Music Trade Review

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THE
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
Shavings From the Workbench
N view of the claim that the proper exploitation and use of the
player-piano make for the higher education of the user, there
has always been more or less a question as to the general effect of
this higher education upon the sale of pianos of other styles and bet-
ter quality. In this connection it is interesting to note the views on
that question recently expressed by Ernest Urchs, general wholesale
representative for Steinway & Sons, who, being in close touch with
the situation in both the merchandise and musical fields, is in a posi-
tion to offer an opinion that carries weight. As is generally known,
Steinway & Sons probably sell more grand pianos in the course
of a year than any other house in the country, and the fact that
their business has shown a strong increase during the past twelve
months indicates that the player-piano has had beneficial effect upon
the demand for Steinway & Sons grands. Mr. Urchs threw some
light upon the situation when he said: "Player-pianos aid sales of
grand pianos, owing to the fact that an advance in musical educa-
tion naturally means an increasing demand for the better media of
expression, and no one will dispute the fact that a grand piano is
the best means of rendering the musical classics. Education in
music has of course advanced in proportion to other lines of study,
but that branch of learning that deals with music has recently had
the far-reaching assistance of self-production through the player-
piano. But this can never be satisfying when the musical soul is
considered. Now that the player-piano does so much, the student
of music desires to become, not a mere technician, but an artist, and
this inevitably leads to the grand piano. While I am not yet pre-
pared to take sides with those of the trade who believe the future
pianos will consist exclusively of self-playing instruments in upright
cases and grands for the manually rendered music, nevertheless my
theory as to increase in grand manufacturing might support that
contention. Yet it will be a long while before all can at once afford
a grand who will not play the piano except by hand."
I
* * *
NE of the difficulties met with by honest piano men in their
efforts to eliminate fraudulent advertising has been that
of persuading proprietors and business managers of newspapers to
refuse contest, "gyp" and other objectionable advertisements. In
many cases, probably the majority, the piano men met with little or
no encouragement, and where the newspapers agreed to place the
ban on such advertising it was only in rare instances that the at-
tention of the public was called to such a policy in a manner that
would prove effective. In this connection it is interesting to note
that it has taken the often ridiculed small town paper to lead the way
in the matter, letting its readers know just where it stands in re-
gard to fraudulent piano advertising. The following item from
the Highland Park, Cal., Herald, under the caption "A Piano
Scheme," explains itself and is worthy of much praise: "Recently
a party placed a small ad in the Herald offering a piano to some-
one who would take care of it while the owners were away on a
visit. The answers were directed to 'A,' care the Herald. A perfect
flood of answers came, but it transpires that this was a scheme of a
piano house to secure the names of those who wanted pianos. A
few days later a piano salesman called upon every person who
answered the advertisement. The Herald will refuse ads of this
kind if there is any suspicion that it is to be inserted for such pur-
poses."
K •? «
N a communication from C. E. Pickard, the well-known piano
merchant of Marshalltown, Iowa, he says: "I am very glad
to notice the different subjects you have taken up for discussion
in The Review, and I am of the opinion you are getting at the heart
of the thing that ought to mean most to the manufacturer of
pianos of merit, the purchasing public and the fair and well-mean-
ing dealer. Marshalltown has just gone through one of the worst
winters for unscrupulous advertising, humbug and misrepresentation
of prices and pianos it has ever known. I am right-down sorry for
O
I
the manufacturer of a first-class piano. I have tuned pianos for
ten years and it is simply terrible the way people are taken in. I
have three hobby notions—one is, there should be a State law requir-
ing tuners to hold a certificate to tune; another is, music teachers
should also have to pass a certain grade as school teachers do, and
the other is, pianos should be graded and stamped so there can be
no chance to mirepresent them. It's not unfair to anybody.
W
ITH our growing commercial progress and the diversity
of our interests, the importance and value of the credit
department of a business as well as the man who controls it, are
becoming more widely recognized and appreciated. The credit
man of any business, if a success, is a close student of human
nature—a man of discernment and wide vision, who estimates
character as a money asset and who encourages the honest, but
ambitious man to greater accomplishments; who keeps his hand
on the pulse of trade, and who can diagnose conditions carefully
and correctly. Speaking of this type of man a writer in a Western
paper recently summed up the situation very aptly when he said:
"The success or failure of a business house depends largely on the
wisdom and courage of its credit man. In the three vital branches
of business organization—buying, selling and credits—the credit,
department, while logically last in the category, is really first in
importance in the final analysis of the measure of prosperity of the
house. The three branches are so closely linked together and each
is so dependent upon the other, that they must necessarily work
shoulder to shoulder, supporting one another. Like the engine,
tender and cars of a train they must pull together. The salesman
is the engineer, furnishing the force; the buyer is the tender, fur-
nishing the material, and the credit man is the car that carries the
load. The object of the whole outfit is the load. In a business
that load is its credit. Under the guidance of a wise credit man
the business moves forward like a train on a smooth track. The
credit man can no more make a mistake without discovery than
can a train despatcher."
W
HY is it that some stores have an air of business success,
while others look as though the enterprise of the employes
was only a matter of guesswork. There must be a way to make a
business place look attractive, for a great many do look attractive.
And there must be a way to take away that care-worn look from
the stock and general store effect. How is this to be done ? Some
merchants frankly say they don't know. Others try to overcome
it but fail in their undertaking, usually because they did not have
the right plan for their work. Every store could be made more
attractive than it is, but some stores are so attractive now they need
not seek to be more so. Keeping after the little points that will
add to the attractiveness and make the place one of great pleasure
to the people who come there to trade, and that is what is wanted.
E
DUCATING one's competitors has been generally considered
unwise in the past, but a more enlightened view is gradually
gaining ground, due to the prevalence of ruinous price cutting
Pleading for a wider adoption of this modern method, the Ameri-
can Machinist in its current issue says: "Anyone seeking infor-
mation of any kind in the industrial field must have experienced
the tenacity with which many firms hold on to anything in the way
of special information. There are, however, certain features of
industrial administration where secrecy is detrimental. Take for
an easy example the question of costs.
"The man who bids ridiculously low, and thereby loses money,
not only injures his own business, but he also injures every other
man who is doing business on a safe basis, but who cannot obtain
contracts on account of the foolish competition."