Show World (December 1910)

December 10, 1910. THE SHOW WORLD 15 FACTS OPPOSED TO FALLACIES IN SHARK PUBLISHER’S SCHEME More Details of the Practices Typical of Those Who Angle for the Money of the Confiding Suckling in the Music Game—A Specific Instance in Point By c. p. McDonald expose of the so-called "shark" music publisher’s method. The first Install¬ ment was printed in last week’s issue of The Show World.) cular entitled “The Truth About the -- ■ - 1-1 .‘ ~ s y, ” wrote a „ . .l in which it „„„ _ divulge the name of the publishing concern that made the assertions set forth in the circular, and purported by the Dugdale company to be "one of the largest in the country.” Other information also was asked for, the nature of which Is disclosed in the answer to The Show World’s communi¬ cation. Here is the reply, signed by H. Kirkus Dugdale: Dear Mr. McDonald: Your valued favor of the 15th has been called to my personal at¬ tention and in answer to your In¬ quiries will say, first, that the regular wholesale price of our publications is 10c per copy. Second, it costs us between 820.00 and $25.00 to print the first 1,000 copies of a complete song, that Is, with a plain, one color title page. Title pages which re¬ quire more than one color and special designing by special artists cost more money. Third, as the information con¬ cerning some of the large music publishers in New York and else¬ where came to me in confidence and through a reliable source, and as I have made no direct n of the names of the firms, I feel obliged, nor have I any de- __ .0 make known the firm tendering ' i lnforma- _, _ ... I wish to jeopardize myself and my business by mak¬ ing known the names o‘ __believe we any information lelp towards solving portance that could give y< that would ht „ __Jl what they are trying to get at. The only way we conduct the manuscript department is: If a person wants to print 500 copies of music and pay for it we do the work. In our contracts we not only tell them what we will do, but we particularly tell them what we will not do. That is, that we do not care to popularize the music, that we do not agree to put it on sale in our different stores; in fact, that we do not care to do anything except the printing of the copies for them, and it is entirely up to them to BMOTf the firms __1 in the statement. Suffice it to say that several parties that are now doing busi¬ ness with me have done business with one or more of these firms and have placed work with them for publication, only to find that at the end of six months not a single copy of their work had been disposed of. I trust the above explanation will prove Satisfactory and hope to hear from you by return mail. Standing of Dugdale Firm. At the time of writing the Dugdale company for specific information in re¬ gard to the statements printed in its cir¬ cular, copies of the circular were mailed to many of the prominent New York publishers with a request for the views of the publishers anent the Dugdale company. The Dugdale Company is an lightening. The Dugdale Company is an unknown quantity, a nonentity to the publishers of New York. Jerome H. Remick & Co. said: Received your letter in regard to the H. Kirkus Dugdale Com¬ pany. Their circular, in our opin- MTIEWS OF NUMBERS. (Continued from Freceding Page.) euphonious title of the latest Jeff T. Branen-S. R. Henry song novelty. (Jos. W. Stern & Company, publishers.) Mr. Branen has written a lyric in this in¬ stance which demands no adverse crit- | lclsm. It is a swingy, rythmical little thing, and does not become laborious as it progresses. Mr. Henry’s music, aside from its smattering of "I Like You” and "Ain’t You Coming Back to Old New Hampshire, Molly,” is tinkly and tune¬ ful, and runs merrily along to the meas¬ ures of the verses. A capital little song, well written by two men who know how to write popular songs, which is synonymous to saying that we look upon the Messrs. Branen and Henry as considerable writers. MauHce Shapiro publishes the latest aluahmushgush song written by the well known Alfred Bryan and Fred ' Fischer. It is entitled "COME, JOSEPH¬ INE, IN MY FLYING MACHINE,” and while we unhesitatingly pronounce Mr. Fischer’s melody as good, we disapprove of Mr. Bryan’s lyrics, which are dull and uninteresting. What merit it might possess is dimmed by the constant re¬ petition of “Oh, you,” which goes sadly against the grain in these parts. All of which goes to show that even our best word writers occasionally slop over un¬ mercifully. But, we add in justice to this song, it is a grand opera aria com¬ pared with the writer’s spasm of a few weeks ago entitled “That’s the Fellow That I Want to Get,” the vulgarity of which could not be concealed by the art¬ ful substitution of whooping cough bac- method, but we prefer t these tactics rather than have a lot of complaints from people in the different parts of the country who expect results from their writings that can not possibly be realized. J. Fred Helf, of the