Music Trade Review
Issue: 1926 Vol. 83 N. 13 - Page 3
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REVIEW
THE
VOL. LXXXIII. No. 13 Published Every Saturday. Edward Lyman Bill, Inc., 383 Madison Ave., New York, N. Y., Sept. 25, 1926
8iB
'{ioS°& B
10 Cents
Year
National Piano-Playing Contest From
a New and Practical Angle
Roy A. Maypole, General Director of the Detroit Contest, Outlines to Ohio Association Plan for Holding Fifty
Such Contests a Year Under Auspices of the Piano Manufacturers' Association and
Local Retailers With Grand Finale as a Leading Convention Feature
I
AM forced to explain the method which
the Detroit Music Trades Association em-
ployed in first getting this movement
under way. While I am aware that you no
doubt are far more interested in the results, I
feel that you will be equally as interested in
the development of the plan itself.
Contests are as old as the hills. Frank J.
Bayley first conceived this idea of promoting
the piano, realizing that a piano contest prop-
erly handled would result in a tremendous wave
of piano interest. All of us here have often
spoken of the amount of readers' news copy
devoted to the automobile and other commod-
ities and have wondered why the music busi-
ness has not shared in this seemingly free pub-
licity. The reason is plain to be seen. The
music dealers have used just the reverse of
what is necessary to gain the co-operation of
the great public press. By this I mean the
great wave of advertising employed by the in-
dustries at large has had a degrading effect
rather than an uplifting one. We have grad-
ually fallen into the road of least resistance, we
have used every method, whether ethical or
not, to sell the piano as nothing more than a
piece of furniture, rather than a musical instru-
ment, the basic musical instrument. We have
continually advertised year after year, lowering
the advertised price until we have convinced
the public that the piano can be purchased for
very little money, and that it is not worth a
great deal intrinsically. We have also in our
anxiety to get quick business taught the public
that one piano is all that any one need buy in
all their life, because of its great lasting qual-
ities, while in fact, we all know that the life
of a piano is not any longer than any other
well-made article constructed of wood. We
have raised our guarantees from ten years to a
lifetime, and we now have the public believing
it. Is this not our own fault? We have allowed
to wane the very backbone of our industry.
The reaction has set in, and it is now up to
us to put forth the necessary counteracting
propaganda if the piano is to hold its rightful
place in the home life of our citizens.
A Means to the End
It was with this in mind that we searched
for an activity that would interest the public
to such an extent that the press would use our
news stories and pass them on to the multi-
tude. So we chose the contest idea. Both Mr.
Bayley and myself have had a fair experience
in publicity work, and while we used the con-
test idea it was used only as a means to the
end." The picking of a final winner was merely
T\IVIDING the annual $200,000 propa-
•*—* ganda fund of the National Piano
Manufacturers' Association among fifty
leading cities across the nation to be
matched in amount by local dealers would
provide within year for fifty sectional con-
tests backed by newspapers with daily circu-
lation of four million, all to culminate in
smashing finale among fifty sectional cham-
pions to determine prize-winning school
child pianist of the entire country. This,
in brief, is Roy A, Maypole's plan.
an incident in the scheme of things. The actual
motive was to use the contest to create news
of interest and value.
Interesting the Dealer
The first step was to interest the civic au-
thorities, the schools, the press and through
these factors to interest the rising generation
and their parents. This was, of course, done
after we had first interested the piano dealer.
I do not think there was one dealer in all De-
troit who appreciated the full value of the piano
as a musical instrument. Therefore the first
important result of the contest is the educating
of the dealer. We are now ready to take up
the contest itself. Our first news articles ap-
peared in the Detroit Times on March 4, and
then followed about six weeks of build-up
articles. Each and every day we continually
pounded away, that the piano is the basic mu-
sical instrument, that if a full knowledge of
music is to be acquired the piano must neces-
sarily be studied. Our first application for con-
test entrance was published in the paper about
four weeks after our first article, and about two
weeks later applications were distributed
through the schools, together with 300,000
3
copies of descriptive literature containing the
rules, the prizes and the names of the firms who
were interested in furthering the cause of music.
We received from both sources about 4,200 ap-
plications and were well satisfied. Our first
contests were held on the night of April 30, at
which time we had a combined audience of
35,000 people at 177 contests held in every
public and parochial school in the city. We
were reaching out into the very communities
and homes, reaching the public as directly as
is possible. Each new development gave us
reason for a new story, and day after day we
pounded home the fact that the piano is the
basic musical instrument.
An Incentive to Practice
We were doing more than this, however, as
an incentive was created for the children to
practice. Night after night little fingers were
flying over the keys in preparation for the com-
petition to come, and in the hope that the
grand piano offered as first prize might some
day be theirs. During the month of May we
held two contests each week, one night each
devoted to either one grade or another, and
so on through the whole month of May. After
the last semi-final contest we had accounted for
15,000 children who had taken part, so the sec-
ond result of the contest is the creating of an
incentive for the children to learn to play the
piano.
The public school authorities were amazed
at the talent that had been discovered and the
interest that had been manifested in this new
plan. Don't you see the wedge that is forced
into the schools to open the way for the vari-
ous methods of group piano instruction? We
created the demand; the supply is bound to
follow.
