Music Trade Review
Issue: 1908 Vol. 47 N. 1 - Page 4
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
EDWARD LYMAN BILL - Editor and Proprietor
J. B. SPILLANE, Managing Editor
Executive and Reportorial Staff:
GEO. B. KELLEK,
L. E. BOWERS,
W. H. DYKES,
F. H. THOMPSON,
J. HATDBN CLARENDON,
B. BRITTAIN WILSON,
L. J. CHAMBERLIN,
A. J. N I C K U N .
BOSTON OFFICE:
CHICAGO OFFICE
BRNBHT II. WAITT, 100 Boylston St.E. P. VAN HARLINGDN, Room 806, 156 Wabash Ave.
Telephone, Central 414.
MINNEAPOLIS and ST. PAUL:
ST. LOUIS:
PHILADELPHIA:
R. W. KAUJTMAN.
ADOLF EDSTEN.
CHAS. N. VAN BTJREN.
SAN FRANCISCO: S. H. GRAY, 2407 Sacramento St.
CINCINNATI, O.: BERNARD C. BOWBN.
BALTIMORE, MD.: A. ROBERT FRENCH.
LONDON, ENGLAND: 69 Basinghall St., B. C.
W. LIONEL STURDY, Manager.
Published Every Saturday at 1 Madison Avenue, New York
Entered at the New York Post Office as Second Class Matter.
SUBSCRIPTION, (Including postage), United States and Mexico, $2.00 per year;
Canada, $3.50 ; all other countries, $4.00.
ADVERTISEMENTS. $2.00 per Inch, single column, per insertion. On quarterly or
yearly contracts a special discount Is allowed. Advertising Pages, $60.00; opposite
reading matter, $75.00.
REMITTANCES, in other than currency form, should be made payable to Edward
I.yman Bill.
Music Publishers'
Department *• v
An interesting feature of this publication is a special depart-
ment devoted exclusively to the world of music publishing.
Exposition Honors Won by The Review
Grand Priw
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 TELEPHONES—NUMBERS 4677 and 4678 GRAMERCY
Connecting all Departments.
Cable a d d r e s s : "Elbill, N e w York."
NEW YORK, JULY
4, 1908
EDITORIAL
S
YSTEMATIZE everything-. The better the system the better
results obtained. Everything- should be worked out according
to a definite plan. Even recreation as well as finances should be
figured as carefully and systematically as any part of the business
machinery. By system we can cut out unnecessary drudgery; un-
necessary indulgences that have ceased to amuse and only harm;
unnecessary leakages in the expense account, all can be eliminated
if care is used and systematic rules are applied to the conduct of
business affairs. It is a good time when trade is dull to develop
systematic business plans for the future and there is no better time
than the present summer. Competition is becoming keener all the
time and competition cannot be successfully met by adhering to
loose slipshod business methods. The only way to meet competition
is to meet it, and it cannot be met by idle theorizing or indifference
in planning business campaigns. It must be met by sturdy, syste-
matic, up-to-date business methods.
Watch some of the plans developed by the great retail trade
emporiums, known in the vernacular as department stores, which,
in truth, are a colossal aggregation of stores under one roof and
one management. Could they run unless all waste had been care-
fully eliminated; unless system were introduced in every depart-
ment? It would be impossible, and these great trade interests swing
on with the regularity and precision of military evolutions on a
practice field. With them there is nothing done by chance. Every
department head is a chief of division and his forces must do as
he directs, and over all the commanding general stands with a keen
eye watching the movements of the different divisions upon the
trade field. He knows whether the officer is weak in discipline—
whether he is slack in system—whether he is lacking in force, and
furthermore he watches results, and if they are not up to a certain
standard which he has fixed in his mind he investigates—he finds
out why. Or if there are mistakes or leakages or mismanagement
porrective measures are immediately introduced.
Now, every
merchant, no matter whether he is running a small music store or a
great one, can learn something by studying the plans and methods
REVIEW
adopted by successful business men in other - lines of trade. It
doesn't pay to study failures, life is too short for that, but it does
pay to study the lives and methods of those men who have risen
from the ranks to leadership by sheer force of business intellectu-
ality. They are the men to study and a little time devoted to
analyzing the methods and character and plans and principles of
these men will not be wrong even in the good old summer time.
T
HERE are some who figure that prices on staple lines of
manufactured goods will not be maintained and that prices
will not hold firm. This belief has undoubtedly influenced many
merchants in various lines of trade from placing substantial orders.
It is certain that it has not been wholly on account of a desire to go
slow that buying has been so light, but there has been a belief on
the part of some merchants that prices would be materially lowered,
and that money would be made by waiting. Now, do the conditions
bear out adhering to this policy of delay ?
