Phonograph Monthly Review, Vol. 5, No. 1 (1930-10)

2 The Phonograph Monthly Review Editorial F OUR years objectively considered is no great stretch of time, but within its brief span recorded music and the phonograph have compressed an astounding history of progress. As I look back over the files of the first four years of The Phonograph Monthly Review I begin to realize the turbulence and extensiveness of the revolution that took place so close that at the time we scarcely glimpsed the forest for the trees. Per- spective is easier to acquire now, and there is no difficulty in seeing where we who have been active in the phonograph movement have been short- sighted. Yet for all the fervour of our enthusiasm and rashness of many of our prophecies, have not the actual accomplishments of four years far sur- passed our most excited prediction? It was in June of 1926 that I first met Mr. Axel B. Johnson, then active in establishing a phono- graph society in Boston and already with a com- pany organized to publish a magazine—the first outside of The Gramophone in England—devoted exclusively to the phonograph and music on discs. Only those who were record collectors in the old days and knew the difficulties of obtaining record- ed music of real significance, can have any ade- quate idea of how quixotic the scheme appeared at that time. But the hot blood of a “cause” and the joy of crusading burned in our veins, and Mr. Johnson by the sheer driving force of persistency and indefatigable energy succeeded somehow—it still has the air of a miracle—in getting out a magazine, and more, rooting it firmly. Hundreds of new publications were founded the same year, and every year since then, but while the large ma- jority of them have gone the way of most journal- istic flesh, this almost incredibly fantastic maga- zine of records is now entering on its fifth year. From the chaotic and often highly impractical “phonograph enthusasm” of 1926 and previous, a new art has emerged and is rapidly assuming well- articulated form. Phonography is no catch word. It has come to have a very genuine and vital mean- ing for those recognizing the psychological—even physiological—importance of music as a part of one’s daily life. The radio has opened up channels of musical communication to millions, but the sheer size and inclusiveness of its audience, the evanescence of its performances,—qualities that make it an unsurpassed audio-newspaper,—re- strict it almost inevitable to a low cultural level. Recorded music with the inestimably valuable pos- sibilities of infinite repetition and loftier aesthetic standards cultivates a more restricted field per- haps, but one that is far more significant. In the past music has been denied its rightful place among the muses solely by reason of its unavail- ability. Given the possibilities not only for hear- ing but also for study that the printed page gives poetry, drama, and fiction,—that the art of repro- duction gives painting and sculpture,—music will enter into the cultural consciousness of the world no less than its sister arts. It has taken phonography some four years to assume an articulate voice in America. It is really only within the last year or two that the previously constricted limits of the record buying public have been burst. But our readers are familiar with that revolution in the types and tastes of record buyers. They are primarily interested today in the directions of further advance and in orienting themselves among the tremendous literature of re- corded music that has suddenly been made avail- able by the phonograph companies here and in Europe. Trade winds shift and sails must be trimmed. The Phonograph Monthly Review has no fixed and rigid form. Without deviating from its primary interest it can—indeed must — alter and develop to follow the ever-expanding horizon of recorded music. Signalizing its fifth birthday the magazine ap- pears this month with a new front cover (the de- sign of Emma C. Bourne) that is not only brighter and more in keeping with modern tendencies than the old cover, but that indicates more accurately the character and tone of the magazine itself. Our potential public is that of records themselves, and while our circulation has grown with constant ac- celeration among the older connoisseurs of record- ed music, the far larger field of the new phono- graphic audience gives ample room for increased growth. As the magazine is placed on sale in the record shops throughout the country it meets its prospective readers at the intersecting point of common interests. To the new record buyers the magazine offers a guide to the maze of record re- leases, authoritative and I hope entertaining in- formation on the progress of various aspects of phonography, the development of new instru- ments, and critical studies of various sections of the recorded literature. Such a guide is absolute- ly essential today, but even more than that func- tion the magazine should serve as an articulate voice for the music amateur, and a common meet- ing ground for manufacturer, dealer, and record buyer. The first issue of the P. M. R. stated that such an aim governed the establishment of the maga- zine. Regardless of the changes in style and in details of subject-matter, the policy of the maga- zine remains exactly the same. And at the begin- ning of our fifth year we re-affirm our faith in the phongraph and the importance of recorded music’s role in everyday life. We are proud to have played some part in rousing the public’s interest in discs, in giving sympathetic yet critical publicity to the manufacturers’ growing catalogues, in working with the more progressive dealers catering intel- ligently to the demand for the best in music, and in breaking ground for the establishment of record review columns in newspapers and magazines. The notable success of all these enterprises is irre^- futable testimony to the fact that phonography has established itself and paved the way for the full realization of its unique and far-reaching poten- tialities.