Music Trade Review

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THE: MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
WHAT DO THE PUBLIC WANT ?
Any Player Piano That W i l l Play and Is Not Too Complicated, Is a Salable Proposition—How
Far the Knowledge and Desires of the Public Extend.
Perhaps the title of this article might better
have been "What Do the Public Think?" for it
proposes to discuss and comment on the attitude of
people in general towards the player-piano, as a
purchaseable article, and as a musical instrument.
This article does not aim to make suggestions to
the public as to what they ought to think or
want. Nor does it propose to argue that any
player-piano is or is not living up to public wants.
It merely proposes to state facts, to set forth pre-
cisely what the public appear to think about the
player-piano, what sort of a thing the player-piano
is to them, and what they want of it.
The most optimistic of us will not pretend that
the public really have as yet expressed any very
warm love for the player-piano. Nor will an
honest man proclaim that the claims and preten-
sions of this instrument are held in high respect.
Certainly the advertised claims of player-pianos
attract very little earnest attention, and, when
read, are generally passed by with a smile. This,
be it noted, however, is as much due to public
ignorance and apathy as to any particular vice of
advertising, bad though much of this may be.
But the plain fact of the matter is that the
public do not think much of the player as a mu-
sical instrument. They have the idea pretty firmly
fixed in their mind that the player is a tolerably
poor imitation of a real music maker. They talk
about "mechanical" player-pianos, and say that, of
course, they can never be expected to give real
music. And much more to the same effect.
And yet the fact remains that in spite of the
obvious public disbelief in the player-piano as a
musical instrument, there is a certain demand
for it. And the demand is slowly, but surely, grow-
ing.
Now, if we ask ourselves precisely what it is
that the public want, we shall find that their ideas
are a little mixed. On the one hand they do not
think much of the musical abilities of the player-
piano, and on the other hand, they seem willing
to take it as it is.
An obvious conclusion is that the public is neither
particularly well posted on music nor in possession
of critical faculty at all entitled to respect. And
yet we must not be too hasty in jumping to con-
clusions like this. For, after all, the public cer-
tainly do want music, and certainly, therefore, do
want an instrument which will enable them to get
it. And yet, observation seems to prove that easy
music, easily understood and easily obtained, to-
gether with as much of entertainment and amuse-
ment as possible, constitutes the basis of what
the public want, so far as concerns the player-
piano.
Now, there is no doubt whatever that almost any
sort of a player-piano will satisfy wants so simple
as these. For if easy music of the kind which re-
quires no thought for its appreciation and com-
prehension and light amusement, be all that is
wanted, then it would appear that the public can
and should be well satisfied with the player-piano.
Most manufacturers, dealers and salesmen tell us-
that these things and these alone, are what the
•public want. And yet, there seems to be a rift in
the completeness of the conclusion.
For, if this be entirely true, and if the public
wanted no more than what we have postulated
above, how is it that they still retain no little
prejudice against the player-piano? One reason,
doubtless, is that music produced by the player-
piano is, as generally heard, altogether too flashy,
too coldly correct, too little tinged with the charm-
ing hesitations and even errors, that are common
to ordinary playing. But this alone will not suffice
for a reason. Is not the prejudice partly to be ex-
plained in a more natural way? Is it not also true
in fact, that the conclusion mentioned above is
not altogether correctly founded? In short, do not
the public, after all, want something more than
mere amusement, entertainment, easy music?
Every human being who has any sort of in-
telligence wants to be able 10 do something.
Everybody has a little ambition and is proud of
being able to accomplish some task that at first
seemed to be impossible. No one except the hope-
lessly lazy and careless really likes to remain at
one level. Nor is any normal person forever
satisfied with that which is imperfect, trivial or
commonplace. It is a sort of mania with the piano
trade to assume that the public actually never want
anything else from a player-piano except cheap
amusement. No one with any knowledge of the
facts will deny that cheap amusement is at the
bottom of most original purchases of player-pianos.
But no one again should sell such instruments on
the theory that this is the only and permanent
cause. To do that is very largely to mistake the
facts of the problem. The public takes to player-
pianos because they see in these instruments the
immediate means of music. And that, in the end,
i-s just what the public w r ant—immediate music.