We should say to those who expect that light trade will create
consternation and a tremendous slash in prices that they are wrong
in their theorizing. Stocks have become steadily exhausted in
every line of trade by constant drafts made upon them. The. con-
suming power of our eighty odd millions of people is considerable
and factories have not run for six months past on anything ap-
proaching the normal output, and as a result stocks have been
continually lowered, reserves have been drawn upon so that to-day
instead of having big stocks to draw upon such as we had at the
time when we encountered the last business depression we are abso-
lutely facing a condition of stock starvation.
N
OW, with the good crops which seem to be practically assured
there is going to' be a quickening demand for products of all
kinds in the early fall. The nomination of Secretary Taft has ma-
terially helped to strengthen business confidence. He is viewed as
a man who will give this country a wise constitutional government.
His temperament is judicial and not erratic or spectacular, therefore
he is particularly pleasing to the business element who believe that
a rest cure is a pretty good thing for this country. Confidence,
therefore, will be strengthened all the while, and in the meantime
thousands of business men will soon make immediate demands upon
the manufacturers for stock. The manufacturers who have also
been running slow have no reservations, and as a result the men
who come first will be served first, and under such conditions how
can it be expected that prices will be lowered? On the contrary if
there is active bidding for stock this fall prices will advance. The
man who is figuring that by waiting he can buy goods at lower
prices, whether pianos or any of the necessities of life, to our mind
is figuring on a wrong basis, and we canncrt see the slightest evi-
dence that costs will be lowered.
T
HE furniture trade has been particularly dull for some time
past, and it is said that dealers have been holding off buying
believing that prices would lower. The furniture men have, in
secret conclave, decided upon a plan which they believe to be a
solution of the situation. They decided that the buyers who place
orders now are to be given a guarantee that should the manufac-
turers at any time during the period from July i to Jan. i cut the
prices of the goods that have been bought by the dealer he will be
given the advantage of that cut price on all the goods which are
used of similar pattern during six months.
Such a move is epoch-making in furniture history. The fear
of cut prices is an ever present bugaboo among buyers. If dealers
can be assured that they will be protected throughout the season
on all of their purchases they will unquestionably order more freely.
For the benefit of piano men we set .forth the action of the men in
the furniture trade. This plan certainly is worth serious considera-
tion and it might facilitate the early placing of orders. If piano
dealers were satisfied over the country that they would be protected
in any price slump which might occur during the next six months,
presumably they would be more willing to place their orders early,
and in that way the manufacturers could prepare to meet conditions
in a much more satisfactory manner than they can with the present
uncertain condition of the market.
Tt can hardly be expected that piano manufacturers will con-
tinue to run their plants at full capacity to pile up a reserve stock
for the early fall trade. It costs a good deal of mefney to do this,
THE
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
EDWARD LYMAN BILL - Editor and Proprietor
J. B. SPILLANE, Managing Editor
Executive and Reportorial Staff:
GEO. B. KELLEK,
L. E. BOWERS,
W. H. DYKES,
F. H. THOMPSON,
J. HATDBN CLARENDON,
B. BRITTAIN WILSON,
L. J. CHAMBERLIN,
A. J. N I C K U N .
BOSTON OFFICE:
CHICAGO OFFICE
BRNBHT II. WAITT, 100 Boylston St.E. P. VAN HARLINGDN, Room 806, 156 Wabash Ave.
Telephone, Central 414.
MINNEAPOLIS and ST. PAUL:
ST. LOUIS:
PHILADELPHIA:
R. W. KAUJTMAN.
ADOLF EDSTEN.
CHAS. N. VAN BTJREN.
SAN FRANCISCO: S. H. GRAY, 2407 Sacramento St.
CINCINNATI, O.: BERNARD C. BOWBN.
BALTIMORE, MD.: A. ROBERT FRENCH.
LONDON, ENGLAND: 69 Basinghall St., B. C.
W. LIONEL STURDY, Manager.
Published Every Saturday at 1 Madison Avenue, New York
Entered at the New York Post Office as Second Class Matter.
SUBSCRIPTION, (Including postage), United States and Mexico, $2.00 per year;
Canada, $3.50 ; all other countries, $4.00.
ADVERTISEMENTS. $2.00 per Inch, single column, per insertion. On quarterly or
yearly contracts a special discount Is allowed. Advertising Pages, $60.00; opposite
reading matter, $75.00.
REMITTANCES, in other than currency form, should be made payable to Edward
I.yman Bill.
Music Publishers'
Department *• v
An interesting feature of this publication is a special depart-
ment devoted exclusively to the world of music publishing.
Exposition Honors Won by The Review
Grand Priw
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 TELEPHONES—NUMBERS 4677 and 4678 GRAMERCY
Connecting all Departments.
Cable a d d r e s s : "Elbill, N e w York."
