Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
tomer. There will be piano merchants who will not get enough
pianos, who will see actual sales slip away from them, and their
requisitions on the factory will prove useless. Nine chances out
of ten they are going to blame the manufacturer and will won-
der why he resents it.
THE
ffUJICJJADE
T
PUBLISHED BY THE ESTATE OF EDWARD LYMAN BILL
(C. L. BILL, Executrix.)
J. B. SPILLANE, Editor
J. RAYMOND BILL, Associate Editor
AUGUST J. TIMPE
Business Manager
Executive and Reportorial Staff:
B. BRITTAIN WILSON, CARLETON CHACE, L.M.ROBINSON, WILSON D. BUSH, V. D. WALSH,
A. J. NICKLIN,
WM. BRAID WHITE (Technical Editor),
L. E. BOWERS,
BOSTON OFFICES t
IOHN H. WILSON, 324 Washington St.
Telephone, Main 6950.
CHICAGO O F F I C E :
E. P. VAN HARLINGEN, Consumers* Building,
220 So. State Street. Telephone, Wabash 5774.
HENRY S. KINGWILL, Associate.
LONDON, ENGLAND) 1 Gresham Buildings, Basinghall S't., E. C.
NEWS SERVICE IS SUPPLIED W E E K L Y BY OUR CORRESPONDENTS
LOCATED IN T H E LEADING CITIES THROUGHOUT AMERICA.
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REMITTANCES, in other than currency forms, should be made payable to the Estate of
Edward Lyman Bill.
Departments conducted by an expert wherein all ques-
And
anil
tions of a technical nature relating to the tuning, regu-
flonartmonfc
lating and repairing of pianos and player-pianos are
V e p d r i l l r e U » . dealt with, will be found in another section of this
paper. We also publish a number of reliable technical works, information concerning
which will be cheerfully given upon request.
Exposition Honors Won by The Review
Grand Prix
Paris Exposition, 1900 Silver Medal.. .Charleston Exposition, 1902
Diploma. . . .Pan-American Exposition, 1901 Gold Medal
St. Louis Exposition, 1904
Cold Medal. .Lewis-Clark Exposition, 1905.
LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONES—NUMBERS 5982—5983 MADISON SQ.
Connecting all Departments
Cable address: "Elbill, New York."
NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER
23, 1916
EDITORIAL
N view of the reports from the trade in every section of the
I business
country, and by the natural order of things generally, the fall
season which has just opened is destined to break all
records in every branch of the music trade, even should the
prophecies of enthusiastic trade members be discounted. That
there will be a shortage in the leading makes of talking machines
has been an accepted fact for months past, and now there comes
equally serious possibilities of a shortage in some of the leading
lines of pianos, a shortage that may be very real as the holiday
time approaches and dealers who have not prepared in advance
send in hurry orders for goods.
Good pianos are not turned out over night or in a week.
They require time and attention. The work cannot be hurried,
and the output can only be increased by the augmenting of fac-
tory forces and overtime. Both systems are at times unsatis-
factory. The workman who is called upon to put in overtime
several nights in the week is likely to reach the limits of physical
endurance and either give up or else slight his work uncon-
sciously.
To make a temporary increase in factory quarters means the
breaking in of new men, which requires time and money, and the
imbuing of these men with the spirit that enters into the manu-
facture of the piano in question. Under these conditions the diffi-
culties that face the manufacturer when his factory is swamped
with rush orders can be readily appreciated.
How much better it would be had every piano merchant
appreciated that the coming months would bring a volume of
business well above normal and placed with the manufacturer
well in advance orders that would take care of at least normal
business. Such a system would mean pianos when the dealer
wants them, pianos that had received the proper attention from
the regular factory force, and an ensuing amount of satisfaction
that could not be estimated on a dollar and cents basis.
It is the old cry of "do your Christmas buying early," but it
applies just as much to the retail merchant as it does to his cus-
HIS is the season of the County and State Fair, where
the man from the farm brings in his prize porker, his big
pumpkin and champion ear of corn and presents them to the gaze
of his admiring neighbors, while in his turn taking due cogni-
zance of what the city merchants have to display, including pianos
and talking machines. From the reports that have come from
various sections of the country this fall piano men have taken
more than usual interest in the State and County fairs in their
sections. They felt probably that the general conditions war-
ranted the expense entailed in the displays, as there was a chance
to secure a satisfactory number of live prospects.
Whether or not the immediate results of the piano display.-
at fairs are satisfactory, such displays must be looked upon in
the light of advertising, the effect of which should last for several
months. People don't go to fairs and buy pianos and player
pianos as they would a new patented wash tub, but they sec
the booth, get the literature, hear the tone of the piano or player
and are given something to think about. A little later when they
decide to buy they are more liable to go to the man who exhibited
at the fair than they are to go to the dealer of whom they know
nothing. This year, with the outlook so unusually good, there
is more than casual reason why piano men were quick to take
advantage of fair publicity. It gets to the public when they are
not looking, as it were.
W
E have had the piano house devoted to the contest idea,
and other concerns selling on the "was-now" method,
but now there comes the announcement of a brand new cor-
poration to handle pianos, talking machines and other musical
goods in a chain of stores spread throughout the country, which
plans to give the customers shares of stock in the corporation as
a bonus, following that with profit-sharing coupons when the
stock gives out.
Whether the new scheme will serve to place musical goods
on a plane with cigars and chewing-gum remains to be seen.
The customer buys a player-piano and will get nothing with it,
for, sharing in the profits of the corporation, she will understand
that the gift of some rolls, a bench or a scarf will serve to de-
plete the profit. However, the customer gets a nice handful of
pretty green certificates, which may be in turn exchanged for
music rolls, a bench or safety razor, or some new pots for the
kitchen stove.
The scheme is not as radical as it might appear at first hand.
More than one concern in the piano trade, particularly depart-
ment stores, have given, and are giving, trading stamps to those
purchasing pianos on the same basis as stamps are given in
other departments of the trade. In the light of competition the
new chain system of stores does not offer any problems that are
more disconcerting than those that have already been faced by
piano merchants in various sections of the country.
E
VERY once in a while there comes to light a fresh case to
prove that a contract covering the purchase of a piano or a
player-piano is not regarded by the average purchaser quite as
seriously as he would regard a contract of any other nature.
Whether it is the long terms offered by many piano houses or the
failure of the salesman to impress the purchaser with the fact that
he is expected to live up to every detail of the contract is hard
to determine, but the fact remains that there are altogether too
many contracts broken without a legitimate reason. It some-
times happens that a man who was a credit risk at the time he
bought the piano meets with misfortune, or circumstances arise
that make it impossible and inadvisable to continue payments on
the instrument. Such instances are so rare, however, as to re-
quire little serious thought. Instances of the man who deliber-
ately gets careless and breaks a contract, however, are altogether
too frequent for comfort.
Not long ago a prosperous business man who had bought an
expensive player from a Fifth avenue concern a year previously
notified the piano house that he did not care for the instrument