The New York Clipper (January 1920)

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18 ' US jaititxary 217W20 WOOLWORTH STARTS WAR ON HIGH PRICED S HEET MUSIC Big Syndicate Out to Make Hits of Ten Cent Numbers. Will 7. ; Exploit New Songs -and May Even Pay. Singer*. Big Publishers May Lose Listings ' The first shot in a music battle with the Wool worth retail syndicate on one side and tin publishers of popular sheet music that are making a big feature of the thirty-cent numbers on the-other, was fired this week when the Wool worth concern sent a letter to its various branch stores instructing the managers to deny display privileges to the publications of certain houses. Shortly after Ibis -a big general order for a new popular priced number was placed and the big Wool worth organization announced Its intention 'of. making it a country-wide'hit. The song is "Afghanistan," a new num- ber just Issued by the Gilbert & Fried- land, Inc.,' music bouse, and the Wool worth TOncern, convinced of Kb merit, are "going necessity, that the increased cost of paper, printing and labor makes the selling of music at six and one-half cents per copy (the wholesale rate) an utter impossibility, am! that their only,hope of remaining in business is to issue and exploit-a number of Bongs at the high price. " The Wool worth company has taken the stand, that the increased cost of music pro- drctioa-is,'due not to the reasons advanced bv the publishers, but is on account -Of' t lie establishment and maintenance of branch offices throughout the - country, an entirely unnecessary expense, according- to the Woolwortha.-- .' Some '.time w E. Z. Nutting, of the Woolworth concern, • wrote to ten of the after ifcT and in the words of one of the lending popular music publishers suggest- r- big executives of the corporation, are to put ' it over to the tune of two million copies. "First of all," said be, "we believe in its potiaibilties, we are sure that is a hit and we are goin* to show that the Woolworth co m p any can not oniy^make a hit, bu t one that will be long remembered." "We an ,: -»4Ired fooling," be continued, "and from P-'-t»w"'oTrywr"Bre going to see action. We • are planning to send « man to all our stores . .^JtOjteaeliHhe platobrts-the proper and most _'ATTtctiv«T-pny tu -teqoastrate the number «nrl are ctinsidetSijt a nmnbetsOf other plana ■ ^tortne^explaitaiip^pftbesojog. We are - going after*tsto..ineveryway and propose .' ta d*a4ft*rj»bVtn everyone that the Wool- worth *biro*>*onn make•• riitsi. We may even decide to. pay singers to sing it in the theatres." . ' The decision of the Woolworth company to begin a campaign of song popularisation will come an-a big surprise to-many, but a few of the publishers have-for some time been expecting some positive move by the bj? syndicate. - The flood of thirty-cent numbers which ;■ are flowing, from almost all'the catalogues ha.—for the time placed the big Syndicate In -a peculiar position. ! It is pledged: to the tec-cent -policy.- No 'article is retailed; in the thousand or more'Woolworth stores at I more than that price. The. music depart- ment ia-iio nrception' and jvith -rraSHafcecs Issuing' and working dm-high- li r lc ei l -n-nm^' bees" which retail for thirty wnbi or more, the Woolworth> counters are abort of h Ms. - Ptibliahera state that theirreason for ex- ploiting the high price nn um t Bc l ar-^one :of. ing 'that a great number of the expensive branch offices be cut out and thus the ex- pense of the music publisher be greatly curtailed. He suggested that an office in New York, Boston, Chicago and San Fran- cisco, in co-operation with the home of- fice of the publisher, would be all that was necessary to cover the entire field. His su gg e sti on evidently was not taken, as new. branches are continually being' opened, many of them, according to Mr. Nutting, being entirely unnecessary. It is said that as noon as the Woolworth campaign in' connection with tile "Af- ghanistan'' number ia -well under way -that another popular priced numbei"<win 'be taken up and put over -in the.esimmanner. The Woolworth oi m ue iii was the—flrat of the big retailers' to take 'up the selling of sheet music at ten.'cents per copy. This big syndicate is largely responsible for the beginning of the great distribution which a hit now enjoys. They state that there win always be ten cent "music, and" a lot of it, that the Wool worths,-arc hit makers and that' public and publishers alike arf soon to. be bnou-gtit to the realization- oi • their importance in the world itZuv&QCf - . While no statement regarding the" future business policy of the WoolworthsTtoncern was