Financial Returns
Let me recite a few of the benefits from a
financial standpoint. I personally sold pianos
to two of the contest judges and traced a num-
ber of other sales to it also. D. J. Reddaway
had the experience of selling two pianos to
one household, as there were four children in
the family and one would have been insuffi-
cient for all four to practise on. Walter Elf-
strom, of the Cable Piano Co., traced 64 per
cent of his business during the months of June
(Continued on page 4)
REVIEW
THE
VOL. LXXXIII. No. 13 Published Every Saturday. Edward Lyman Bill, Inc., 383 Madison Ave., New York, N. Y., Sept. 25, 1926
8iB
'{ioS°& B
10 Cents
Year
National Piano-Playing Contest From
a New and Practical Angle
Roy A. Maypole, General Director of the Detroit Contest, Outlines to Ohio Association Plan for Holding Fifty
Such Contests a Year Under Auspices of the Piano Manufacturers' Association and
Local Retailers With Grand Finale as a Leading Convention Feature
I
AM forced to explain the method which
the Detroit Music Trades Association em-
ployed in first getting this movement
under way. While I am aware that you no
doubt are far more interested in the results, I
feel that you will be equally as interested in
the development of the plan itself.
Contests are as old as the hills. Frank J.
Bayley first conceived this idea of promoting
the piano, realizing that a piano contest prop-
erly handled would result in a tremendous wave
of piano interest. All of us here have often
spoken of the amount of readers' news copy
devoted to the automobile and other commod-
ities and have wondered why the music busi-
ness has not shared in this seemingly free pub-
licity. The reason is plain to be seen. The
music dealers have used just the reverse of
what is necessary to gain the co-operation of
the great public press. By this I mean the
great wave of advertising employed by the in-
dustries at large has had a degrading effect
rather than an uplifting one. We have grad-
ually fallen into the road of least resistance, we
have used every method, whether ethical or
not, to sell the piano as nothing more than a
piece of furniture, rather than a musical instru-
ment, the basic musical instrument. We have
continually advertised year after year, lowering
the advertised price until we have convinced
the public that the piano can be purchased for
very little money, and that it is not worth a
great deal intrinsically. We have also in our
anxiety to get quick business taught the public
that one piano is all that any one need buy in
all their life, because of its great lasting qual-
ities, while in fact, we all know that the life
of a piano is not any longer than any other
well-made article constructed of wood. We
have raised our guarantees from ten years to a
lifetime, and we now have the public believing
it. Is this not our own fault? We have allowed
to wane the very backbone of our industry.
The reaction has set in, and it is now up to
us to put forth the necessary counteracting
propaganda if the piano is to hold its rightful
place in the home life of our citizens.
A Means to the End
It was with this in mind that we searched
for an activity that would interest the public
to such an extent that the press would use our
news stories and pass them on to the multi-
tude. So we chose the contest idea. Both Mr.
Bayley and myself have had a fair experience
in publicity work, and while we used the con-
test idea it was used only as a means to the
end." The picking of a final winner was merely
T\IVIDING the annual $200,000 propa-
•*—* ganda fund of the National Piano
Manufacturers' Association among fifty
leading cities across the nation to be
matched in amount by local dealers would
provide within year for fifty sectional con-
tests backed by newspapers with daily circu-
lation of four million, all to culminate in
smashing finale among fifty sectional cham-
pions to determine prize-winning school
child pianist of the entire country. This,
in brief, is Roy A, Maypole's plan.
an incident in the scheme of things. The actual
motive was to use the contest to create news
of interest and value.
Interesting the Dealer
The first step was to interest the civic au-
thorities, the schools, the press and through
these factors to interest the rising generation
and their parents. This was, of course, done
after we had first interested the piano dealer.
I do not think there was one dealer in all De-
troit who appreciated the full value of the piano
as a musical instrument. Therefore the first
important result of the contest is the educating
of the dealer. We are now ready to take up
the contest itself. Our first news articles ap-
peared in the Detroit Times on March 4, and
then followed about six weeks of build-up
articles. Each and every day we continually
pounded away, that the piano is the basic mu-
sical instrument, that if a full knowledge of
music is to be acquired the piano must neces-
sarily be studied. Our first application for con-
test entrance was published in the paper about
four weeks after our first article, and about two
weeks later applications were distributed
through the schools, together with 300,000
3
copies of descriptive literature containing the
rules, the prizes and the names of the firms who
were interested in furthering the cause of music.
We received from both sources about 4,200 ap-
plications and were well satisfied. Our first
contests were held on the night of April 30, at
which time we had a combined audience of
35,000 people at 177 contests held in every
public and parochial school in the city. We
were reaching out into the very communities
and homes, reaching the public as directly as
is possible. Each new development gave us
reason for a new story, and day after day we
pounded home the fact that the piano is the
basic musical instrument.
An Incentive to Practice
We were doing more than this, however, as
an incentive was created for the children to
practice. Night after night little fingers were
flying over the keys in preparation for the com-
petition to come, and in the hope that the
grand piano offered as first prize might some
day be theirs. During the month of May we
held two contests each week, one night each
devoted to either one grade or another, and
so on through the whole month of May. After
the last semi-final contest we had accounted for
15,000 children who had taken part, so the sec-
ond result of the contest is the creating of an
incentive for the children to learn to play the
piano.
The public school authorities were amazed
at the talent that had been discovered and the
interest that had been manifested in this new
plan. Don't you see the wedge that is forced
into the schools to open the way for the vari-
ous methods of group piano instruction? We
created the demand; the supply is bound to
follow.
Financial Returns
Let me recite a few of the benefits from a
financial standpoint. I personally sold pianos
to two of the contest judges and traced a num-
ber of other sales to it also. D. J. Reddaway
had the experience of selling two pianos to
one household, as there were four children in
the family and one would have been insuffi-
cient for all four to practise on. Walter Elf-
strom, of the Cable Piano Co., traced 64 per
cent of his business during the months of June
(Continued on page 4)
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