Music Trade Review
Issue: 1918 Vol. 66 N. 7 - Page 5
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
FEBRUARY 16,
1918
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
IN TIME OF WAR PREPARE FOR PEACE
(Continued front page 3)
them while the opportunity is ours. If the foreign buyers can get what they want from us during the war, they
will be that much more likely to continue buying from us in the peace times that will follow.
All the factors that enter into export business, credits, shipping methods and publicity matters, must all
be gone into thoroughly, and they must be gone into right now, so that when the fight comes we will be
entirely prepared. It is much easier to hold a market by rendering satisfactory and intelligent service, than it
is to regain that market when once lost through improper handling. The War Trade Board has established a
ruling exempting piano manufacturers from securing licenses to cover the export of manufactured products
containing wool, this exemption being granted at the request of the general manager of the Music Industries
Chamber of Commerce. The red tape, therefore, has been reduced to a minimum, and all that is required of
the American manufacturer is that he gives the same study to the export problem that he gives to the problem
that faces him in his domestic market, which is the problem of marketing his product successfully in the face
of competition.
much. What is needed is some systematic method of arousing
local interest.
The benefits of association membership must be brought to
the attention of the individual dealer in some tangible form. The
State Commissioners in their report state that they had met with
considerable difficulty in persuading members to join, but if the
State Commissioners can have something definite to offer the
dealer in his own State or in his own city, and can bring the
National Association work home to him, some results will cer-
tainly be apparent.
HE life of the piano traveler these days resembles that of
T
the policeman, in that it is not a happy one, because the
enormous reduction in passenger accommodation on railroads,
and particularly the cutting off of hundreds of sleeping cars,
places the traveling men in a position where it takes them
probably twice as long as formerly to cover a given territory,
and will probably force the majority of the fraternity to cut
down their route trips to an appreciable degree in the near
future. The man who finds his time limited will, in fact, have
to think seriously of cutting out many of the smaller towns and
cities on his itinerary, if he hopes to make any kind of progress.
The chief drawback, of course, is the withdrawal of sleeping
cars, for it will necessitate much daylight traveling, and will
serve t'o take many days from business. The man who formerly
made overnight jumps between two business days must now
devote one of his days to traveling, and the other to business,
thereby dividing his time in half, for it would be unreasonable
to expect a man who has worked all day to sit up in a passenger
car all night and then be fit for business the next day.
In other lines of trade the salesmen have arranged to over-
come traveling difficulties to some extent by establishing head-
quarters as near the center of their territories as possible, and
then have the retailers come to them. Where there is an estab-
lished trade this plan might be worked out in the piano field, and
it would be just as economical to provide for the dealer's trans-
portation expenses in visiting the salesman as it would to pay
the salesman's expenses, plus the value of his time, in follow-
ing up the dealer, because with the dealers coming in several
may be taken care of comfortably in a single day.
The prospects are that traveling conditions will become
somewhat worse before they become better, in view of the neces-
sity of unraveling the freight tangle. It will mean that piano
travelers will have to rearrange their itineraries to conform to
the new conditions. It would also be well for piano merchants
to help matters by making it easy for the factories to handle as
much of their business as possible by correspondence for the
time being at least, and where possible to meet the traveling
men at some central point for a personal conference. Anything
that will facilitate the work of the manufacturer or his traveler
will help to speed production. That is what is going to give
the piano merchant a percentage of the pianos he orders, at least,
as the year's trade develops.
HE type of merchant who is inclined to lav down and cry
T
about the existing situation is conspicuous by his absence.
The active piano man has plenty of problems to meet and over-
come nowadays in order to keep his business up to normal, and
the man who slows up his efforts in order to howl is simply going
to lose around.
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
FEBRUARY 16,
1918
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
IN TIME OF WAR PREPARE FOR PEACE
(Continued front page 3)
them while the opportunity is ours. If the foreign buyers can get what they want from us during the war, they
will be that much more likely to continue buying from us in the peace times that will follow.
All the factors that enter into export business, credits, shipping methods and publicity matters, must all
be gone into thoroughly, and they must be gone into right now, so that when the fight comes we will be
entirely prepared. It is much easier to hold a market by rendering satisfactory and intelligent service, than it
is to regain that market when once lost through improper handling. The War Trade Board has established a
ruling exempting piano manufacturers from securing licenses to cover the export of manufactured products
containing wool, this exemption being granted at the request of the general manager of the Music Industries
Chamber of Commerce. The red tape, therefore, has been reduced to a minimum, and all that is required of
the American manufacturer is that he gives the same study to the export problem that he gives to the problem
that faces him in his domestic market, which is the problem of marketing his product successfully in the face
of competition.
much. What is needed is some systematic method of arousing
local interest.
The benefits of association membership must be brought to
the attention of the individual dealer in some tangible form. The
State Commissioners in their report state that they had met with
considerable difficulty in persuading members to join, but if the
State Commissioners can have something definite to offer the
dealer in his own State or in his own city, and can bring the
National Association work home to him, some results will cer-
tainly be apparent.
HE life of the piano traveler these days resembles that of
T
the policeman, in that it is not a happy one, because the
enormous reduction in passenger accommodation on railroads,
and particularly the cutting off of hundreds of sleeping cars,
places the traveling men in a position where it takes them
probably twice as long as formerly to cover a given territory,
and will probably force the majority of the fraternity to cut
down their route trips to an appreciable degree in the near
future. The man who finds his time limited will, in fact, have
to think seriously of cutting out many of the smaller towns and
cities on his itinerary, if he hopes to make any kind of progress.
The chief drawback, of course, is the withdrawal of sleeping
cars, for it will necessitate much daylight traveling, and will
serve t'o take many days from business. The man who formerly
made overnight jumps between two business days must now
devote one of his days to traveling, and the other to business,
thereby dividing his time in half, for it would be unreasonable
to expect a man who has worked all day to sit up in a passenger
car all night and then be fit for business the next day.
In other lines of trade the salesmen have arranged to over-
come traveling difficulties to some extent by establishing head-
quarters as near the center of their territories as possible, and
then have the retailers come to them. Where there is an estab-
lished trade this plan might be worked out in the piano field, and
it would be just as economical to provide for the dealer's trans-
portation expenses in visiting the salesman as it would to pay
the salesman's expenses, plus the value of his time, in follow-
ing up the dealer, because with the dealers coming in several
may be taken care of comfortably in a single day.
The prospects are that traveling conditions will become
somewhat worse before they become better, in view of the neces-
sity of unraveling the freight tangle. It will mean that piano
travelers will have to rearrange their itineraries to conform to
the new conditions. It would also be well for piano merchants
to help matters by making it easy for the factories to handle as
much of their business as possible by correspondence for the
time being at least, and where possible to meet the traveling
men at some central point for a personal conference. Anything
that will facilitate the work of the manufacturer or his traveler
will help to speed production. That is what is going to give
the piano merchant a percentage of the pianos he orders, at least,
as the year's trade develops.
HE type of merchant who is inclined to lav down and cry
T
about the existing situation is conspicuous by his absence.
The active piano man has plenty of problems to meet and over-
come nowadays in order to keep his business up to normal, and
the man who slows up his efforts in order to howl is simply going
to lose around.
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).