New York Clipper (Jul 1923)

18 THE NEW YORK CLIPPER July 11, 1923 MUSIC MEN PLAN BIG BUSINESS SHAKE UP FOR COM ING SEASON General Drop in Music Sales and Decrease in Mechanical Royalty EamingB With Operathig Eqieiues hicreaBed Several Hundred Per Cent Publishers Are Forced to Conrider New Policies Confrooted with the inexorable fact that dnring the pa^t few years, the general sales of sheet music has dropped fifty per cent., that mechanical royalties are gradually de- creasing, and that overhead expenses dur- ing the same period has increased three hundred per cent., several of the larger pobUshers arc considering a general shake- op next season tn their methods of doing bnsiness and are sedoDg some sort of a remedy for the lowest ebb in the sale of sheet music since the industry began. That the retail price of mtisic has also increased is of little help^ since, according to pub- lishers, music IS not selling, except in the . cases of big hits, and songs that have been backed by costly exploitation. Reasons' for the slump as given by differ- ent pnUishers vary according to the size of his music house, catalogue, and "nut" he has to carry. The smaller and inter- mediate sized publishers, claim that there should be some ten cent music put out by the big houses and if the song was of such hit proportiods to warrant it, boost the price 01 the good song to the 25 or 30-cent latc These same publishers also say that the mnstc industiy lost a fortune when the S. H. Kress, chain store account and the Wool worth stores took some 1,000 music counto ' s out of the business and about 2,500 girls who formerly offered songs in Aeae stores. Other nrasic men believe that too many poor songs have been put upon the market by small firms who never honestly went ont and created a demand for the song and so give the man whose counter ?ras loaded with mtisic to sell some oi it. Meefaanical statements fasw fallei because;' many small fii iin- faacv^ guuc mto the Imwui^^ with some'sort of a novdty that pot them over willf tbc" iDBcfaamcal compaiDes, with.' the Tcsnlt tlut-sadi rdeases displsnol nmsbcr^- ia the calalogiie-of the oU esiaiiSAed fivBi Aai^^a, a. pfaanognph recunt witfa two iiiiiiiliffycaii bcbougfac £ur tfacpiiucaf one gooif' song for the pianos is the reason Advanced oy othen Altogether too nnch competition, with too many stmgs of all kinds, is still another reasoo in the <qiiiiion of one of the best known traveling men who said that there are not enough bins in the biggest music stdre in the United States to display every popular song that is published by recog- nisBd concerns. This, he said, does not apply to old songs but the average current catalogue. Careless salesmen, who want to make a showing on each trip, are also blamed by the traveling man for the in- actkm of dealers. These salesmen who do not do so well with certain accotmts, over- load another store who has faith in them, when the lalrnnan knows that he should never_ sell more to any man than he can get rid of. This making up on one ac- count what is lost by another gets the dealer in wrong and only results in a good showing for the salesman, and reacts dis- astroasTy to the whole industry. "The Song is the Thing." says another old tjme publisher who is head of one of the biggest concerns in the country and who points out that money has and is be- ing made by the man with the good song and no killnig overhead expenses, la proof of this be started with the tune Tell Taylor came from the middle west with his song "Dofa by the OM Mill Stream" and cleaned np^ down to the present when the Dixoo-Lane Music 'Company of St. Louis went fiuui -town to town ph^ging their "Call Me Back Pal O'Mine" until the sales have now reached the 1,200,000 mark and large mechanical firms had to put the num- ber out. He mentioned the small, staff that Fred Fisher had to put "Oiicago^' over. Ager, Yellen & Bomstein, had few men on the staff when "Lovin' Sam" happened, and the firm was brand new. One of the best known' publishers in the business, who admits that it costs him close to $3,000 to turn the key in the door each' day in the week, claims that he is making money regularly, but that songs have to be plugged consist^tly and at a tremendous professional department overhead. The radio may be hurting the sales of records, he said, and mechanical statements may be suffering as a result, tnit that medium of exploitation is in his opinion the best and cheapest way of testing the possibilities