The Edison phonograph monthly (Dec 1914-Dec 1915)

THE EDISON PHONOGRAPH MONTHLY Published in the interest of EDISON PHONOGRAPHS AND RECORDS By THOMAS A. EDISON, Inc. ORANGE. N. J., U. S. A. THOMAS A. EDISON", LTD., 164 WARDOUR ST., LONDON', W. ENGLAND THOMAS A. EDISON, LTD., 364-372 KENT STREET, SYDNEY, N. S. W. COMPANIA EDISON HISPANO-AMERICANA, FLORIDA 635, BUENOS AIRES EDISON GESELLSCHAFT, M. B. H. 3 YORKSTRASSE, BERLIN COMPAGNTE FRANCAISE THOMAS A. EDISON, 59 RLE DES PETITES-ECLRIES, PARIS Volume XIII JUNE, 1915 Number 6 SELLING TIPS FOR DISC RECORDS THESE tips are given for the purpose of making more exact the science of selling records — for a science this branch of the Phonograph business must now be considered. Formerly it was deemed sufficient to place a record on the machine, give its title glibly to the prospective purchaser and say "Listen/' Now it is found that man} things may be said about a record before it is played that will interest and prejudice the hearer in its favor. Particularly is this true of the semi-classical and classical selections, which make their appeal more slowly, and from other standpoints than mere tunefulness. The plaving of any unfamiliar classical record, if introduced by some interesting comments from the salesman is apt to seem monotonous and frequently boring to the hearer. If, however, the interesting points of the selection, or the manner in which it is recorded have been spoken of, and then as the}' occur during the playing, are again pointed out, the customer will be inevitably interested, and many sales consummated that otherwise would have been impossible. We have tried, and are trying through the Salesman's manual, to indicate to salesmen some of the talking points of the various records, This must of course, be only the veriest outline of what can be said, the limit only being the salesman's general knowledge of music and his familiarity with the special record in question. Too much stress cannot be laid upon the importance to every record salesman, of having a good working familiarity of music and musical terms. Everyone knows a Waltz or a Tango, and what the terms mean. Equally familiar should be the terms "Arabesque," "Humoreske" and man} others that will frequently be met with in the catalogue. A knowledge of the points that constitute good recording, the novel use of "traps" in dance records in the employment of which our Recording Laboratory is particularly clever, should be possessed by every salesman, so that when he hears them in an} particular record they may be commented upon. As an instance of how one specific little thing may just catch the buyer the following incident actually happened recently. The record was "The Wanderer" sung by Frederic Martin. This classical song is one of the finest in the whole realm of music; it is a most magnificent, impressive record, of that there is no question. The salesman playing it told the customer everything he knew about the song and about Martin. The record was played and the customer did not like it. nor could he be persuaded that he ever would like it. Another salesman who happened to be standing within hearing, approached and took part in the conversation. He tackled the one point that his associate had overlooked— something that was not in the salesman's manual. "Do you realize, sir," he exclaimed, "that this record contains the lowest note ever recorded by the human voice a feature only possible on the Edison Disc." Neither of the others had noticed it particularly, but the customer thought it would be worth playing the record again to hear this remarkable note. The upshot was he bought the record! He didn't like "The Wanderer" much better than when he first heard it (he will in a few weeks though), but he thought the wife and friends would be interested in that low note! Through this medium we hope to be able to help salesmen to get a better knowledge of music, and of the