Music Trade Review
Issue: 1916 Vol. 63 N. 26 - Page 5
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
THE GROWTH OF THE QUALITY IDEA
{Continued from page 3)
piano purchasers, the factories turning out these instruments are at present working overtime in a desperate
effort to keep pace, with the influx of orders that are constantly pouring in.
What better demonstration than this can there be of the fact that (|ualiiy is recognized, appreciated, and
demanded by the purchasing public?
Every piano salesman knows that the average purchaser pays relatively more for his piano than he does
for anything else that he uses. The piano prospect may economize on wearing apparel, on living quarters,
and even on his table, yet when it comes to the purchase of a piano, he realizes that the piano represents a
permanent investment, and that it will pay him in the long run to get a good instrument, no matter what its
price may be, rather than to buy a cheap piano that will be only fit for the discard within a few years.
The history of human nature shows that the quest for the philosopher's stone, and the search for some-
thing for nothing, have been closely akin. Neither has ever been achieved. The modern piano purchaser is
willing, is even anxious, to pay a fair price and be assured of a commensurate return in quality for his in-
vestment, and the piano merchant who realizes this fact, and who emphasizes, in his advertising and his sales
methods, the idea of quality rather than of price, is building up a business and a reputation that will weather
the storms of competition and of business depression satisfactorily, safely, and surely.
safe to assume that our industries will have a great deal of
work in connection with the rehabilitation of Europe's crippled
plants.
In all branches of the music trade industry business con-
tinues most active with a demand that is exceeding the supply.
Judging from the reports reaching The Review from widely
separated sections of the country, the New Year will witness a
great shortage of stock in the warerooms of piano merchants
throughout the country. Manufacturers have been doing their
best to supply the needs of the trade, and naturally those mer-
chants who have placed orders early in the year have been
favored, although every effort has been made to satisfy all.
Commenting on conditions throughout the country, Dun's
in its latest report says: "The outstanding and most reassuring
feature of the business situation, as it has been for some time.
is the increased caution manifest in banking, producing and dis-
tributing channels. Foreign developments have accentuated the
tendency toward wholesome conservatism, without affecting the
progress of finance, or lessening the volume of transactions in
trade and industry, and recent speculative readjustments have
made the general outlook distinctly clearer. Prices, moreover,
no longer are soaring in nearlv all lines."
B
Y the big business man, the man who is thoroughly apprecia-
tive of modern business conditions and what they entail, the
trade paper properly conducted is regarded with appreciation for
the service that it gives to the industry. It is recognized as a
constructive force—a force that not only serves to weld together
the interests of the trade, but frequently steps out ahead and
points the way.
A prominent man close to the business of the country
recently declared, and his views are worth far more than passing
consideration : "The trade paper has a mission and a great one.
Any publication which tends to make men deal more squarely
with their fellow-men ; which tends to cut out unfair competi-
tion, and which tends to a greater degree of consideration for the
humbler ones (who, after all, do so much to build up any branch
of business) must, of necessity, become a great, broad, construc-
tive force. The trade paper of this kind is founded on a rock.
"And this brings us to the thought which puts in a nutshell
the answer to the question. Now to make a more practical force
out of the trade paper? That thought is: Leadership. The busi-
ness men of this country need leaders. They really desire to be
shown. At least, the more progressive ones do. And the back-
ward man today may be a progressive tomorrow. Then he will
adopt the ideas which today he looks upon as so progressive and
so radical. If he doesn't adopt them, he'll go out of business, and
you won't have to bother with him.
"Most business men want to be shown, because they are so
tied up in their own affairs that they naturallv have no time to
look up from their desk, or their counter, or from their machinery
to see what is developing. As I said before, it is the province of
the trade paper'to scan the distant horizon, see what the develop-
ments are going to be and help its readers prepare for them."
GETTING DOWN TO PLAIN PLAYER FACTS
The education of the public along player lines is a necessity for the expansion of the player business.
There is no doubt of that; and education of the piano merchants and salesmen is also a vital necessity,
because through them will come a powerful force in the education of the public; and right here we wish to
remark that we have produced a line of books upon the player-piano which comprehensively covers the
entire player situation.
In this respect this trade newspaper stands alone, for it has been the principal source from which player
information has been available for piano merchants and salesmen for a period of years. Our latest book,
"The Player-Piano Up to Date"
is the best of the series. It contains upwards of 220 pages of matter bearing directly upon the player.
Every piano merchant and piano salesman should have a copy of this book within easy reach. It
gives to readers a fund of information not obtainable elsewhere.
It contains a series of original drawings and a vast amount of instructive and educational matter, as
well as a detailed description of some of the principal player mechanisms.
It .costs $1.50 to have this book delivered to any address in the United States, and your money will be
refunded if you are not satisfied with the book after examination. No one yet has availed himself of this
opportunity. Foreign countries, 15c. to cover extra postage, should be added.
