Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
52
Conducted by B. B. Wilson
MUSIC DEALERS PERFECT NEW ORGANIZATION.
Numerous Matters of Trade Importance Discussed and Acted Upon at Well-Attended Meeting
Held in New York Last Week—Complain About Number of New Issues.
The organization o.f the National Sheet Music
Dealers' Association at the Hotel Breslin last
week, which was reported briefly in The Review
August 29, was most successful in every way, and
the new association drafted an interesting and am-
bitious plan of campaign for trade betterment, in
the carrying out of which it has been offered
the assistance o.f the Music Publishers' Association
of the United States.
The officers of the association, as elected at the
first session, are: President, E. W. Homeyer,
Boston; vice-president, Harold Orth, Denver; sec-
retary-treasurer, R. W. Heffelfinger, Los Angeles;
board of directors, William J. Kearney, Galveston,
Tex.; Julius Weiss, Detro.it, Mich.; Charles H.
Willis, Cincinnati; Edward P. Little, San Fran-
cisco ; Thomas F. Delaney, Chicago, and Paul A.
Schmitt, Minneapolis.
Among the various committees reported was one
to draft a constitution and by-laws for the organ-
ization and ano.ther to define just what should con-
stitute a music dealer in reference to membership
in the association. The report of the latter com-
mittee was as follows:
"Any person, firm or corporation conducting the
business o.f merchandising sheet music at retail to
the general public who keeps a regularly equipped
place of business, open and maintained for at least
the usual business hours, and who carries a gen-
eral sheet music stock of reasonable value, shall
be deemed a dealer."
Membership.—It was decided that any music
dealer who shall make application for membership
in the association, and who. shall subscribe to the
constitution and by-laws thereof, and who has ob-
served and will observe the spirit of such constitu-
tion and by-laws in the ordinary conduct of his
business, shall upon receiving a majority vote of
the board of directors, and upon the payment by
him of the annual dues of $10, be declared elected
a member of the association.
It was decided that any music dealer not a mem-
ber of this association shall, on the payment by him
of $1, be entitled to receive a record of all pro-
ceedings of this association, including the minutes
•and transcribed copy of the discussions at future
meetings, for the period of one year. He shall be
informed on matters of general interest to the
trade and shall be privileged to submit suggestions.
McKINLEY
SUCCESSES
SONG HITS
Alice of Old Vincennes
Diane of the Green Van
One Wonderful Night (You Told
Me You Loved Me), Song
Sing Me the Rosary
When You Sang "The Palms" to
Me
DANCE SUCCESSES
Hesitation Waltz, by Klickman
Thanks for the Lobster, Tango
Dream Waltz from "Tales of
Hoffman"
One Wonderful Night, Hesitation
Waltz
In Search of a Husband, Tango
McKINLEY MUSIC CO.
NEW YORK
CHICAGO
It was decided that the board of directors be
authorized and instructed to inform any publisher
when in its judgment the new issues of such
publisher were so voluminous and at the same time
so difficult of sale as to constitute a burden upon
the dealers receiving them.
It was resolved that such action should be re-
served for aggravated cases, but at the same time
the association adopted a general resolution re-
questing the publishers to kindly scrutinize their
editorial department with the utmost care and to
see if, in the judgment of the respective publish-
ers, the interest of both publisher and dealer alike
would not be better served by a considerable re-
duction in the quantity of their new publications.
It was also resolved that the association recom-
mend to the various publishers that the discount
of certain net works now retailed by said publish-
ers at discounts of 20 or 25 per cent, be changed
to a maximum discount of 10 per cent.
A committee consisting of Messrs. Priaulx, Don-
Ian and Martens was appointed to confer with the
•officers of the Book Dealers' Association as to the
methods employed by them in estimating the av-
erage cost of doing business and to secure what-
ever information they thought might assist this
association in ascertaining the average cost of
carrying on the sheet music business. The com-
mittee reported that this information could best be
secured from Boston, and it was moved and sec-
onded that the secretary be instructed to secure
this information and prepare a chart to be mailed
JO the leading dealers throughout the United States
with a request to properly fill in the questions there
given in order that the desired information as to
the percentage of cost of merchandising sheet
music might be thereby obtained. Such informa-
tion is to be kept confidential as to details and
only the aggregate average made public.
It was decided that the association recommend
that the maximum discount to teachers and to the
general public on the various Library editions such
as the Schirmer Library, Edition Woo.d, Ditson
Edition, Edition Church, Fischer's Library Edition,
and upon the foreign editions such as Peters',
Littolf and Steingraber, be changed to one-third
off. Several of the publishing houses declared
themselves in favor of the decreased discount.
The association will recommend to. its members
and to the various publishers that all octavo music
marked at 5 cents per copy be retailed at net net
and that no discount be allowed upon numbers so
priced in any quantity whatever.
The question o.f marking sheet music on a net
net basis was thoroughly discussed, and it was
agreed by the almost unanimous opinion of those
present that such a proceeding would be unwise
and likely to produce very unsatisfactory condi-
tions. The danger to the publisher and to the
dealer of any action which would tend to educate
the public to the difference between copyrights and
reprints by means of a material difference in price
between articles of a similar character was pointed
out. It was finally decided that the entire matter of
marking music on the net net basis should be post-
poned for consideration in the future.
It was resolved that the secretary should pre-
pare proper blanks for distribution to members of
the association upon which members of the asso-
c'ation might make known to the secretary any
customers whose accounts were so delinquent as to
constitute undesirable credits, and that a summary
of these reports should be mailed to the various
members of the association at least once a year.
The question of the proper action to be taken
in regard to those music dealers who conduct their
business in such a manner as to show they regard
it as a mere advertisement for other departments,
was thoroughly discussed.
Attention was called to the fact that in many
instances where flagrant violations of the usual
schedule of prices had occurred and where notice
had been given to the various publishers the pub-
lishers themselves had taken such steps as had
corrected the abuses.
A resolution was adopted calling the attention
of the various dealers to the fact that when any
of their local competitors were conducting their
business in a manner greatly to the detriment of
the established music trade they should report
such actions directly to the house whose publica-
tion? were the basis of the cut prices and also re-
a hidden electric fan. In the center of the window
Effective Exploitation of "Valse June" in the was also us d thru? red roses, and the arrange-
Show Windows of the Emporium, St. Paul, ment throughout was designed to follow as closely
as possible the handsome cover of "Valse June."
by the Goodman Music Co.
At the time of the Goodson Co. display "Valse
A particularly effective window display of sheet June"' was featured in a similar manner by a large
music was that arranged recently by the Goodson number of prominent music publishers, and afforded
Music Co., which operates a department in the a means of publicity for "Valse June" that proved
Emporium, St. Paul, Minn., and which is repro- its effectiveness in the volume of orders received
by the Sam Fox Co.
duced herewith.
The window was spe-
cially arranged to exploit
"Valse June," the wonder-
fully
successful
waltz
number by the Sam Fox
Publishing Co., of Cleve-
land, O., and served to at-
tract a great amount of
attention from the general
public, to say nothing of
influencing the sale of the
music itself.
In the center of the win-
dow a familiar figure was
placed to represent the pic-
ture of the "Valse June"'
j;irl on the cover of the
music. The figure repre-
sented a very fair likeness
of the picture, and was
made particularly lifelike Window Display of "Valse June" Made by Goodson Music Co., care of
by the waving of the hair,
the Emporium, St. Paul, Minn. This great hesitation waltz Is
gained through the use of
published by the Sam Fox Publishing Co,, Cleveland, 0.
A HANDSOME WINDOW DISPLAY.