of a song and putting it at once before the public Having the song, stmg to people is still a fine way of plugging the song, and before the movie houses took offence at being charged for performing music for profit, they would make it possible for a plogger with slides to make several bouses m a few hours. But now, the movie man has to be a publisher's brother-in-law or something like that, before he will let a plugger tise the house. Once upon a time pluggers, piano players could be had from as low as twelve dollars a wedc for after- noons or evenings up to twenty-five and thirty dollars for the best men. When a certain professional department manager' received the sum of $75.00 per week, in the beginning of the high salary era, the entire, trade, 'was talking about it, for he was the oofy one ^ettnig so much money for the job, explanted .the big pnUisher. Now a. p iufrsiii i nal manager, in ma employ like man y others; is g e tting a salary fair in mrwof ^aiUnswed^aidgpad mine. salesmcK.'get '.$10100 i_oc rmnrr,. and . want 20 per^cBi^' OHiiinissBwi\ oil *^t^,' Any land; of smger or paano playcc 0cts around suly doliazs per wuk^ not to mcntan other . high costs. ■ This is the reason for the hard times experienced by some of the larger publishing houses. Other reasons are advanced by music men, who are considering some' sort of a move to help business conditions next falL oome of them will endeavor to have a limit pnt on the number of songs put out by a house and also make it necessary for the house to go through with a song in-, stead of merely trying them and leaving the copies on the dealtf's diell DELUm OPENS OFFICE - Harold Dellon, has gone into the music publishing business on his own, under the name of the Harold Dellon Music Com- pany, with offices in the new building at 148 West 46th street, which is fast being occupied by several other new publishers. Dellon is well known, to the trade having been connected for many years -with vari- ous firms. His first song at present is a waltz by himself and Walter Hirsch, and a fox-trot jazz song is in preparation. SONGWRITER'S WIFE WINS DECREE Mrs. Louise Pease, wife of Harr>' Pease, the songwriter was granted a separation from her husband last week by Supreme Court Justice Morschauser at White Plains. The couple were married in 1910 and have a son ten years old. Pease -was or- dered to pay alimony of $20 a week. SONGWRITERS OUTING JULY IS The Songwriters are preparing to attend in force, their first annual outing and clam- bake at Duct's Casino, Whitestone Land- ing, L. I., on next Sunday, July IS. Theo- dore Morse is chairman of the Outing Committee and tickets may be obtained from most any of the members at $5.00 each which includes transportation by buses from 48th street and Seventh avenue at 10:30 A. M. Many features will be put on in addition to the regulation Rhode Island Clambake which is conceded to be the best obtainable in this vicinity. A special menu which is also repro- duced on the cards and posters advertis- ing the occasion, is one of the funniest. thui^ ever written in connection with the music business and includes the following laughs: Special Menu 'You've got to take the Bitner's with the Kelts. Bemsteamed Gambs. SoupsT-Mark's Turtle, Chicken Gumble, Bomstein's Bul- lion. Fried Fisher. Hot Kornheiser on Cob. Stake Jolson. Goodman's Noodles and Shad Rose. Maurice Abraham's and Hard Boiled Apers. Ted Snyder's Ketchup. Vegetables—Lettuce Collect, Leo Wood's Salary, Beilin's Hot Potatoes. Hot Rolls, Coimorized or Q. R. S. Desserts—Ice Cold Water (son) Melon. I Scream at Royalty Time. Pace and Handy diocolate pudding. Some Writer's 'Whine, Publishers' Biers, Mechanical Cheese and 'Wise Cradcers, Publisher's Weak Royal-Tea, Berlin Hot Coffee. Milk Supplied hy Remick's Contented Cows, Beer Supplied by Waterson's Dis- contented Horses. Sherman Clay Pines, Richmond Cut- Plug. Harms-Less Boosey. No Admis- sion Wit-Marks. MUSIC MEN IN NEW CXTICES Several new publishers and others have taken offices in the new building at 148-50 West 46th street, which now houses such new' concerns as the Ar- tists Music PubUshing Company, Inc.: the Olman Music Company; the Harold Dellon Music Company, and other new firma. The lower floors of the build- ing 'will be occnpied shortly by one of the big publish'ing concerns, which is now- prcparinK to move over. BIG BOOffr FOR MUJS' SONG Roy- Mouttan, in last Saturday's, Eve- ning Mail, pve the Jack Mills. Inc, song "Hey I