Estate of EDWARD LYMAN BILL, Publisher
373 Fourth Ave., New York
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
THE GROWTH OF THE QUALITY IDEA
{Continued from page 3)
piano purchasers, the factories turning out these instruments are at present working overtime in a desperate
effort to keep pace, with the influx of orders that are constantly pouring in.
What better demonstration than this can there be of the fact that (|ualiiy is recognized, appreciated, and
demanded by the purchasing public?
Every piano salesman knows that the average purchaser pays relatively more for his piano than he does
for anything else that he uses. The piano prospect may economize on wearing apparel, on living quarters,
and even on his table, yet when it comes to the purchase of a piano, he realizes that the piano represents a
permanent investment, and that it will pay him in the long run to get a good instrument, no matter what its
price may be, rather than to buy a cheap piano that will be only fit for the discard within a few years.
The history of human nature shows that the quest for the philosopher's stone, and the search for some-
thing for nothing, have been closely akin. Neither has ever been achieved. The modern piano purchaser is
willing, is even anxious, to pay a fair price and be assured of a commensurate return in quality for his in-
vestment, and the piano merchant who realizes this fact, and who emphasizes, in his advertising and his sales
methods, the idea of quality rather than of price, is building up a business and a reputation that will weather
the storms of competition and of business depression satisfactorily, safely, and surely.
safe to assume that our industries will have a great deal of
work in connection with the rehabilitation of Europe's crippled
plants.
In all branches of the music trade industry business con-
tinues most active with a demand that is exceeding the supply.
Judging from the reports reaching The Review from widely
separated sections of the country, the New Year will witness a
great shortage of stock in the warerooms of piano merchants
throughout the country. Manufacturers have been doing their
best to supply the needs of the trade, and naturally those mer-
chants who have placed orders early in the year have been
favored, although every effort has been made to satisfy all.
Commenting on conditions throughout the country, Dun's
in its latest report says: "The outstanding and most reassuring
feature of the business situation, as it has been for some time.
is the increased caution manifest in banking, producing and dis-
tributing channels. Foreign developments have accentuated the
tendency toward wholesome conservatism, without affecting the
progress of finance, or lessening the volume of transactions in
trade and industry, and recent speculative readjustments have
made the general outlook distinctly clearer. Prices, moreover,
no longer are soaring in nearlv all lines."
B
Y the big business man, the man who is thoroughly apprecia-
tive of modern business conditions and what they entail, the
trade paper properly conducted is regarded with appreciation for
the service that it gives to the industry. It is recognized as a
constructive force—a force that not only serves to weld together
the interests of the trade, but frequently steps out ahead and
points the way.
A prominent man close to the business of the country
recently declared, and his views are worth far more than passing
consideration : "The trade paper has a mission and a great one.
Any publication which tends to make men deal more squarely
with their fellow-men ; which tends to cut out unfair competi-
tion, and which tends to a greater degree of consideration for the
humbler ones (who, after all, do so much to build up any branch
of business) must, of necessity, become a great, broad, construc-
tive force. The trade paper of this kind is founded on a rock.
"And this brings us to the thought which puts in a nutshell
the answer to the question. Now to make a more practical force
out of the trade paper? That thought is: Leadership. The busi-
ness men of this country need leaders. They really desire to be
shown. At least, the more progressive ones do. And the back-
ward man today may be a progressive tomorrow. Then he will
adopt the ideas which today he looks upon as so progressive and
so radical. If he doesn't adopt them, he'll go out of business, and
you won't have to bother with him.
"Most business men want to be shown, because they are so
tied up in their own affairs that they naturallv have no time to
look up from their desk, or their counter, or from their machinery
to see what is developing. As I said before, it is the province of
the trade paper'to scan the distant horizon, see what the develop-
ments are going to be and help its readers prepare for them."
GETTING DOWN TO PLAIN PLAYER FACTS
The education of the public along player lines is a necessity for the expansion of the player business.
There is no doubt of that; and education of the piano merchants and salesmen is also a vital necessity,
because through them will come a powerful force in the education of the public; and right here we wish to
remark that we have produced a line of books upon the player-piano which comprehensively covers the
entire player situation.
In this respect this trade newspaper stands alone, for it has been the principal source from which player
information has been available for piano merchants and salesmen for a period of years. Our latest book,
"The Player-Piano Up to Date"
is the best of the series. It contains upwards of 220 pages of matter bearing directly upon the player.
Every piano merchant and piano salesman should have a copy of this book within easy reach. It
gives to readers a fund of information not obtainable elsewhere.
It contains a series of original drawings and a vast amount of instructive and educational matter, as
well as a detailed description of some of the principal player mechanisms.
It .costs $1.50 to have this book delivered to any address in the United States, and your money will be
refunded if you are not satisfied with the book after examination. No one yet has availed himself of this
opportunity. Foreign countries, 15c. to cover extra postage, should be added.
Estate of EDWARD LYMAN BILL, Publisher
373 Fourth Ave., New York
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).