Music Trade Review
Issue: 1919 Vol. 68 N. 19 - Page 3
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
VOL. LXVIII. No. 19
REVIEW
Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman Bill, Inc., at 373 4th Ave., New York. May 10, 1919
operation Prevails
W
H E T H E R it be the result of lessons taught by the war, or whether it represents merely a natural
trade development, the fact remains that the spirit of co-operation and the desire for various inter-
ests in the same line of business to get together are quite in evidence in the music industry just now.
This fact has been brought forward with particular strength as one of the results of the country-
wide tour of George W. Pound. In close to a dozen cities visited by the general counsel of the Music Industries
Chamber of Commerce new associations of piano merchants and allied interests have been given life, and in
other cities the music men are discussing with earnestness plans for getting together in some sort of an asso-
ciation. With all credit to Mr. Pound for his work, it is hard to believe that these new associations are to any
great degree spontaneous in their creation. It would seem that the germ of organization has been in existence
in several localities, and simply needed some stimulus and the proper guidance to bring it to life.
William C. Redfield, Secretary of Commerce, in a recent'address before the Chamber of Commerce of the
United'States stated that the indications are that American business in the future will be more co-operative
ihan competitive, and that this spirit of co-operation will solve many difficulties that actually do, or promise to,
face the various branches of industry.
;^There are those whoj not-giving the subject deep thought, declare that too much co-operation is likely to
discourage initiative and stifle competition, and that it is a recognized axiom that competition is the life of trade.
It has been actually demonstrated, however, in practice, in the music trade, as well as in other lines of endeavor.,
that co-operation and competition can exist and do exist side by side, but that co-operation serves to make com-
petition clean and helpful and keeps it front becoming destructive.
There is much said of .the development of ethics in business, of the favoring of cleaner methods in dealing-
on|k^th another, and.with the public. Certainly methods that were accepted as more or less legitimate some
years ago are now frowned upon to an extent that serves to discourage their continuation. This is one of the
direct results of co-operation..
These new local trade associations that have grown up within the last month or so, as well as those which
have existed for some time, serve to bring the members of the industry together, enable them to know one an-
other better, and eliminate as a matter of principle many business tactics that, in dealing with strangers, would
formerly not have been considered serious breaches of ethics. The business man who learns to call his com-
petitor by his first name thinks the second time before he indulges in any practice that is calculated to cast reflec-
tion upon him in the eyes of that competitor. Another result of the trade association is to enable the mem-
bers of the body to present to the general public a solid front and to impress upon that same public the fact that
the music trade is really a substantial industry—an industry of sufficient extent and solidity to demand and
receive proper recognition as such.
It is too much to hope that the present existing tendency towards organization will result in the upbuilding
of the national association to a point where it will take in every manufacturer and dealer in musical instruments,
but there is no question that the better or more progressive element of the trade in practically all sections of the
country will be represented in the councils of the national association, and thereby serve to make the co-opera-
tive spirit of the trade countrywide in its influence.
It is the ambition of those most interested in the National Association of Piano Merchants, or, as it is hoped
soon to be, "Music Merchants," to increase the membership of that body to a point where the association will
not simply represent a group of music Merchants widely scattered, but will represent a national organization
in membership and influence, as well as in name. Indications point to the fact that this is the psychological time
to carry on a campaign to that end, and the results thus far have be p n generally satisfactory.
The spirit of co-operation is in the air.
THE
VOL. LXVIII. No. 19
REVIEW
Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman Bill, Inc., at 373 4th Ave., New York. May 10, 1919
operation Prevails
W
H E T H E R it be the result of lessons taught by the war, or whether it represents merely a natural
trade development, the fact remains that the spirit of co-operation and the desire for various inter-
ests in the same line of business to get together are quite in evidence in the music industry just now.
This fact has been brought forward with particular strength as one of the results of the country-
wide tour of George W. Pound. In close to a dozen cities visited by the general counsel of the Music Industries
Chamber of Commerce new associations of piano merchants and allied interests have been given life, and in
other cities the music men are discussing with earnestness plans for getting together in some sort of an asso-
ciation. With all credit to Mr. Pound for his work, it is hard to believe that these new associations are to any
great degree spontaneous in their creation. It would seem that the germ of organization has been in existence
in several localities, and simply needed some stimulus and the proper guidance to bring it to life.
William C. Redfield, Secretary of Commerce, in a recent'address before the Chamber of Commerce of the
United'States stated that the indications are that American business in the future will be more co-operative
ihan competitive, and that this spirit of co-operation will solve many difficulties that actually do, or promise to,
face the various branches of industry.
;^There are those whoj not-giving the subject deep thought, declare that too much co-operation is likely to
discourage initiative and stifle competition, and that it is a recognized axiom that competition is the life of trade.
It has been actually demonstrated, however, in practice, in the music trade, as well as in other lines of endeavor.,
that co-operation and competition can exist and do exist side by side, but that co-operation serves to make com-
petition clean and helpful and keeps it front becoming destructive.
There is much said of .the development of ethics in business, of the favoring of cleaner methods in dealing-
on|k^th another, and.with the public. Certainly methods that were accepted as more or less legitimate some
years ago are now frowned upon to an extent that serves to discourage their continuation. This is one of the
direct results of co-operation..
These new local trade associations that have grown up within the last month or so, as well as those which
have existed for some time, serve to bring the members of the industry together, enable them to know one an-
other better, and eliminate as a matter of principle many business tactics that, in dealing with strangers, would
formerly not have been considered serious breaches of ethics. The business man who learns to call his com-
petitor by his first name thinks the second time before he indulges in any practice that is calculated to cast reflec-
tion upon him in the eyes of that competitor. Another result of the trade association is to enable the mem-
bers of the body to present to the general public a solid front and to impress upon that same public the fact that
the music trade is really a substantial industry—an industry of sufficient extent and solidity to demand and
receive proper recognition as such.
It is too much to hope that the present existing tendency towards organization will result in the upbuilding
of the national association to a point where it will take in every manufacturer and dealer in musical instruments,
but there is no question that the better or more progressive element of the trade in practically all sections of the
country will be represented in the councils of the national association, and thereby serve to make the co-opera-
tive spirit of the trade countrywide in its influence.
It is the ambition of those most interested in the National Association of Piano Merchants, or, as it is hoped
soon to be, "Music Merchants," to increase the membership of that body to a point where the association will
not simply represent a group of music Merchants widely scattered, but will represent a national organization
in membership and influence, as well as in name. Indications point to the fact that this is the psychological time
to carry on a campaign to that end, and the results thus far have be p n generally satisfactory.
The spirit of co-operation is in the air.
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