But we are all wrong when we hastily assume
that immediate music, as put at the disposal of the
public by the player-piano, necessarily means bad
music. As a matter of fact, it means the precise
opposite. And if the public have accepted the
player-piano as it stands, to any extent whatever,
if they have been willing to take it and produce
bad music with it, this is only because they have
had nothing better. And if we could give the pub-
lic something better than the present player-piano,
they would rush to that.
The public want immediate music, but they also
want this to be as good as possible. And when one
comes to analyze the matter, one finds that it is
easier to sell player-pianos on the plea that they
will give just as good music as the purchaser
is mentally and spiritually fitted to produce and
appreciate at any time, than on the argument that,
since the purchaser now knows nothing of music,
he need never expect to know anything, and must,
therefore, resign himself to getting nothing but
cheap amusement and very bad music, no matter
how long, or earnestly he strives to do better.
In fact, it seems plain to any one who observes
the public mind and makes a study of it, that the
public want an instrument, at first, which will
enable them to produce the cheap music—which is
all that they generally can then appreciate—but
which also will give them as much satisfaction later
when their taste has been developed, matured and
refined. Such a conclusion is in harmony, not
alone with an often unreliable and crude common
sense, but also with logic with every possible anal-
ogy, and with the results of trained observation.
Seeing then that this is, or appears to be the
case, and seeing what we ourselves know about
player-pianos, it becomes quite clear that any re-
11
liable player now on the market should appeal in
equal degree to public wants. The value of an
article like this, therefore, is not so much in sug-
gestions as to the particular kind of instrument
suited to public requirement, but rather in its im-
plication that the important thing is the manner of
advertising, exploiting and finally selling such
player actions as we have already.
Considering public wants and requirements in
a broad and impartial manner, we see at once
that any player-piano which will play and which
is neither unduly complicated nor exigent of too
much muscular exertion, should be as good as any
other, at least so far as concerns its availability
as a selling proposition. In other words, while we
may, and while the writer of this article does hold
very decided opinions as to the ideal player action
—ideas which have been partly expressed in an-
other article appearing in the present issue—we
must also recognize the fact that the good sales-
man can sell one sort of instrument about as well
as he can sell another, provided that he goes about
his work correctly. In fact, this article will have
served its purpose if it shows that the public
wants can be met rather in manner than in thing.
So when we undertake to sell a player-piano
we should keep in mind the ideas above expressed
as to just what it is that the public want in an
instrument of this kind. And then, surely, we
should set about to show our prospective purchaser
that the particular player-piano which is the object
of sale, is perfectly fitted for its purpose because
it (1) will give the simple music, the simple con-
trol, the simple amusement which at first alone
are demanded; that (2), this simple amusement
will in time inevitably breed a desire for some-
thing better, if only because the cheap music so
constantly heard will become tedious; and (3), that
just as this desire for better things will grow and
increase, so the particular instrument under dis-
cussion will continue to unfold greater and greater
capacities for interpretation, for individual rendi-
tion, and, in short, for true artistic "playing."
Surely little proof is needed that the propositions
above set forth are founded, not merely in good
salesmanship, but also in truth. In the first place,
simple observation proves the truth of the theorem
that people do actually desire more and more the
better things in music, and that this desire is par-
ticularly fostered by the use of the player-piano.
The records of music libraries alone are enough
to prove this. In the second place, it is a well-
known fact that a good player-pianist who has
mastered the general fundamental art of piano-
playing through pneumatic action, can, and ha-
bitually does produce what to the uninitiated seem
to be the most marvelous effects upon any and
every type of player action, even with instruments
totally unfamiliar to him. Every professional
player-pianist knows that he is able to master any
instrument and do almost as much with it as with
his own particular favorite, in an incredibly short
space of time.
Thus the problem comes down to this: (1) Peo-
ple really do want in most cases to get the best
music that their capacity for understanding per-
mits them now, or that their Uter improved un-
derstanding will permit them to appreciate and
comprehend; (2) that, therefore, the problem of
meeting the question of what the public want is,
in the end, that of catering to this expressed or
inherent desire.
And in what has been said above, we have tried
to make clear how the work of filling the ex-
pressed demand may be undertaken.
The Master Player-Piano
is now equipped with an
AUTOMATIC TRACKING DEVICE
Which guarantees absolutely correct tracking of even the most imperfect music rolls
W I N T E R & CO., 220 Southern Boulevard, New York City