The New York Clipper (February 1920)

February .4, 1920 THE NEW YORK CLIPPER l? NtEL,OI>Y THIRTY CENT MUSIC NOW A NECE SSITY SAY PUBLISHERS Enormous Increase in Production Cost Forces Music Men to Adopt High Priced Publications or Get Out of the Business Entirely They Say. Fight Now on to a Finish The 30-eent publication, the high-priced music, upon which the F. W. Woolworth retail syndicate has declared war, is an absolute necessity to the life of the music publishing industry and without it the publisher of the so-called popular numbers may just as well close his doors and .get into some other business at once or find himself in the bankruptcy courts, accord- ing to the statements of a half dozen of the largest and most successful publishers in the country. While each one when interviewed by a representative of the CUPPER stated a dif- ferent reason for £he necessity of its re- maining in the catalogue of the publisher of popular prints, they all when summed up arrived at the same conclusion and that was "high cost of production." .Various heads of houses laid more 'stress than others on certain items in the cost of putting out a popular publication but all agreed that the keeping open of the doors of a publishing house without the high- priced publications is an abaolute impos- sibility. "Take a few minutes off," said one, "and look into the cost of printing. Since the time when the Wool worths and other syn- dicates set the wholesale rate on music at ■ six and one-half cents per copy, the cost of printing has increased nearly 100 per cent. That in itself," said he, "would answer every argument against the cheap print unless it was bolstered up by some- thing else from which a profit could be made." ■ "Take a look at our payroll," said an- other, "clerk hire, office employees, pro- fessional men, in fact every one in our entire establishment has in the past four or five years been raised from sixty to one hundred and twenty per cent in salary. Does a hit sell one hundred times greater than it did before the wart Well hardly, the total number of copies sold may be • little larger but you can find no one who will say that we sell fifty per cent more copies than before and look at the pro- duction cost A few years ago you could get a good pianist for $25 a week. I guess we have thirty or forty in our home and branch offices and many publishers have far more than that number. Try to hire one for that figure to-day. He wants $80 a week and if you don't feel like paying it He can get it from someone else without the slightest dlmenlty." "Are you at all familiar with the price of paper and platen," inquired another. "In the last few years the price advance for these two items alone, and big and important ones in the production op music they are too, has been all the way from one hundred and fifty to two hundredper cent. Where is that money to come from if we get no advance on our wholesale price of muster* ■ ' . * . The branch office, according to all tne publishers asked, is not the great anne"*- sary expense that has been stated but an absolute necessity and the added sales created by it practically pay? expeiiees, and, with the changing conditions In the music business, is of greater need and importance to-day than ever before. "B is true," nid one publisher, -tts* » small publisher, without a single brsDcV-offlee may get a great big hit, a natural, and. sell a lot of copies. But the selling of Sort copies and P the added business that follows necessitates the M™g>of more people, the taking on of fPr«*«°™» expense and all the added money «**»«• whIA roes with it The blt K » C^ti •ales begin to drop and the publisher with his staff now large in comparison to his old one is forced to.try to put out another song to follow the hit. He must get it sung, he must cover the entire country, he must begin an aggressive campaign or the competition in the business will sweep him and the profits of his first hit into oblivion. He must open branch offices, he must keep up with the procession or drop out and then he finds himself under big expense trying to meet them and selling at six and a half cents per copy. In a month he finds that unless he can turn out one hit after the other he is in a losing game and looks around for relief. All that appears in sight is the thirty-cent number and automatically he is forced to' issue them no matter how much he dislikes to have a break with the retail syndicates which want to buy all his prints at a price permitting them to' sell at ten cents per copy. "Of course there is a great buying pub- lic for the ten-cent print and I do not believe any publisher wants to discontinue printing this type of publication. It can be worked in very advantageously for both publisher and retailer, can be put out in a way that it will make money for both, but the restricting of a big publish- ing house's output to ten-cent numbers is only a delayed arrival in the bankruptcy courts where he will be bound to arrive the first year he lives through that does not record at least two big hits in his catalogue." The above are the various opinions of men who are among the leaders in the field of popular music publishing. Without ex- ception they stated that they regretted that, any differences had arisen between them and the retail syndicates but that the dropping of the exploitation work on the high-priced numbers or their future elimination from the catalogues was out of the question. From the stand taken recently by the Woolworths, the fight between them and the -publishers will doubtless be to the finish. SOCIALIST OBJECTS TO SONGS Geoffrey O'llara's song "Get TJp and Get Out," a number intensely American aa to subject and issued by the Leo Feist house has incurred the enmity of someone with Socialistic inclinations. There is a' line in the song containing a reference, to a "dirty red rag" and Dr. Peter E. Demarest, prin- cipal of the Bryant High School in Long Island, has been having his pupils sing the number in connection with the school's morning exercises. The principal has just received a post card mailed in New York which reads: "You are teaching great hatred against the red flag of the glorious international future, humanity and new free society arising from the eastern horizon, which is ever becoming red with the only hope of the human race. Such is the religious and political insanity of all religion and gov- ernment of the money god, private prop- erty and race hatred. Free American in- stitutions are ever hungry for more money and business monsters desiring working people for selfish gains and ends.'