given out,'it *is'said' that a number of the bin publishers who are working on high priced" songs are to lose their trade listing with the syndicate and; that a big drive to put over the prints of those who confine their publications to those Of the ten cent type-will be .started imme- diately. - ' .. ODOM3 BACK IN PHILADELPHIA Cliff Odoms, of the.sales force'of Leo Feist, Inc., is ^enyKwaxily ■ back -in Phila- - delphia at .the bead ofr the' Feist branch', office in that city. The resignation of Fred Wright caused the Philadelphia va- cancy and Odoms who now holds a-hip job in the borne office of the publishing house BIG SEASON FOR VON T1LZER ■ Harry Yon Tiber is enjoying the biggest business season of his entire career as a music publisher. . He has half a dosen songs :which are competing with each other 'for £ret position as best sellers and a num- ber K «f new songs whieb look like sure successors for the present hits. Among- the is again teaching the songs -to the' profes- .; new soogB which are going big are "All eionals pending the appointmont of a sue-, the ^Boya Love Mary," "He-Went In like oessor to 'Wright. ... a Lion and Game Out lake a Lamb," ■ - • :~ . ;"•;•. ■' —Whom. January" and "When My Baby STARK * COWAN INCORPORATE Smiles." Max Stark and Ruby Cowan have formed • a mmde publishing company which they have ineorponted and leased offices at No. 231 West 46th Street. The new. Ann -win be open for. business on or about Feb- ruary 1st. ROLL MEN PLAN T.O PUBLISH Since the publication in The Clipper re- cently of a story to the effect that a number of the publishers of popular sheet music are planning to enter the - music roll manufacturing- and selling business, there has been much-activity among the music roll men. ■ One of the results of this activity ia the circulation' of a story that they axe planning to enter the music publishing: business - themselves and are endeavoring to place a number of writers under contract. --.'•': The. mechanical instrument men with their' big' financial backing, their large advertising and selling organizations at first; thought seem rather formidable buai- WR1TER SOUGHT MUSE IN DRUG Edward Rose,' writer of popular song lyrics, won a suspended sentence when ar- raigned in the Court of Special Sessions last week charged with having opium in his - possession. His excuse was' that' the drug furnished him with "inspiration for the writing of his famous songs." In ad- dition to that statement lie* said that he had been a user of the drug for twenty- three years.' ' \Jf , ' "What are some of. your songs t" in- quired ' Justice . Murphy. "He Walked Right In, Turned- Around and Walked Right Out Again," "If the Man in the Moon Were a Coon" and "Oh! Johnny, Obi" said Rose, who was interrupted by his counsel, Bernard Sandler, with "His rieas'rivals should they decide to embark latest pathetic ballad is 'Everybody--, on' the hazardous sea of publishing and Wants the Key to. My Cellar*." "Sentence popularizing sheet music, - 'but -clear heads suspended," said Justice Murphy, and Rose- :in"rthe>'music wgrhi^tate that Buch.a_»ra.O^. and bis counsel departed. -\ y"^nWer*^"niade.;' •?*"' '"'■" , ™*^ r "^ —-———— ■«w^rhe story is by no means a new one, BERLIN ON BIG CAMPAIGN in fact -it- was ; widely circulated back in Irving Berlin, Inc., is in'the' midst «f "J'JS&S&i MJBftjflf'&^P "*?neic publish- a big publicity campaign in connection with the new Berlin song "When My Baby Smiles." In addition to the usual profes- sional activity In "the launching of a new song, a $35,000 national advertising cam- paign has been started. • Irving. Berlin and Max Win slow per- sonally are supervising the professional end of the campaign while Saul H. Bornsteln ia directing his ■entire forces Including the fourteen branch offices of the bouse on what he calls his greatest campaign since he entered the music business. * ■7**1 MacMEEKLN ON WAY EAST J. A. Mac.Meekin, the San" Francisco music publisher, is on his way east calling on the - trade in the various cities. He intends to open a branch office in- New York.' Among the recently released songs of the MacMeeldn house is a new novelty fox-trot number, called "Save - All Your Kisses for Me." This song is being fea- tured by ClalrrStarr in the Will King Co. at. the Casino Theatre, San Francisco, where she Is scoring a decided hit. -era were fighting to get in the new copy- right law the clause which would enable them to collect a royalty, for records and rolls made by the mechanical reproducing concerns. '■■■< '.." •• ;~ In those days the roll and record makers had noting to pay the publisher. The bid" copyright-law made