Music Trade Review

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THE
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
11
the day when the least was said of technical de-
tails and mechanical talking points.
And it is
further to be noticed that the eminently success-
Some Interesting Deductions and Helpful Hints Based on the Projected Move of One of the Big ful firm mentioned above, which had such an im-
Automobile Companies to Sell Automobiles on Instalments—Wherein the Automobile and mense turnover last year, is notable for the slight
Player-Piano Are Rivals—The Advertising Methods of the Automobile People Furish an attention it gives to mechanical talking points and
Example for Player-Piano Men Worth Investigating—Technical Knowledge One of the
its insistence in its advertising upon its name,
Keys to Success for the Confidence Thus Gained Invites the Confidence of the Prospect.
its reputation and the proved reliability of its
The Review of December 9 contained a letter ing had been exceedingly well developed and per- service.
On the other hand, what have we in the player
from its Detroit correspondent, wherein were set fected. If 47,000 cars of what is called the
forth the opinions of several piano men upon the "cheap" car are sold in one year by one firm, then business done to create a demand for our instru-
recent declaration by a great automobile manu- it is plain that a great many people in moderate ments? In the first place we have left that adver-
facturing corporation that the cars of one of its circumstances have been persuaded to take on a tising very largely in the hands of the retailer.
constituent companies were to be offered for sale very expensive proposition, one which has a heavy This has meant inaccuracy of statement, displays
on instalments. If for no other reason than this, maintenance charge ever against it, and which of downright ignorance, total lack of uniformity
the automobile becomes immensely interesting to rapidly depreciates against all the dictates of econ- in the policies adopted and a train of other con-
us. If automobiles are to be sold on instalments omy and prudence. All of these people might pos- comitant evils. In the second place we have been
what is to be the final effect upon our industry? sibly be able to buy both a $750 car and a $750 conspicuous for anything but a strict adherence
What one house does others will also be likely player-piano. But the chances are great against to the truth. In the third place we have filled our
advertising space with reams of copy about talk-
to do. And the whole subject thus takes on a this being so.
ing points, some of which, have little vital interest
That
is
the
problem
the
player
trade
must
face:
new and threatening aspect which before it had
the defection of the middle class towards the au- for the public.
not at all worn.
The Lesson to be Learned.
We are here facing a state of affairs which tomobile. The rich man, who can maintain a
Now, it is here conlended that we should take
we cannot at all dispose of lightly. The matter fleet of motor-cars and a whole orchestra of
becomes serious when we realize that the player- player-pianos without missing the cost, need not a leaf from the book of our automobile friends.
Let us devote our advertising less to obscurities
piano is itself far more likely to be injured as be considered at all.
of mechanical detail and more to "pleasure and
Advertising Methods Compared.
a selling proposition by the threatened invasion
entertainment" talk. Let us remember that the
of an instalment automobile than is the straight
One can only conclude that the big driving force
instrument. Player-pianos are costly. A very de- in automobile success has been its advertising. H engine of a motor-car furnishes a legitimate rea-
cent automobile may be obtained for less than the is not enough to say that the inherent appeal oi son for mechanical talk, in that everybody thinks
that he knows something about it, while the
price of the best player-pianos.
the motor-car has been big enough of itself. To mechanism of a player-piano is a deep mystery to
It is not the aim of the present article to ven- say this is to beg the question. When we con-
the layman everywhere. Let us, above all, adopt
ture into any predictions as to what may be the sider that the whole civilized world talks auto-
the policy of putting the advertising of player-
future of automobile selling on the instalment mobile all day long; that every detail of the
pianos primarily in the hands of the manufac-
plan. Beyond the obvious facts that the instal- mechanism appears to be known all over the
turers themselves. And let the retailers' advertis-
ments will have to be very large; that the prob- place; that the newspapers act as if they were
ing be rigorously censored. Let us, through the
lem of depreciation will introduce a most diffi- actually hypnotized by the automobile idea, we
manufacturers themselves, take the step of creat-
cult element into the question of possible repos- can only suppose that a definite driving force has
ing and maintaining a public interest in the player-
sessions; that many people who have no business been continuously in operation and has worked
piano, as a means of entertainment and pleasure,
at all to buy cars will be doing so; that the sell- untiringly along definite lines. Not merely a
as something with a definite published value and
ing of automobiles to such people is little short passive acceptance, but a definite conviction, driven
a permanent place in the world of music.
of wicked, and that the automobile industry has home by the power of active and persistent pub-
We cannot do all these things at once. We
evidently passed the stage where the public is licity, is the fact that everywhere appears to us.
must take time and use patience, good will and
begging to be permitted to buy, there is little in
It is here, one must suppose, that the lesson of
the latest turn of events which should provoke the automobile's success it valuable for us in the sincerity. But we can do a great deal thereby to
an extraordinary interest. For the real danger player industry. In this article an attempt is be- re-create public opinion and re-form it nearer to
has existed for some time past, and the present ing made to show that the success of the auto- our desires. We have every bit as good a propo-
situation affords rather a convenient peg on which mobile, in the end, has been a success promoted sition as the automobile. The only trouble has
to hang a discourse than a cause for special and by advertising, and that the particular kind of ad- been that we have not known it.