* The card was not signed. Dr. Demarest said yesterday he would not be influenced by the communication. He added that he had called attention of the pupils at the assembly to the'postal and informed them the song would be sung, jnst as it had been. He said the pupils applauded Ms decision. WITMARK SONGS PICKED Character songs admirably rendered are the specialty of Joe MoFarland and Johnny Palace, two clever men who always manage, to pick out songs that go over with a bang. They are using with uni- form success Ball A Brennan's ballad bit, "Let the Best of the World Go By"; the comedy number, "You Know What I Mean,'' and the latest lively Irish ditty. "There's a Typical Tipperary Over Here" —all published by M. Witmark A Sons. FOX RELEASES "KARZAN" "Karzan," a well written, melodious song by Hal Artis and Will D. Dulmoge is a recent release from the Sam Fox Pub. Co. which is attracting considerable at- tention among the better' class of vaude- ville stagers.- It makes an effective song as well as instrumental number. FEIST NOVELTY READY Leo Feist-has just released a new nov- elty number called "Ching-a-Lmg-Jaxx- Baraar." The sang which is being issued as a successor.to the hit u Chong ,r is said to surpass it in melodic novelty. YORK AVERILL WITH JtUERT * York Averfll, baa Joined th i staff of the Gilbert ft Friedlend Co. and > connected with the band and orchestra decrement. BERLIN INCREASES STAFF A number of additions to the business and professional staff of the Irving Berlin, Inc., music house has been made during the past few weeks. Milton Weil, formerly with Leo Feist is now with Berlin and will be connected' with the Chicago office having charge of the sales and assisting Maurice Bitter in the professional department. William Jacobs formerly with the Joe, Morris- Co. is now western sales manager of the Ber- lin company and win have charge of ths territory west of the (Mississippi and south of'Ohio. Bobby Crawford is now general sales manager and has taken up his duties in the New York office. "3 SHOWERS" SCORE PLAYED The musical score of the new Mr. and Mrs. Cobnm musical play "The Three Showers" by Creamer and Layton waa played at the Chas. K. Harris offices on Friday of last week. The audience which consisted of a number of critics, newspaper- men and performers was enthusiastic over the melodious score of the new piece. MAC MEEK1N TO OPEN IN N. Y. J. A. MacMeeTdn, the San Francisco mu- sic publisher is in New York looking for a suitable location in which to open a branch office. MaeMeektn. who called on the trade on his way east reports s tdf sale for his new publications. . HARRY WERTHAN ■RT. Harry Werthan, manager of the Chicago branch of Jerome H. Remick & Co., spent last week in New York making his head- quarters at the 'Bemick offices In West 40th St. He returned to Chicago on. Satur- day. SHERWOOD HAS BIG TRIP Bay Sherwood, of the Vandersloot Muale Co., a back from a trip through the MM-' die West, which was a big success In so far as sales were concerned. "In Shadowland" and "Let Me Dream" were the leaden. HOW TO COPYRIGHT SONGS The copyright question, clothed fa deepest mystery to the average Individual and responsible for scores of letters which come weekly to the Gums office, seems at present to be attracting more attention today than ever before. For the information of those who wish to copyright songs or music the follow- ing rules of procedure win secure pro- tection. First, write the Registrar of Copy- rights, Washington. D. 0.. for the neces- sary blanks, which will be furnished. If the music Is intended for publication, the first step to he taken to secure copyright is to print and publish It with a notice of copyright in the form as prescribed by the statute and fully explained in the Copyright Office circular. Promptly after such publication there should be deposited in the Copyright Office two copies of the best edition so printed and published. The application form furnished by the office properly filled and a money order for $1 for registration of the claim should accom- pany the copies, which should be sent by registered mail. Until the work has been published, the common law affords p rot e c tion against infringement. If you do not Intend to print and publish, registration of the man- uscript may he made. Such registration, however, does not remove the n e c essi ty for a second deposit of printed copies for registration, and the payment of a second fee when tile work is later published. The above procedure gives copyright protection in the United State*. It does not apply to England. If international protection Is desired one must obtain simultaneous publication In the United States and Canada. This can be dene by getting into communication with any of the big English music bonnes, who for a small fee wffl attend to the matter in so far as England la concerned. BURR CO. AT MUSIC SHOW The Henry Burr Music Corp. Is repre- sented at tiie National Musio Show at the Grand Central Palace this week, and Is tbs only firm among the publishers of popu- lar musio to have a booth st the show. Coincident with its SstMalp I at the Music Show, the firm is releasing a new "number by Byron Gay, writer of the "Vamp,** called "J Like To Do It" Either W. H. Kirkeby, general manager of the Barr Corporation, or Bay Perkins, late of Waterson Berlin and Snyder, are at the booth all during the show. The display is colorful and attractive, featur- ing the firm's three "big ones": Tve Found the Nesting Place of the Bluebird." "Oh, My Lady • and "I Like To Do It" Philip W. Simon, manager of the Rec- ord-makers' Concert Company, a sob- i ridlary Burr enterprises. Is also at tbs booth to book concert* for the 10S6-1031 season. The Record-makers ISJfcJS l — S s phonograph artists as BUIy Murray, John Meyers, Monroe Silver and others. Cm 120 concerts have, beau booked for fate FOUR WITMARK SONGS Of ACT * .-TEe -Tip Top Poor have jnst added a '.fourth Witmark song to their repertoire. AB four songs are going very big wtth this classy set. The songs in aneetion SINGER'S NAMES BARRED According. to a ruling of the Publishers' Protective a—Mfst fr n not permissible for a member to in the shape of an advertisement a etaeula* the name of any burlesque stager in connection ' staging of a song. Should a a telegram or letter piaJafnc a is set permissible to r s y rod o co it all reference to the publisher is Mote It ft* range from grave ^to gay, titles it can readily and from the _ what good fjJ3ios"of,a good songfthe Tip Top lbs* NICE RELEASES NEW B. C. Nice ft Co. have David's latest c o mpos iti on, a trot called "Clouds That Night" The number wWe* i one of Da-rkTs best is to be ■ 51 3. 1 ■■■■1