You -want any Cbdfisb, We've only Got Mack'rell Today" a tremendoaS' plug when he made the title the subject of his daily two column feature story on the back page. The circulation of the Mail in the Times Square district went up over a thousand copies, the Mills concern buying thatimany to distribute among the trade. GILLEN OPENS OFHCE Frank Gillen has left the professional de- partment staff of Harm<:. Tnc, and formed a partnership writh Ted Reilly. for the pur- pose of m-oducing and doing a general the- atrical business, with offices at 49 West 4Sth_ street. Tn addition to writing the music etc.. for the various revues the firm has contracted to produce. Gillen will also do harmony and'quartet arrangements for the trade. ISRAEL WITH JACK SNYDER Harry Israel is now professional de- partment manai;er of the Jack Snyder music company, succeeding A1 Livscy. Mr. Israel was formerly connected with the Joe Morris Music Company. HARRY YORKE IN CANADA Harry Yorke, mechanical man for M. Witmark & Sons, left last week on an ex- tended vacation which he is spending at Ottawa, and other parts of Canada, of which country he is a native. THE WITMARK OPENING M. Witmark & Sons formally opened their new home at 1650 Broadway, at 51st street, on Tuesday, a steady stream of 'visitors composed of theatrical people, pub- lishers and others, arriving to congratulate members of the firm and their sta£F, and inspect the new offices, studio and ware- rooms which are one of the most up-to- date in the dty. The firm has a fifteen-year lease on both the fifth and sixth floors of the building and occupy about 14,000 »iuare feet of space. Previous to the opening of the new offices they were located in West 37th street for over twenty years. The profes- sional department was for the past seven years located next to the Palace Theatre •and the band and orchestra department at 1658 Broadway, but now all departments are consolidated in either one of the two floors. Everything has been, fitted up and put on a basis of efficiency and convenience, vrith no expense spared. The exe cuti ve offices are on the fifth floor as well as the studios, mechanical, concert, commissary and sales department. The studios espe- cially are ventilated in the most modem style well suited for hot 'weather. The band and orchestra department, shipping, arranging, library and other such branches are on the sixth floor, all of which is ex- pertly laid out and fireproof. MU^C GIRL DIES SUDDENLY Miss Viola Thompson, of the office staff of the Music Publishers' Protective Association, and American Society of Com- posers, Authors and Publishers, died Sat- urday morning at a hospital in Larchmont, N. Y., where she had been removed a few days earlier, suffering from blood poison- ing, which resulted from an infected insect bite on the side of her face. Miss Thomp- son is believed to have neglected the insect bite due to the fact that she did not use medicines as a rule, and was a Qiristian Scientist. The little red mark was first noticed by Miss Thompscm's friends a week ago and gradually grew worse, so that she had to leave for her home in Larchmont shortly after arriving at the office one day. Familiarly known as "Tommy" to her friends which included most all of the pub- lishers and writers who had occasion to visit the offices. Miss Thompson was tm- usually popular, due to her politeness, reat^ smile and cheerfulness. She was to tie married next September. ' On Monday all of the members of the staff of the M. P. P. A, and A. S. C A. & P.. E. C Mills, and J. C Rosenthal, went to I^chmont to attend the funeral services. NEW SHERWOOD RELEASES The Sherwood Music Company which was recently formed by Vincent E. Sher- wood, formerly Eastern manager for the McKinley Music Company, announces two new songs for the first numbers in its catalogue, both of which will be widely exploited shortly. One of the songs is a fox-trot tune by Walter C. Johnson en- titled 'Tm Still In Love With You" and the other is a waltz ballad entitled "When You're Tired of Calling Me Sweetheart (You Can Always Call Me Pal)" by Earl Johnson. DAVIS BACK IN DENVER Qeyeland Davis, Western representative of Richmond-Robbins, Inc., is again lo- cated at his headquarters in Denver. Colo- rado, after spending several months ex- ploiting the concern's catalogue on the Coast. SmVERICK WITH HARMS Eddie Shiverick has severed his connec- tions with Jerome H. Remick & Co., and is now in the professional department of Harms, Inc.