J. Fred Helf Company said: “I never have heard of the H. Kirkus Dugdale Company. I can¬ not see where amateur writers could benefit by placing songs with the company unless it is the firm’s intention to spend large sums of money in promoting them profes¬ sionally. CONCERNS OF THIS KIND CAN NOT DO ANY ONE ANY GOOD. THE SOONER WE GET RID OF THEM THE BET¬ TER IT WILL BE FOR AIiL CONCERNED. Albert Von Tilzer, manager of the York Music Company, had this to say: In reference to the circular you' sent me wish to state that this is just another way of getting money from a poor amateur. We have any number of requests to publish these songs from all over the country, and always have re¬ fused to accept their money and returned the songs. The returns on these songs are absolutely im¬ possible and the publishers know this when issuing them. The only difference between this proposi¬ tion and the others is that he (Dugdale) is willing to do it for $35.00 where the others want $50.00. Theodore Morse, of the Theodore Morse Music Company, remarked: The line of business conducted by the Dugdale company is one branch of the business that we have avoided. We think it is a line which eventually turns out to be unsatisfactory to both the pub¬ lisher and the amateur song writer. I do not know of any successful number that has been published by the H. Kirkus Dug¬ dale Company. I have read the company’s circular and it is a pretty clever scheme to get the money. The “shark” game is an abominable one all the way through and is doing great harm to the business in general. Will Von Tilzer, of the Harry Von the individual whose name is on the article enclosed ip your letter are ridiculous would be expressing it rather lightly. It is obvious to the writer that his whole scheme is an advertising one. He evidently likes the game that he is advocating against and in order to get it all himself, he is lowering the price. We do not nor do we intend to have anything to do with the busi¬ ness that your letter refers to. We are conducting our business on a strictly legitimate basis, and will publish only songs Tnat we feel confident are worth the price at which it is usual to sell popu¬ lar music. _ -ufcg’-o your question a" e have - -*~ m ' 1 writers, we c--J a accept lyrics or melodies from any one who is capable of writing anything up to our stand¬ ard. We do not care anything about amateur writers. We are in the music business to make a success. Such a thing as classi- or an “amateur” has never en- fying a writer as a “professional” tered our minds before. If an in¬ dividual can write a great lyric or a great melody, he does not strike ns as being very much of an amateur. What we success, and there does pen to be anybody in this- who can lay out any set rules for us to work on. In conclusion, we desire to say that we have never heard of t H. Kirkus Dugdale C- know anything about them. Edward Marks, of Jos. W. Stern & Co.: I do not know the Dugdale con Money-Mad Shark Stops At Nothing, cern, but all “shark” concerns that advertise and take money from amateurs are not on the level, and the sooner they are investigated •by the postal authorities the bet¬ ter for the poor amateurs who contribute and are fleeced. Com¬ plaints constantly reach us from amateurs who have been “stung” and who ask our advice and as¬ sistance in the matter. No doubt other houses of standing receive the same complaints. An Instance in Point. The Show World employs as an “office devil” a boy fifteen or sixteen years of age. This young man has none of the advantages of an education. The pow¬ ers of his mind have neither been dis¬ ciplined nor cultivated. He evidently has rubbed hard against the rough edget of life without absorbing wisdom as he rubbed. He lacks the power of grasping detail, of assimilating knowledge. There¬ fore he probably believes himself quali¬ fied to write song lyrics. This young man, we understand, out of his meager income helps support a widowed mother. One day he came across one of the alluring advertise¬ ments of the H. Kirkus Dugdale Com¬ pany. He wrote a set of words and sub¬ mitted them. He received the stereo¬ typed form letter announcing that his poem had been "carefully reviewed and criticised and found worthy of publica¬ tion." With this letter he received a contract in duplicate, duly signed by the H. Kirkus Dugdale Company, one copy of which he was to retain, the other to be acknowledged and returned to the Dugdale company. This “poem,” be it noted, was the young man’s maiden effusion. He anxiously awaited the verdict of the Dugdale com¬ pany as to its intrinsic merit. Was it returned for lack of merit or because it had failed of the high standard set by the Dugdale company? It was not. Rather, the poet was advised that he had a "taker,” and there was no visible reason why it should not become suc¬ cessful if put to a good melody. If young man’s “pome” was That night she got next to and won the love of Brown, And Brown gave her a gay white So they could go