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THE TALKING MACHINE WORLD
December IS, 1924
Right Slant on Phonograph-Radio Selling
H. D. Berkeley Emphasizes Need for Constructive View of Talking Machine and Radio Merchandising Where Both Are Featured
One of the fundamental reasons why some dealers have cause to complain of slackened demand for talking machines is because of their failure to put really constructive sales effort behind the moving of these instruments. It is not that these dealers are failing to wage aggressive campaigns to increase their business, but the entire organization, built up through a number of years to sell the talking machine, has been shifted to push the sale of other products, producing an unbalanced plan of promotion. The Problem of Radio
It is conceded beyond the question of a doubt that the logical place to sell radio sets is the talking machine store. The experience of the past has shown that the talking machine dealer has,' through years of experience in the merchandising of musical instruments, built up an organization that is admirably fitted to sell receiving sets. The mistake made, however, is the premise of some retailers that radio will cut into their talking machine business; that every sale of a radio set means the possible loss of a talking machine sale. Influenced by this belief, they either fail to do anything to stimulate an interest in the sale of talking machines or else do so in a half-hearted fashion that naturally fails of results. In brief, they "autosuggest" themselves into bad business.
The Constructive View
Another class of dealers, however, view the radio situation in a different light. They see it as an instrument vastly different from the talking machine and one which is supplementary to it and can be merchandised without detriment to the lines which they are selling. They accepted the radio, not with fear and trepida
tion, but with open arms, as an instrument with a place in the home, with a different appeal than those instruments which they were selling, and established their radio departments as separate units, neither dependent on, interlacing with or in any way connected with the talking machine department. The new department was regarded in the proper light — a welcome addition to the merchandise carried. But these dealers did not regard the radio as the successor to the talking machine, as many dealers, unconsciously perhaps, but erroneously view it. They feel that both the talking machine and the radio have a definite place in the home and they plan their campaigns accordingly. That they are right in this surmise is proved by the great popularity of the combination unit.
Radio Added to Console Popularity
It is true the introduction of radio into the music trade field has influenced the buying public's selection to the point where the console model, which is radio-adaptable in that a radio panel can be inserted at any time, is far more in demand than the upright model. H. D. Berkeley, manager of the talking machine department of Bloomingdale's department store. New York, reports that his sales for November are most satisfactory and are in advance of last year. He attributes this condition to the fact that the store has continued the same methods of vigorously pushing the talking machine as were employed in former .years. The only difference the introduction of radio has made is that practically the entire display of hundreds of phonographs on the floor are of the console type, many with provision for radio.
Mr. Berkeley, in discussing the opinion which
some people have that the radio is superseding the talking machine, stated that the dealers are in a large measure to blame. He pointed out that many dealers, through constant association with the instrument, have lost their sense of values and look upon the talking machine as a matter of course.
Use Imagination to Get Proper Slant "Suppose," he said, "the radio receiving sets had come into popular usage before the invention of the talking machine, and for twenty years the public were accustomed to having their music entertainment via the air. Then, the announcement of the phonograph was made. The people were informed through advertisements and through the papers of this marvelous new device, by means of which a flat disc placed on the machine would give in the home the music of all the great artists of the world, vocalists, instrumentalists, orchestras, etc., and the disc could be played at any time and would last indefinitely. The machine was complete in that it required nothing but the putting on of a record and at no time would any outside factor interfere with the enjoyment of the programs which could be heard.
"Wouldn't such a situation," continued Mr. Berkeley, "create just as much of a stir in the trade as has the radio, and yet the radio would continue to enjoy its popularity and possess features which could not be taken over by the new instrument. By viewing the matter in this light the dealer who fears for the talking machine business might get a new slant on the situation and see that each instrument has its own virtues, neither of which can be usurped by the other."
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New York: 23-25 Lispenard Street
Chicago: 415-417 S. Jefferson Street
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