Music Trade Review
Issue: 1921 Vol. 72 N. 20 - Page 3
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
MUJIC TFADE
VOL. LXXII. No. 20
Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman Bill, Inc., at 373 4th Aye., New York.
May 14, 1921
Single Copies 10 Cents
$2.00 Per Year
Conventions
F
OR the majority of members of all branches of the industry the conventions in Chicago offer the chief
subject of interest this week, and this interest is evidenced in the number of manufacturers and merchants
who have gathered together to take part in the various association sessions, to confer with their fellows
and to carry back with them some concrete facts upon which to base their business calculations for the
immediate future.
As this is written, there have been held several of the major meetings, including those of the Music
Industries Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Music Merchants and the National Piano
Manufacturers' Association, and although it is naturally too early to pass judgment upon the results of the
meetings and the developments that may be expected therefrom, there is no denying the earnest spirit that has
prevailed and the importance of the matters presented in the business sessions.
Anyone who doubts the progress that has been made in organization work in the music industry during
the past year or more might well read the masterly report of R. B. Aldcroftt, president of the Music Industries
Chamber of Commerce, in which Mr. Aldcroftt not only reviews Chamber and trade developments during the
period since the last conventions in February, 1920, but also takes occasion to consider the future and to make
recommendations that are deserving of earnest and, it is hoped, favorable attention.
Both President Hamilton, of the Merchants, and President Schulz, of the Manufacturers, made recom-
mendations in their reports that in many cases reflected the trend of trade thought, and in other cases offered
a new line of reasoning that should prove helpful in molding future Association action.
There was a welcome tendency in the reports of the various Association executives to be frank in their
comments on the things that have been done and the things that should be done. There was evident a diver-
gence of opinion regarding various matters that should be handled and the way they should be handled, but this
frank presentation of facts is to be, and was, appreciated because it makes possible a discussion of matters, and
opens the road to a definite and satisfactory solution.
The Merchants' Association particularly is to be congratulated upon the constructive character of its
program and the wide range of the same. That convention reflected most strongly the views of the Association
officers and many of the members that the music merchant should be all that the term implies and not simply
a dealer in pianos. With this point in view there are offered to the music merchant, through the medium of a
series of constructive and authoritative papers read by men of standing in the industry, an abundance of
valuable information relative to the proper conduct of the various departments of a music store—those depart-
ments devoted to the handling of small goods, talking machines, sheet music, etc. During the past few
months particularly the members of the trade have come to realize that every department of a store is to be
considered on a business basis, must be conducted along efficient lines and must be made to show a profit.
In talking with those who have come to the conventions, it is quite evident that the great majority have
full faith in the bright future of the industry and are not at all affected by the cantings of those who, being
more or less affected by the business depression themselves, see nothing but failure and desolation ahead.
There is no question but that the general feeling is that trade organizations have a wonderful oppor-
tunity this year to prove their value and to establish the fact that they are essential parts of the industrial fabric,
enjoying increased importance when conditions are such as to make sound advice and counsel of paramount value
to the individual.
If the spirit evidenced in Chicago this week may be taken as an indication of the general attitude of the
trade, then the 1921 conventions will unquestionably go down in history as the most constructive and thoroughly
successful of any trade meetings ever held.
_
THE
MUJIC TFADE
VOL. LXXII. No. 20
Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman Bill, Inc., at 373 4th Aye., New York.
May 14, 1921
Single Copies 10 Cents
$2.00 Per Year
Conventions
F
OR the majority of members of all branches of the industry the conventions in Chicago offer the chief
subject of interest this week, and this interest is evidenced in the number of manufacturers and merchants
who have gathered together to take part in the various association sessions, to confer with their fellows
and to carry back with them some concrete facts upon which to base their business calculations for the
immediate future.
As this is written, there have been held several of the major meetings, including those of the Music
Industries Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Music Merchants and the National Piano
Manufacturers' Association, and although it is naturally too early to pass judgment upon the results of the
meetings and the developments that may be expected therefrom, there is no denying the earnest spirit that has
prevailed and the importance of the matters presented in the business sessions.
Anyone who doubts the progress that has been made in organization work in the music industry during
the past year or more might well read the masterly report of R. B. Aldcroftt, president of the Music Industries
Chamber of Commerce, in which Mr. Aldcroftt not only reviews Chamber and trade developments during the
period since the last conventions in February, 1920, but also takes occasion to consider the future and to make
recommendations that are deserving of earnest and, it is hoped, favorable attention.
Both President Hamilton, of the Merchants, and President Schulz, of the Manufacturers, made recom-
mendations in their reports that in many cases reflected the trend of trade thought, and in other cases offered
a new line of reasoning that should prove helpful in molding future Association action.
There was a welcome tendency in the reports of the various Association executives to be frank in their
comments on the things that have been done and the things that should be done. There was evident a diver-
gence of opinion regarding various matters that should be handled and the way they should be handled, but this
frank presentation of facts is to be, and was, appreciated because it makes possible a discussion of matters, and
opens the road to a definite and satisfactory solution.
The Merchants' Association particularly is to be congratulated upon the constructive character of its
program and the wide range of the same. That convention reflected most strongly the views of the Association
officers and many of the members that the music merchant should be all that the term implies and not simply
a dealer in pianos. With this point in view there are offered to the music merchant, through the medium of a
series of constructive and authoritative papers read by men of standing in the industry, an abundance of
valuable information relative to the proper conduct of the various departments of a music store—those depart-
ments devoted to the handling of small goods, talking machines, sheet music, etc. During the past few
months particularly the members of the trade have come to realize that every department of a store is to be
considered on a business basis, must be conducted along efficient lines and must be made to show a profit.
In talking with those who have come to the conventions, it is quite evident that the great majority have
full faith in the bright future of the industry and are not at all affected by the cantings of those who, being
more or less affected by the business depression themselves, see nothing but failure and desolation ahead.
There is no question but that the general feeling is that trade organizations have a wonderful oppor-
tunity this year to prove their value and to establish the fact that they are essential parts of the industrial fabric,
enjoying increased importance when conditions are such as to make sound advice and counsel of paramount value
to the individual.
If the spirit evidenced in Chicago this week may be taken as an indication of the general attitude of the
trade, then the 1921 conventions will unquestionably go down in history as the most constructive and thoroughly
successful of any trade meetings ever held.
_
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