Music Trade Review

THE
4
MUSIC TRADE
(Registered in the U. S. Patent Office)
PUBUSHED BY EDWARD LYMAN BILL, Inc.
President and Treasurer, C. L. Bill 383 Madison Ave., New York; Vice·President,
J. B. Spillane, 383 Madison Ave., New York; Second Vice-President, Raymond Bill, 383
Madison Ave., New York; Secretary, Edward Lyman Bill, 383 Madison Ave.• New York;
Assistant Treasurer. Wm. A. Low.
J. B. SPILLANE, Editor
RAY BILL, B. B. WILSON, BRAID WHITE, Associate Editors
WM. H. McCLEARY, Managing Editor
CARLETON CHACE, Business Manager
L. E. BOWERS, Circulation Manager
Executive and Reportorial Staff
E. B.·MuNCH, V. D. WALSH. EDWARD VAN HARLINGEN, LEE ROBINSON,
THOS. \V. BRESNAHAN. E. J. NEALY, C. R. TIGHE, FREDERICK B. DIEHL, A. J. NICKLIN,
A . FREDERICK CARTER,
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G.
SANDBLOM
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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
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Vol. LXXVII
NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 24, 1923
No. 21
ANTICIPATING GOOD HOLIDAY DEMAND
reports fr om most sections of the country
P RELIlVIIN}\RY
show that practically all music mnchants are antIClpating a
heavy holiday demand. Information furni shed to The Review cor­
respondents has a note of pessimism conspicuously lacking. Un­
questionably general conditions warrant them in this <.!,ttitude, borne
out as it is by r eports from practically all other 11nes of retail mer­
chandising.
High-grade instruments thus far seem to hold a dominating
position in this demand. The reproducing piano especially is promi­
nent, a condition, no doubt, due to the fact that the heavy exploita­
tion which this in strument has received during the past several
years is beginning to show cumulative results. Grands, of course,
are strongly in demand· in fact, 1923 will probably go down in the
hi story of the piano indu stry as predominantly a grand year. The
foot-powe r player, however, has by no means lost its popularity. In
fact, reports from several of the larger cities state that thi s type
of in str ument is moving faster than any other. The upright, while
little is heard of it generally, is showing a fair movement.
It is not too late to point out, however, that the present condi­
tion of the public mind is one that requires intensive selling work
on the part of the merchant and the salesman. The public is willing
to be convinced, but it is not btlying spontaneously. Furthermore,
holiday competition is always strenuous·not competition between
various mu sic merchants, hut competition between the piano trade
and other lines of holiday merchandi se. There is no reason why
any music merchant should not roll up a good volume of holiday
sales, except that he eases off in his selling drive and permits his
organization to do the same.
THE TAX SITUATION AND BUSINESS
LTHOUGH the question of Federal tax reduction beginning
with the coming year as proposed by Secretary of the Treas­
ury Mellon has been developed to a point where it has taken on a
distinctly political color, that fact should not tend to cause business
men generally to forget that the cabinet member, whose word is
most authoritative on the subject, declares there has been created
A
REVIEW
NOVEMBER
24, 1923
a surplus of c.;·ovemment funds and that it is possible to effect a
reduction in taxes amounting to something over $300,000,000, or an
average of $50 per head for the actual tax-paying minority of th e
population.
The question of wartime taxation is a national one and should
not be made to be a catspaw of politics. As fast as the wartime tax
burden can be reduced so much soooer can the business of the
country, and for that matter the nation in general, be brought back
to a basis of normalcy. With conditions more or less prosperous
taxes do not weigh so heavily, but during a period of depression
they are likely to prove disastrous to the concern that is ill equipped
in the matter of funds. In addition to the saving to industry
brought about through tax reduction there is also the fact to be
considered that such a move will be calculated to throw some hun­
dreds of millions of dollars into circulation and increase by that
much the spending power of the nation.
The organized business men of the country should keep in close
contact with the whole tax situation and make every effort to see
to it that it is not side-tracked under a political smoke screen for the
purpose of clearing the way for vott getting through a soldier bonus
promIse.
A STIMULANT TO THE MUSIC TRADE
to the estimate of the Chief of the Automotive
A CCORDING
Division of the Commerce Department there are at the present
time in use in the United States 14,000,000 motor cars and trucks,
or over 82 per cent of the entire number of such vehicles in use
throughout the world. It is, likewise, estimated that there is at
present one motor vehicle to every eight of the entire population,
a proportion that is staggering.
The interesting fact, from the angle of the music trade, is that
14,000,000 individuals and concerns have found enough money
somewhere to buy motor cars. Such being the case, a distinctly
large proportion of the population is financially able to buy a piano
or talking machine of good quality. It givts some idea of the pur­
chasing power of the nation and of the opportunities that are open
for the sale of articles outside th e limits of food, clothing and
shelter.
If piano dealers , for instance, can find ways and means for
placing an in strument in the possession of only one in every forty
of the population the volume of business resulting therefrom would
be beyond the realms of imagination. In other words, something
lik e 3,000,000 pianos would be required to meet the order, for, it is
estimated, close to 2,000,000 instruments are now in use throughout
the entire country..
The idea i.s not to bewail the possible effect of the automobile
c1emand upon the music trade, an effect created by diverting for the
purchase of motor cars money that might find its way into the
music field, but rather in recognizing the situation as a stimulant
and devising ways and means of reaching the pocketbooks of the
nation just as have the automobile men.
Admitting that large I1lJlTIbers of motor cars have purely com­
mercial uses, the fact remains that a very substantial proportion
are used for pleasure, and between two articles designed to pro­
vide pleasure and entertainment good salesmanship should playa
part.
THE NEW VOSE & SONS FACTORY
HE new s that the Vose & Sons Piano Co. has finally occupied
its elaborate new plant in Boston is a matter of congratulation
not only to this old house, but to the piano industry in general, in
which it has always played a prominent part in maintaining those
standards of both quality and business policy which have created
the stability of the industry.
The House of Vose is one of those old line names which have
consistently stood for all that is best in the development of the
American piano. The history of the firm is one of steady progress,
the sort of advance which has contributed not only to the institu­
tion itself, but to the industry in general as well. In its new plant,
where it possesses unexcelled facilities for production, and which
embodies the latest development in factory management and organ­
ization, it will possess all the necessities for further expansion- one
that is based upon the ideals which have always guided it s policies
to success.
T