Music Trade Review

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THE
MUSiC TRADE
EDWARD LYMAN BILL - Editor and Proprietor
J. B. SPIIXANE, Managing Editor
Executive and Reportorlal Stall:
GEO. B. KELLEK,
W. H. DYKES,
F. H. THOMPSON.
EMILIE FRANCES BAUER,
L. E. BOWERS, B. BKITTAIN WILSON, WM. B. WHITE, L. J. CHAMBEBLIN, A. J. NICKLIN.
BOSTON OFFICE:
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ERNEST L. WAITT, 278A Tremont St.
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Published Every Saturday at 1 Madison Avenue, New York.
Entered at the Ne-w York Post Office »s Second Class Matter.
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Lyman Bill.
Directory of P l a i o
The directory of piano manufacturing firms and corporations
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found on another page will be of great value, as a reference
Mauniacf nrer»
f o r dealers and others.
Exposition Honors Won by The Review
(Jrand Prix
Paris Exposition, 1900 Silver Medal.Charleston Exposition 1902
Diploma.Pan-American Exposition, 1901 Gold Medal.. .St. Louis Exposition, 1904
Gold Medal. .. .Lewis-Clark Exposition, 1905.
LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONE—NUMBER 1745 GRAMERCY
Cable address: "Elblll New York."
NEW YORK, JUNE 29, 1907
EDITORIAL
T
HE Music Trade Conventions of i<)()/ have now heeonie his-
tory. The hundreds of delegates who have returned to their
offices and warerooms in every section of the country have had an
opportunity to review in their own minds the work accomplished at
the convention gatherings. From the various sections of the
country come to us criticisms, some fair and some in rather a sar-
castic vein, for it must be admitted that there are audible murmurs
of disappointment which reach these offices from the several cities
and towns. There are some of the gentlemen who have member-
ship in the Piano Manufacturers' Association who have not hesi-
tated to express their feelings and criticize their own organization,
claiming that it has not been radical enough in its accomplishments.
F>ut there is a reverse side to the association medal. It is impos-
sible for any trade organization which holds its membership simply
through good will, to introduce radical measures and compel their
adoption. Men would drop out of the organization and in a little
while there would be but the skeleton left. Radicalism is not pos-
sible in the work of the Piano Manufacturers' Association.
\ NOTHER member says that he believes it is infinitely better
Ix.
to concentrate on one particular object and make that the
piece de resistance of the entire convention work. He says, "it is
better to do one thing well than to do a half dozen things indiffer-
ently." Another prominent manufacturer stated to The Review
that he was disappointed that the Manufacturers' Association did
not go squarely on record and insist that the manufacturers them-
selves should fix a price at which their instruments should be
offered to retail dealers. He stated that he had read the editorials
in The Review for years in which arguments were made showing
the necessity of establishing these rules, and that he thought it was
the proper move and should be supported by the manufacturers
and a penalty imposed upon dealers who sold pianos under price.
A NOTHER manufacturer, equally as prominent as the one re-
l \
ferred to above, stated that he did not believe it possible for
the association to adopt rules which would hold the members to any
REVIEW
agreement whereby they would impose a penalty upon dealers who
sold their pianos at prices under those fixed by the makers. l i e
stated that he did not favor the passing of such resolutions because
they could not be enforced and would therefore be meaningless. It
should be noted in this connection that a number of prominent
manufacturers are steadily being won over to the belief that their
interests can best be maintained by publishing prices broadcast at
which their pianos may be offered to retail purchasers. They think
with The Review that such action would at once fix the status of
all instruments. It certainly would fix the status of special brand
pianos, formerly called stencil pianos, and in that way would form
at once a sheet anchor to the piano industry.
P
H I L I P WERLEIN in his paper read at the Convention stated
the stencil—meaning the special brand piano—is a good thing
and its use is likely to grow with the realization that stencils are not
all of one class. Mr. Werlein said further: "It is useless to con-
demn the stencil and state that it is used for purposes of deception.
That is an absurdity on the face of it, because for that to be true it
will be necessary for us to admit that good morals do not prevail in
the piano trade." Mr. Werlein says further that "stenciling is not
a crime." Of course it is not and every business is legitimate
which is conducted along the lines which do not violate the laws of
the various States and of the Nation, but if all manufacturers fixed
their prices upon their own product it would not be possible to get
an exorbitant price for the special brand pianos. These instruments
it is known may be produced from one factory and sold to a half
dozen dealers in the same town who, under as many names offer
them to the public at prices which vary from $ioo to $250 per in-
strument.
I
T is true that there are many dealers who have pianos made for
them which they exploit under their own names and trade-
marks in a perfectly legitimate manner, but there are many others
who use the special brand piano as a means of deceiving the public
and for these instruments they secure enormous prices. It was
only two or three weeks ago that we called the attention of our
readers to the advertisement of a large Western dealer who was
exploiting these special brand pianos in the most flamboyant man-
ner in the columns of the local press. He was advertising them in
such a way that the readers were under the impression that they
were made in his own factory and he did not hesitate to say that
they had received "the unqualified endorsement of the most promi-
nent artists of the old world and the new." He dealt out such mis-
statements in the most liberal manner and as a result we learn that
he succeeded in effecting a good many sales, to the detriment of the
better class of dealers of that locality.
A
TIME must come in this trade as in others like the talking
machine trade, for instance, when manufacturers will regu-
late prices at which their product will be sold. It may take one
year and it may take ten, but it will come in the end because it is
right and it is the only key to the true one price system. It is all
tommyrot to talk about one price unless that price be the right
one. If the special brand pianos continue in the same way for the
next decade as they have in the past they will have reached such a
position in the piano output of this country that manufacturers
themselves will then become alarmed as to their business future.
There will be, of course, a few of the old names which will be
leaders and will be used as a means of dignifying the piano business
while dealers will place their sales emphasis on pianos of nonde-
script class which will be sold from the same factory under a half
dozen different names. The special brand piano, as we view it
to-day, is a distinct menace to the integrity and stability of the piano
trade.
T
H E various papers which were read at the Convention appeared
in last week's Review, and no doubt will be referred to many
times during the year by our readers. As a whole the papers were
more interesting than formerly and there were many valuable sug-
gestions contained in them. They are well worth preservation and
close reading by every member of the music trade of this country.
They are broad, comprehensive, and cover so many of the depart-
ments of the trade that they are invaluable for reference purposes.
Perhaps the one criticism which may be made regarding this feature
of the Convention work would be that the papers were too numerous