And, lastly, let us not forget that the great
sudden alarm.
vertising which has been good for the automo- success of the automobile is largely due also to
Automobile and Player-Piano as Rivals.
bile is, fundamentally, the best for the player- the fact that everybody in that industry knows
The plain fact of the matter is that the auto- piano. If this be true, then the natural lesson is
his business thoroughly. Every salesman, every
mobile and the player-piano have been rivals ever that we in the player industry can duplicate auto-
dealer, every mechanic almost, may be regarded
since their almost simultaneous jump into popular- mobile success, even though in more modest pro-
as a real expert. We, too, must achieve a simi-
ity. One proposed to revolutionize travel and the portions.
lar excellence. We must learn, all of us, to know
other proposed to revolutionize music. And un-
Now, the basis of automobile advertising has our proposition and know it thoroughly.
fortunately it is, on general principles, somewhat been the judicious combination of technical detail
And let this one last fact be well digested: An
easier to interest people in travel than in music. with straightforward "pleasure-and-entertainment"
automobile is an expense maker, first, last and all
Or, to put the matter in another way, of any talk. With automobiles you can talk mechanical
the time. The player-piano need involve not one
given thousand people a majority will be more details to a large extent, because you are dealing
cent of upkeep expense, outside of the occasional
interested in the idea of rushing around the with a machine pure and simple. At the same
cost of tuning, all the years the purchaser has it.
streets at high speed than in staying home and time, however, you find that the advertising is
enjoying music.
based upon the second rather than upon the first
THE REAL REASON.
The thing which has, until recently, reduced of the two elements. Automobiles are not adver-
this advantage on the part of the automobile has tised as being desirable primarily because they
If prompt dismissal was not the fate of the
been the matter of cost and upkeep. And yet, in have a great many highly complicated devices, but young man who figures in this incident from Har-
spite of all this, the automobile has sold with tre- rather are said to be furnishers of much pleasure, per's Magazine, a keen sense of humor in his em-
mendous success and in tremendous quantities. utility and entertainment, the devices aforesaid be- ployer was probably the reason the lad escaped.
One maker of moderate priced cars in Detroit is ing merely the out-of-sight contributors to the Two young employes of a florist in Philadelphia,
said to have sold 47,000 of them during the last general result. Speed, convenience, luxury—these who are supposed to be variously employed in the
year and to expect an increase for 1912 over these are the themes on which motor-car advertisers rear of the establishment while the "boss" looks
figures of at least fifty per cent. These things continually harp.
after things in the front, were recently startled by
are staggering. They teach us that the great first
In other words, the pleasure side of automo- the appearance of their employer while they were
cost of the motor-car is apparently largely offset, biling is continually the main theme, while the engrossed in a game of checkers.
and we have to ask ourselves what there is in, mechanical details are insisted on only to such
The proprietor was justly indignant.
the proposition which makes it such a big seller, "an extent as will interest a public by this time
"How is it," he demanded, "that I hardly ever
apart from its own inherent, appeal. The mere more or less familiar and critical. And it is to find you fellows at work when I come out here?"
idea of rushing around in a fearfully expensive be noted that the day of greatest automobile suc-
"Well, sir, I'll tell you," volunteered one of the
mechanical puzzle would not appeal to any but cess, when the public was begging on its knees youths. "It's on account of those rubber heels
very rich people, surely, unless the method of sell- for the chance to buy cars at high prices, was also that you wear."
"AUTO-MOTION" VERSUS "AUTO-MUSIC"
NATIONAL F|p/»tril>
Tlie
me
w
"No
Trouble*' Player
Player
No Trouble"
NEW ART STYLES
MANDOLIN, a n d t h e N e w VIOLIN-FLUTE
•- 1
ATTACHMENT
JLj M iL/ \ / 1 M M \ /
NATIONAL PIANO PLAYER
OREGON-ILLINOIS
Write lor Descriptive Catalogue
CO
PIANO
INIieRel-In-tlie-Slot
Continuous Roll, and Automatic
Rewind Styles—Also 88 Note Pedal
and Combination Pedal and Elec-
tric Styles.