NEW YORK, JULY
4, 1908
EDITORIAL
S
YSTEMATIZE everything-. The better the system the better
results obtained. Everything- should be worked out according
to a definite plan. Even recreation as well as finances should be
figured as carefully and systematically as any part of the business
machinery. By system we can cut out unnecessary drudgery; un-
necessary indulgences that have ceased to amuse and only harm;
unnecessary leakages in the expense account, all can be eliminated
if care is used and systematic rules are applied to the conduct of
business affairs. It is a good time when trade is dull to develop
systematic business plans for the future and there is no better time
than the present summer. Competition is becoming keener all the
time and competition cannot be successfully met by adhering to
loose slipshod business methods. The only way to meet competition
is to meet it, and it cannot be met by idle theorizing or indifference
in planning business campaigns. It must be met by sturdy, syste-
matic, up-to-date business methods.
Watch some of the plans developed by the great retail trade
emporiums, known in the vernacular as department stores, which,
in truth, are a colossal aggregation of stores under one roof and
one management. Could they run unless all waste had been care-
fully eliminated; unless system were introduced in every depart-
ment? It would be impossible, and these great trade interests swing
on with the regularity and precision of military evolutions on a
practice field. With them there is nothing done by chance. Every
department head is a chief of division and his forces must do as
he directs, and over all the commanding general stands with a keen
eye watching the movements of the different divisions upon the
trade field. He knows whether the officer is weak in discipline—
whether he is slack in system—whether he is lacking in force, and
furthermore he watches results, and if they are not up to a certain
standard which he has fixed in his mind he investigates—he finds
out why. Or if there are mistakes or leakages or mismanagement
porrective measures are immediately introduced.
Now, every
merchant, no matter whether he is running a small music store or a
great one, can learn something by studying the plans and methods
REVIEW
adopted by successful business men in other - lines of trade. It
doesn't pay to study failures, life is too short for that, but it does
pay to study the lives and methods of those men who have risen
from the ranks to leadership by sheer force of business intellectu-
ality. They are the men to study and a little time devoted to
analyzing the methods and character and plans and principles of
these men will not be wrong even in the good old summer time.
T
HERE are some who figure that prices on staple lines of
manufactured goods will not be maintained and that prices
will not hold firm. This belief has undoubtedly influenced many
merchants in various lines of trade from placing substantial orders.
It is certain that it has not been wholly on account of a desire to go
slow that buying has been so light, but there has been a belief on
the part of some merchants that prices would be materially lowered,
and that money would be made by waiting. Now, do the conditions
bear out adhering to this policy of delay ?
We should say to those who expect that light trade will create
consternation and a tremendous slash in prices that they are wrong
in their theorizing. Stocks have become steadily exhausted in
every line of trade by constant drafts made upon them. The. con-
suming power of our eighty odd millions of people is considerable
and factories have not run for six months past on anything ap-
proaching the normal output, and as a result stocks have been
continually lowered, reserves have been drawn upon so that to-day
instead of having big stocks to draw upon such as we had at the
time when we encountered the last business depression we are abso-
lutely facing a condition of stock starvation.
N
OW, with the good crops which seem to be practically assured
there is going to' be a quickening demand for products of all
kinds in the early fall. The nomination of Secretary Taft has ma-
terially helped to strengthen business confidence. He is viewed as
a man who will give this country a wise constitutional government.
His temperament is judicial and not erratic or spectacular, therefore
he is particularly pleasing to the business element who believe that
a rest cure is a pretty good thing for this country. Confidence,
therefore, will be strengthened all the while, and in the meantime
thousands of business men will soon make immediate demands upon
the manufacturers for stock. The manufacturers who have also
been running slow have no reservations, and as a result the men
who come first will be served first, and under such conditions how
can it be expected that prices will be lowered? On the contrary if
there is active bidding for stock this fall prices will advance. The
man who is figuring that by waiting he can buy goods at lower
prices, whether pianos or any of the necessities of life, to our mind
is figuring on a wrong basis, and we canncrt see the slightest evi-
dence that costs will be lowered.
T
HE furniture trade has been particularly dull for some time
past, and it is said that dealers have been holding off buying
believing that prices would lower. The furniture men have, in
secret conclave, decided upon a plan which they believe to be a
solution of the situation. They decided that the buyers who place
orders now are to be given a guarantee that should the manufac-
turers at any time during the period from July i to Jan. i cut the
prices of the goods that have been bought by the dealer he will be
given the advantage of that cut price on all the goods which are
used of similar pattern during six months.
Such a move is epoch-making in furniture history. The fear
of cut prices is an ever present bugaboo among buyers. If dealers
can be assured that they will be protected throughout the season
on all of their purchases they will unquestionably order more freely.
For the benefit of piano men we set .forth the action of the men in
the furniture trade. This plan certainly is worth serious considera-
tion and it might facilitate the early placing of orders. If piano
dealers were satisfied over the country that they would be protected
in any price slump which might occur during the next six months,
presumably they would be more willing to place their orders early,
and in that way the manufacturers could prepare to meet conditions
in a much more satisfactory manner than they can with the present
uncertain condition of the market.
Tt can hardly be expected that piano manufacturers will con-
tinue to run their plants at full capacity to pile up a reserve stock
for the early fall trade. It costs a good deal of mefney to do this,
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).