrained to remark that it is a good paper. From a
commercial standpoint, yes; but the paper may be woefully lacking
in its editorial and news features—in other words, a paper run for
what there is in it. On the other hand, the paper may be brimful
of news carefully edited, and still be lacking in something. It may
not have enough advertising patronage to keep the balance on the
right side of the ledger. In other words, it is not a successful
newspaper. Good journalism means something more than a paper
full of ads. The balance between news and advertising must be
maintained; it must have influence, dignity and power. The suc-
cessful journal is the one that seeks to influence thought and action.
It must be constantly aiming to uplift humanity, realizing the re-
sponsibility that rests upon it as a moulder of opinion. The trade
newspaper in its particular field may be a tremendous power for
the good, and to the credit of class journalism, it may be said that
its influence has been on the whole steady in the promotion of in-
dustrial interests, and that its pages in the main have been kept
clean.
THE MUSIC TRADE
smaller dealers are already finding out, at a severe cost, that it does
not pay to sell instruments on the terms which they have been
putting them out. Only the large monied concerns or institutions
which can secure great capital can continue to do business on the
nothing down and dollar a week basis. It ties up too much capital
if many sales are made, and before the first cost of the instrument
is returned to the dealer in cash his instrument has greatly deterio-
rated in value, and there is likely to be trouble ahead for him.
I
T is said that there will be a general increase on all freight rates
averaging from 2 to 10 per cent. This will apply to all im-
portant commodities. It is said that the various traffic officials on
the Eastern and Western lines have been figuring out new schedules
for some time, and the new classifications are practically ready to
be given out, and it has been announced by the freight officers of
the railroads that the only thing necessary to put the high rates
into actual effect was an order from the railroad presidents of the
Trunk Line Associations. There has been no secret of the fact
that new rates and classifications were being worked out by the
railroad traffic agents appearing to take it for granted that shippers
would make no objection because of the conditions on all lines.
W
H I L E railroad men will not say that the general advance will
. amount to 10 per cent, on the total of business carried,
that is the generally accepted figure among shippers. The claim
is made that the advances are being forced upon the railroads be-
cause of the increased cost of operating expenses through advance
in wages and increases in the prices of all raw materials. Just how
pianos, organs and varilus accessories will figure in the new sched-
ule is, of course, not yet announced. There is a regular appointed
traffic manager for the Piano Manufacturers' National Association,
who has been kept in office for a number of years, and no doubt he
has been doing all that is possible to protect the interests qf shippers
in the music trade industry.
T
H E R E is, however, a growing inclination on the part of piano
manufacturers to let the Piano Dealers' Association take up
the subject of freights in the future.
One manufacturer while recently discussing the matter with
The Review said that he felt that the piano manufacturers had given
the strongest evidence of their desire to win a freight reduction for
the dealers, and they had expended time and money to benefit the
dealers, and he felt, for one, that they had gone as far as thev
should go, and that if the piano trade through associations was to
grapple with the freight problem, it must be through the medium-
ship of the Dealers' Association rather than the manufacturers. He
argued that the dealers were the ones directly benefited, and should
bear the expense.
T
H E trade for the month has been somewhat fitful. In many
cities the retail business interests have suffered through the
inclemency of the weather and through local drawbacks, but with
the approaching bright sunny days it is probable that business of
all kinds will materially improve. The manufacturing department
has been particularly busy, and a good many of the proprietors of
the various factories have concluded that it will be an excellent
plan to run their factories full time, and with a complete factory
force, straight through the spring and summer, even if the demands
should not be as large as last year.
In later years it has been almost impossible to accumulate
stocks in the various factories, but there is a settled belief among a
number of piano men that it is an excellent thing to have a fair
amount of stock on hand at all times in order to meet promptlv the
requirements of the trade.
T
HE South is consuming a good many pianos, and the immense
growth in Southern wealth during the last year furnishes a
still further argument that its consuming power is increasing. The
assessed value of property in fourteen of the Southern States shows
a total gain of more than a billion dollars over the values of 190=;.
It is well to emphasize that the assessed value of Southern property
is less than 40 per cent, of its.actual value.
Commenting 6.1 this fact, the Manufacturers' Record estimates
the true value of property in the fourteen States of the South at
REVIEW
$19,400,000,000—significant when considered with the fact that in
i860 the true value of property in the whole country was only $16,-
160,000,000. The increase in the real wealth of the South during
1906 is placed at $2,656,956,158, which, figured down to details,
means a daily increase of $7,280,000.
And another proof: For 1907 there are 4,200 miles of railway
planned, while 3,055 miles were completed in 1906. First in new
railroad mileage come Texas and Louisiana, with Texas far in the
lead, despite the alleged heavy hand of the Texas Railroad Com-
mission.
These things mean that the South is becoming one of our great
producing sections. And the important fact here for every manu-
facturer and merchant in the country is that the more a territory
produces the more it consumes—the South is to be a great con-
suming field. With new industries being established, new structures
built, new tracks laid, new inhabitants settling, there will be a de-
mand for every class of goods, personal, household and commercial.
O
F course, the Southern field now is an ever-widening one for
piano men, and there are some mighty big concerns who have
branches established in many Southern cities.
Some of our people have been overlooking the possibility of
Southern trade. They do not realize what enormous strides the
South has taken during the past decade. It is a big field to-day,
and a profitable one for dealers in pianos, musical instruments and
talking machines. There is hardly a talking machine jobber in the
South who has not been successful in his business. If he has not
been, something is wrong with his method, for our records show a
vast distribution of talkers all through the country south of the
Mason and Dixon line.
E ability to close with a customer definitely is a specialty in
JL salesmanship. There are perhaps nine piano salesmen who
can talk their instruments, answer objections, knock their competi-
tors and interest the prospect almost up to the sticking point, but
who then fall down, lacking the ability to close in on the customer
and clinch the sale. To succeed in only interesting a prospect will
not make any money for the salesman or for the firm he represents.
It is the sale which counts, and all of the rich, beautiful prospects
amount to nothing when they disappear when just about to cross
the line. It is the closing that tells the story, and it is better to
close one sale definitely than to have a half a dozen almost there,
and yet never quite up to the closing point.
How many men fool themselves by saying, "I have so many
sales which are practically made," and yet the closing time is
always in the dim future. It is coming; it's to-morrow, or next day,
or next week. This manana habit is all right in the Spanish-speak-
ing countries south of us, because while there you never expect to
have a thing definitely closed inside of a month, or even a year, but
in good old progressive America this manana habit should not be
permitted to creep in. It is close now, to-day, that is what counts
for salesman and for employer.
W
HAT constitutes good journalism? It is the old question
over and over again, and many and varied have been the
answers thereto. Pick up a paper teeming with advertising, and
one may be constrained to remark that it is a good paper. From a
commercial standpoint, yes; but the paper may be woefully lacking
in its editorial and news features—in other words, a paper run for
what there is in it. On the other hand, the paper may be brimful
of news carefully edited, and still be lacking in something. It may
not have enough advertising patronage to keep the balance on the
right side of the ledger. In other words, it is not a successful
newspaper. Good journalism means something more than a paper
full of ads. The balance between news and advertising must be
maintained; it must have influence, dignity and power. The suc-
cessful journal is the one that seeks to influence thought and action.
It must be constantly aiming to uplift humanity, realizing the re-
sponsibility that rests upon it as a moulder of opinion. The trade
newspaper in its particular field may be a tremendous power for
the good, and to the credit of class journalism, it may be said that
its influence has been on the whole steady in the promotion of in-
dustrial interests, and that its pages in the main have been kept
clean.
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