upon their hooneymoon through the gay white bay; When Betty saw they go you could hear them softly say. The embryonic song writer in ques¬ tion paid $6 in weekly installments on this account, and then ceased remitting. Facts Opposed to Fallacies. To summarize: The “big music cata¬ logue” dwelt upon by the Dugdale com¬ pany consists of a single sheet, printed on both sides, half of one side being taken up with an advertisement for song A popular song can not be mafie a national “hit” in Washington. It takes a whole lot of money to create a big seller. The mere pumlca- THE GAME OF LOVE.” It was in a garden after the sun went down, And in a bunch of daisies stood Betty and Brown; For tuey were lovers who had come out to spoon Underneath the bright silvery moon. Brown said that I’ve a secred to Thats as most important to me as Betty thought he’d say I love you as the Sky is gray, But she was greatly mistaken when she heard him softly (Chorus) “Never trust a friend in the game of love, For he is lib! turtle do.... Know I heard of such cases afore That Happened f- ■*—" . friend l day t c away the __l that it was _ same way with my mother. So never trust a friend in the game of love, For he is lible to be the gay turtle dove. Know listen girles I’ve a secred That I have a beau and he is pretty and well. Know one of the girles was a gay and bright one, Who would bett she would ratter be married than have a year of fun. _ , big seller. tion of a song does____ will make money. A hit song n popularized through the medium of be¬ ing introduced on the stage by innu¬ merable performers, unless it happens to be a so-called production number. If you wish a song privately printed, do not accept the $35 proposition of the Dugdale concern. You can print it your¬ self for less money. H. Kirkus Dugdale himself is not rec¬ ognized as a “hit” writer by the music publishers of New York. While assailing the methods employed by other publishers, the Dugdale com¬ pany is employing the same methods— at $15 less than the amount charged by Haviland, and by Shapiro, and by others. Despite the fact Umt the Dugdale company ■ VBs. _ t returned as beTng unsuited, no verses ever will be. A few weeks ago we printed the boy s lyrics as they were submitted to ♦ v ’“ Dugdale company. V| -jgj _ We them here to show' just what this "shark” accepts and charges money for: “NEVER TRUST A FRIEND IN so-called ‘large’ publishers in New York” with discouraging the “amateur,” it is a well known fact—and any reputable music publisher will bear us out in this declaration—that any song writer, known or unknown, can get an audience with any publisher in the United States if he has a song of merit. And it also is an established fact that if a song writer, amateur or professional, has an entirely original song, something novel and out of the ordinary, almost any publisher will publish it and pay the writer or composer adequate royalties. It is not true that musical publishers are accepting and publishing the songs of amateur writers to keep them off the market and prevent them from becom¬ ing successful. To the contrary, if a song has possibilities and shows signs of becoming popular, any publisher with a modicum of brains will, as they say in the game, “get behind it and push it for all it is worth.” A hit song, no mat¬ ter by whom it is written, will not be sidetracked simply because a publisher happens to have a staff of “salaried The person who can write a hit song, or a big seller, is not much of an ama- If’ it is necessary to pay money to have your song published (unless you desire to have it printed for your own personal uses and satisfaction), throw it aside as so much worthless paper. We never have heard of an amateur making money out of a song for tho publication of which he paid. If you wish to gratify your own per¬ sonal desire to have a song printed, have it done by a publisher whose im¬ print is recognized in the music publish¬ ing business. Also, bear this in mind: You can find the publications of Remick, Shapiro, Haviland and others on the music coun¬ ters of Chicago. We have not been able to find in Chicago a single song bearing the Dugdale imprint. This alone is sig¬ nificant. If, as the Dugdale company claims, the big concerns of the country are “accept¬ ing practically everything which is sent them and publishing hundreds of worth¬ less compositions by unknown writers,” and the Dugdale company accepts for publication such numbers as “Never Trust a Friend in the Game of Love,” wherein lies the argument? Can the publications of any of the large houses possibly be inferior to the work of our office boy? It will be noticed that Mr. Dugdale remarks In one of his form letters: “Owing to the immense cost (to ns) of publishing and advertising your work it is absolutely impossible at present for ub to purchase your work or handle it on a partnership basis.” And yet the despised “Large New York publishers” _ _ CHICAGO BY THE FEDERAL POSTAL A UTH ORITIES THREE YEARS AGO! WHY?