Music Trade Review

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
REVIEW
THE
VOL. LXXXII. No. 24
Pmblished Every Saturday. Edward Lyman Bill, Inc., 383 Madison Ave., New York, N. Y., J«ne 12, 1926 ""*&S o ftr &?*"*'
Sales Promotion Is Keynote of First
Meeting of the Convention
E. R. Jacobson, President of the Music Industries Chamber of Commerce; Dr. Sigmund Spaeth and Par-
ham Werlein, Secretary of the National Association of Music Merchants, Unite in Declaring
Fundamental Market for Musical Instruments Must Be Cultivated More Intensively
HAT is the matter with the piano in-
dustry?" received a definite answer
at the first session of the Anniver-
sary Convention of the Music Industries held at
the Hotel Commodore, New York, on the after-
noon of June 7. The keynote of this meeting,
which was preceded by luncheon and at which
all the divisional units of associations as well as
the Music Industries Chamber of Commerce
were represented to the number of more than
600, was a definite and direct discussion of
means to promote the wider sale of all musical
instruments with particular emphasis on pianos
and to develop the latent possibilities in the
market which exists for these instruments so
that the advance in volume and output in the
music industries might be in proper ratio to
both wealth and population.
Immediately after luncheon John J. Glynn,
chairman of the New York committee in charge
of the arrangements of the convention, officially
welcomed the music merchants and manufactur-
ers, in his short address impressing upon them
the fact that during the four days of sessions
an immense amount of business had to be trans-
acted and urging them to give their full atten-
tion to the difficult problems which were be-
fore them for solution.
Franklin Named Patron Saint of Industry
At this moment Richard W. Lawrence called
for the attention of the chair and stated that on
June 7, 1776, resolutions were introduced in the
Continental Congress which resulted in the
Declaration of Independence of these U. S. from
Great Britain, and that due to the fact that Ben-
jamin Franklin not only was a member of the
committee charged with drafting the declaration
and the signer of the final document, but also
with his many other attainments a musician
who left compositions behind him and an in-
ventor of musical instruments, that he be de-
clared the patron saint of the American music
industry.
This resolution was carried unanimously.
President Jacobson Outlines Chamber Progress
Chairman Glynn then turned the meeting over
to E. J. R. Jacobson, president of the Music
Industries Chamber of Commerce, who briefly
sketched the activities of that organization since
its foundation ten years ago, pointing out the
results that had been achieved in co-operation
"W
and co-ordination of common activities. His
report follows here in full.
"It is with pleasure that I present a brief
report as president of the Music Industries
Chamber of Commerce. I have for many years
E. R. Jacobson
President, Music Industries Chamber of
Commerce
been interested in association work and have for
a long period been more or less intimately asso-
ciated with the trade movements within our in-
dustry. My closer association with the general
work this past year has more than ever con-
vinced me of the great mission that a Chamber
of Commerce such as ours has to fulfill; the
responsibilities it must assume, and the tre-
mendous results that can come from united ef-
fort with the good of the industry as the goal.
"To cope with problems that are too broad,
too complex, too far reaching for the individual
to handle, associations have been brought into
being, and it is only necessary to reflect on the
tremendous activities of associations every-
where, and especially in the fields of trade and
industry, to realize that without this organized
effort far less satisfactory trade results would
be the rule, and the expenditure of money for
any given result would be much greater when
done by individual rather than by organized
effort. In fact, it is universally recognized that
trade associations can and do function in
propositions of general trade interest in a man-
ner not possible by any other agency or by in-
dividual effort.
"The history of our own Chamber is too well
known to need comment at this time. Impor-
tant as was the successful fight on war-time
excise taxes; epoch-making as was the establish-
ment and maintenance of the National Bureau
for the Advancement of Music; splendid as are
the information departments that serve to lend
financial stability to the industry—great as all
these things are, we are on the threshold to-day
of achievements that are even more appealing
in interest, looking to the further development
and stimulation of the latent possibilities in our
industry.
Celebrating a Triple Anniversary
"This meeting to-day opens the anniversary
convention of the music industry. It is fitting
that it be so called, for we are celebrating the
two hundredth anniversary of the invention
of the Cristofori action, making possible the
modern pianoforte; the twenty-fifth aniversary
of the founding of the Merchants' Association,
and at the same time this Chamber of Com-
merce is also celebrating its tenth birthday. It
is therefore proper to do -as. is usually done
on birthdays—take a general view of the situa-
tion as it is and endeavor to look ahead as far
as possible to see what course is best to follow:
"And here is what we find in the Chamber:
A working organization made up of eleven dis-
tinct and separate associations and about thirty-
five individual members. For most of these
associations the Chamber is the operating
agency, and it is not too much to say that it is
due to the active work of the Chamber that
there is a solidarity of interests, and, with one
or two exceptions, a constantly increasing mem-
bership.
"And why is this? Because more and more it
is being understood and realized that the Cham-
ber representing the entire industry can act
more efficiently than any one concern, no matter