Music Trade Review

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THE:
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
TOWEL
T is conceded by those who have given close consideration to the
matter of publicity in connection with piano sales that the well-
printed catalog has been a most helpful factor in promoting interest
in pianos, player-pianos and other musical instruments. Recent
publications sent out by prominent houses in the trade have been
of a high order of merit, particularly in the care devoted to the
illustrations of the various instruments presented. Their produc-
tion has cost much money, for it goes without saying that nothing
of such a high grade character can be produced without unusual
expense, but it is a wise expenditure, for what is worth doing at all
is worth doing well, and a catalog that is well written and well
printed is a permanent advertisement for the house issuing it—one
that is bound to attract and hold the attention of those considering
the purchase of a piano. To paraphrase the Bard of Avon, "It's
the catalog that oft proclaims the house," and it is from this form
of publicity that many people get their first impressions of the manu-
facturer and his products. Hence the wisdom of sending out
literature that impresses and convinces.
•t H *
RIGINALITY pays just as much in the retailing of pianos as
in any other line of business, and the dealers who recognize
this fact are the ones who are getting the best results from their
efforts. For a dealer to adopt up-to-date methods does not neces-
sarily mean that he displays originality, for he may simply be fol-
lowing in the footsteps of a competitor while still keeping in advance
of the remaining dealers in his territory. To give player-piano
recitals does not call for any special comment at the present time,
for such recitals offer the most direct means for interesting would-
be purchasers in the instrument featured. The recital is recognized
as the up-to-date and established method of introducing and selling
player-pianos, but it has been a recognized factor in that trade too
long to permit it to lay claim to originality to-day.
Take the chains of branch stores run by several piano manufacturers
and by large wholesale houses and which are proving highly suc-
cessful. In such systems each store is an individual unit, complete
in itself, and under the direction of a local manager who is looked
to for results. The only details of the business of the branch stores
that interest the main house is the volume of sales and the profits.
When either does not come up to expectations it is up to the
manager to explain, and if he does not make good a new manager
is installed. Under such a unit system the officers of the company
do not have to face the problem of a weaker store in an unprofitable
location absorbing the profits made by another branch in more pro-
ductive territory. Each store must swim or sink on its own re-
sponsibility and the fact that the greater number of the branches
continue to swim along nicely indicates that the system is sound.
RECOGNIZED necessity in developing trade in all lines is
keeping in touch with customers. This, of course, is only
A
possible through the salesmen, and it may be said that the ambassa-
dors, as we usually call them, of the piano trade are men of unusual
ability, well worthy the confidence of their employers and thoroughly
equipped to augment the business of their house and improve the
existing relations. When the traveling man possesses intelligence,
personality and a knowledge of the business, the house can safely
trust its customers to his handling. The longer such a man calls on
dealers the greater his influence becomes, and in dealing with a
successful salesman year after year, the retailer is bound to consider
him an important factor in his relations with the firm. An intelli-
gent salesman is worth good money to any business house. He
makes the bond between the house and the dealer close, but the
moment the salesman begins to resort to lavish promises or decep-
tion to secure an order, then it goes the other way. Troubles are
inevitable and friendly relations are liable to become somewhat
•t *? 16
strained, but a good salesman can always untangle any of the little
HILE the recital itself may not be called an original method knots which iray be tied in business. It's good salesmanship to sell
of attracting public attention, it is still possible to evolve goods at right prices to responsible parties, but it's not good sales-
original forms of recitals, and in that direction a prominent house manship to grant ridiculous terms to dealers—prices which afford
in Toledo, O., The Whitney & Currier Co., stood forth to advantage the manufacturer no profit. That is not good salesmanship, and
recently. It happened that the famous grand opera tenor, Scotti, it's mighty poor judgment.
was scheduled to appear in concert at one of the local theaters on
a certain evening, and the music house referred to immediately
arranged for the use of the ballroom in the leading hotel at an
ITH the aid of a $48 instrument known as the aerophone,
earlier hour of the same evening. Invitations were then extended
Grindell Matthews, an English inventor, has just succeeded
to the members of a prominent club and their friends to attend a in projecting the sound of his voice through material which the
Victor talking machine and Pianola piano recital as the guests of biggest steel projectile on earth would fail to penetrate. United
the Whitney & Currier Co. During the recital practically every well- States Consul-General John L. Griffiths, of London, in a Consular
known record made by Scotti for the Victor Co. was played on the report says that Mr. Matthews was placed in the strong room of
machine, the singer's voice being accompanied on several occasions a big London commercial house and locked in, with nine inches of
on the Pianola piano, with excellent effect. There were also solo armor steel, nine inches of fire brick and six feet of concrete between
numbers for the latter instrument. The performance aroused much him and the outer world. By means of his small portable apparatus
interest on the part of the audience, and after they had attended the he carried on a conversation with an operator in another room on
concert and heard Scotti in person, their enthusiasm regarding the the farther side of the building. So distinct and faithful was the
instruments that so faithfully reproduced his voice and its accom- transmission that the experts in attendance were actually able to
paniment was apparently unbounded. Such originality in the hear the tick of his watch, notwithstanding the almost impenetrable
arrangement of recitals is of the sort that pays dividends.
mass between the two instruments. So great is the faith of the
inventor that he contemplates a further test through five miles
* * «
of
solid rock. In speaking about the aerophone he said that vibra-
HE head of a prominent piano and music house in the Middle
tions
produced in the air by his apparatus do not take the form of
West says that the branch store proposition is not one that
is likely to prove satisfactory or profitable to the house back of it, the Hertzian waves, as in the Marconi system of wireless telegraphy.
and as a result this particular concern has disposed of several In fact, they are not waves at all, inasmuch as the disturbances
branch stores and concentrated its business in its main establish- are of such high frequency that there is no appreciable break
ment. The trouble with many of those who attempt to build up a between them, and their action is rather continuous than fitful and
chain of branch piano stores is that, they look upon those stores as separate, as in the case of Hertzian waves. It is estimated that a
simply tentacles of the main establishment and without the power complete set of instruments for practical work and by means of
to exist on their own account. The result is that the energy and which it will be possible to carry on a conversation through walls,
attention that should be centered on the main store is divided be- mountains or any other objects within a radius of five miles will
tween the branches to the detriment of the business in general. cost $48.
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