no provision for me- chanical rights and all the record makers had to do was' sit back and wait for the hits to come aloMJ^diflten reproduce and Bell theih-freVof charge 'in"ao far as the musio publisher', or composer was con- cerned. When the publishers went before the committee in Washington attempting to get legislation to cover the mechanical reproducing "end^f their publications they met with the" strongest opposition injagin- One form of"this was" the statement able. £-. GILBERT OFFERS A PRIZE Gilbert &--Fricdland, Inc., has inserted advertisement .in'the daily newspapers a number-of cities offering a prize-of $25 for extra choruses of the new comedy -*ong "Will It Ever Be the Same f by L Wolfe Gilbert. Harry Goodwin, adver- tising manager-of the house, has charge of the contest and all choruses considered acceptable will be paid for at the rate.of $25 each. ■••-'' .- ' ADAIR SCORES WITH NEW "BLUES" Janet Adair, who recently joined Che Shuberts, scored a big success on Sunday night atr the Winter Garden and at the 44th Street theatre with a new blues song bv Will E. Skidmore and Jack Baxley. It is called "Let No One Man Worry Your Mind." It is published by the Skidmore Music Company. ,*"**. -BEILIN IS PROF. MGR. Al. Beilm, formerly of the Chicago of- fice of the Broadway Music Corporation, has been made professional manager of the , company and arrived in New York to as- sume his new position this week. William Thompson succeeds Mr. Beilin as Chicago j manager for the Broadway. freely made "'hat the mechanical' repro- ducing concerns wouM immediately enter the publishing business if the music men ?"f^ ?d *** S etlJa "T*a'*'r > 'Iawi passed. The' 5 Uw^flnally -went through with a t«o-mnl clause for each' record" or V6H manu factured, a rate generally looked upon as extremely low. i* ** ■'.■■y-r.- . . The big uplift in *njtisic'since those days : has brought the aggregate' royalties up 12 » ™*f » um . yet publishers stiU contend '. that the rate is away below'-wbax it should ' be, considering the big-buSmcss rbjka" and expenses in connection wittt'publiahing and exploiting popular songs.'* ' '''•J.. J ..' It takes a fortune to g8t«.musich&tfaeW under way and even after this has been ' acomplished there is no guarantee that >it' can continue to turn out"the hit songs' which the mechanical reproducing concerns must have in order to keep their'business i running. • • . B "The story that any reproducing en is actually going into the mrMiclpalf' business is extremely doubtful. ? OUIIA BOARD IN SONG,. The first song based on the prevailing Ouija Board craze has been released by s Harry Von Tilzer. The Iyrie islby" Will- iam Jerome and- the title of -the "number to "Ouija, Outja;>iPeTl' Me,--DoS* ■'It is a\ cleverly'written comedy number arid ; ifl being; sting by Marie" CahflJ, 'Eew "Dock- Btader and other vaudeville headliners. BERLIN RELEASE NOVELTY Irving Berlin has Just re l e ase d a novelty sang entitled "FH See Too in OU-B-A" which bttt started out like a aoDamtlon. tip to the minute in lyric and with, a dUraetertoticBerUn j melody, tt al- ready looks like aMg*h*JL - j~: > --..'.. ■-■'.'■■.?:' - 7 -"/:^ j- - -ifViVw-vi .:'.r-,;- STERN GETS SQUIRES SONGS '' Jos. W. Stern * Co. have acquired from comedy song at the Winter Gar-' ■ Harry T>. Squires and Mir 0. FVeedroah, night last week. It is called the' Philadelphia writers, three new songs , TSrnU.1 an,.,,! i ..Til It "iti ^entitled "One Littie Rose," "You Know Why I'm Lonesome" and "Just to Think -We Were Once Sweet h earts." RING HAS A NEW SONG - Blanche Ring successfully introduced a new Irish den one There's a Typical Tipperary Over Hera." The number is by Abner-Silver and-Alex. Gerber. M. Witmark 8c Sons are tl^pTUV. ...;:-.- -..'._;'.■• : v. ..:.'' .;^^z |^'C'y: y r -'"'-■ CLEVER TRIO SCORES HIT . •"v ii JESS FEBER WITH 'FBSfT;;-^ " ?>>.'Vf? Fete,-PSnto and Jack Boyle, a new trii^ J Jeaa Feiber, formerlF-jof Watcrsoriv-Jtar- is appearing in local vaudeville houses and ' Ire. arid Snjgler/has jofc^ <fce^fes^onntv<J)^!W-»i*^' : * ^O**^*' ata^,SoF§K3ac. -ssTfllsl-ssaT ft W - BERLIN SIGNS WRITERS "■ Irving Berlin baa signed .Grant Clarke, formerly of the Feist house, and "Walter Donaldson, lately with the Waterson, Ber- lin" A; Snyder Company, to write" exclusive- ly for the Irving Berlin, Inc., music house. Tbey are collaborating on- a number of new songs which will be released in the near future. Sunshine"" and' AJ1-Sweeties," - SILVER ON WESTERN-TRIP Max Silver, of the Gilbert & Frledland Co., left-on Monday for an extended trip on which - be - wai vis it all the - principal cities of the'east and middle west. :*s-**v.s_