The Billboard 1911-01-14: Vol 23 Iss 2 (1911-01-14)

JANUARY 14, 1911. The Billboard NEW YORK. Ticlland Building, 1440 Telephone 1630 Eryant. CHICAGO. 1208 Schiller Bullding, 106-100 Randuph 8t. Telephone Central 50934. 8ST. LOUIS. Room 863 clissour! Trust Bullding. SAN FRANCISCO. Westbank Bullding, 830 Market 8t., junction Market, Eliis and Stockton Sts., Salte 621. Room 5, Broadway. W. H. DONALDSON, Publisher. ADVERTISING RATES.—Twenty cen line, agate measurement, Whole page, H half page, $70; quaster Baee, $35. No advertisement measuring less five lines accepted. a $4 a year; 6 months, $2; 3 months, $1. Payable in advance. No extra charge to Canadian or Foreign subscribers. THE BILLBOARD is for sale on all trains and news-stands throughout the United States and Canada. — are supplied by the American News Co, and its branches. It is also on sale at Brentano’s, 37 Avenue de 1’Opera, Paris, France. When not on sale, please notify this office. & 170 Temple CLambers, E. C. nati, Ohio. PARIS, FRANCE. 121 Rue Montmartre. LONDON, ENGLAND. R Teleplone 222—461. Long Distance Telephone, Main 2769. ISSUED WEEKLY, and entered as Second-Class Matter at Post Office, CincinAddress all communications for the editorial or business department to PUBLICATION OFFICE: THE BILLBOARD PUBLISHING COMPANY, 416 Elm Street, Cincinnati, O., U. S. A. Remittances aoe be made = — 2 ress money order, or ered le areened or nade payable to e Billboard Publishing Company. The editor can not undertake to return unsolicited manuscript; correspondents should keep copy. Cable Address (registered) ‘‘Billyboy.”’ The Decline of Melodrama In melodrama, as in other things, history repeats itself. The falling off in patronage in popular-priced melodrama during the past two years, and which has caused so much consternation among those who interests are involved, is only a repetition of what occurred a dozen or fourteen years ago. At that time, it will be recalled, H. R. Jacobs occupied the position of dictator in the field devoted to the production of melodrama. He owned or controlled a score of houses throughout the country, with which were affiliated sufficient others for him to give a whole season’s booking to an attraction. With him, at the acme of his power and success, was associated F. F. Proctor, now of the firm of Keith & Proctor. The height of their success was also the highest pinnacle of success of melodrama up to that time. There was no forewarning of a decline in the business; no prelibation of a waning in interest and patronage on the part of the theatre-going public. But in less than one season, the popularity of melodrama as a form of amusement fell from its highest to its lowest ebb. There was a panic among those managers whose capital and experience had gone into the business. But their efforts to forestall the crash were ineffectual. Companies were withdrawn from the road and disbanded; houses were closed; the firm of Jacobs & Proctor dissolved, and for several years there was little activity in the world of popular-priced melodrama. But conditions of this kind are rotary; they come in circles, as it were. Melodrama again began to take on a semblance of life and activity; the people themselves began to clamor for it; the theatres that had been closed were reopened. Then Stair & Havlin entered the field. They associated the theatres devoted to this class of attractions into the most extensive circuit of its kind ever known. Their generalship; their ability for foreseeing conditions; their resourcefulness and power have placed them among the most influential of theatrical booking agents and producers. It would now seem that they must exert their influence, that they must marshal their forces and operate their experience in another direction and along entirely new lines. To use the phrase of the streets, it’s “up to them” to revivify the public interest in melodramatic attractions. It's a greater work that awaits them. The consensus of opinion is rather against than for their success. The present season is the most unprofitable for melodrama that we have witnessed in a decade. The blame for this has been laid at the door of the motion picture theatre. Others say that the people are surfeited of melodrama, and want something different. This seems to have. been the belief of managers and producers a year or two ago, when. musical numbers were interpolated into the melodramatic productions, and some of the theatres devoted exclusively to melodrama in past years | were booked with light musical attractions. , It's impossible to say just what the cause of the decline of melodramatic popularity is. But that there is a decline, is manifest; and that there must be a remedy is obvious. For our own part we have. absolute confidence in the ability of those who are at the head of this. branch of the business to bring about the desired metamorphosis. It’s only a question of how soon can they do it, and how greatly will thos: | whose interests are involved suffer before it can be accomplished. Attractions at Fairs _ _ During the last few years, the “side show” feature of the agricultural | ‘air has undergone a complete metamorphosis, whereas the “rag front” | attraction (?) engaged haphazard and without care or thought, either 4s to its moral or edifying influence, prevailed in the past, the gilt front show of to-day, with its performance of real merit has entirely superseded it. Though it has been slow, gradual and logical, it has been worked out along logical lines, upon which there is no prospect of retrosession. The fake show of yesterday has passed almost entirely from the amusement category. The wild man, the two-headed boy, etc., have oe en relegated to the annals of amusement history, if they are to be reee at all. To-day the attractions are of a real, educational nature. on there may not be much that is edifying in a performance of trained tr easts, but such a show is sensational and amusing, without being eterious even to morals or self-respect. It is like the acrobatic perormance where long training, patience and perseverance are rewarded music publishers. ‘of his own business. There is “corner” in song writers, and those who by the plaudits of the people, elicited by the feats performed. On the other hand, there is a distinct educational value to the attraction that partakes of the nature of an exhibit, and these, during the past few years have become too nu:rerous to classify. 3 The reason for this salutary change may be found in the increasing amusement experience of fair secretaries. _ These officials are, to-day, chosen as much because of their knowledge of the amusement business as for their ability to handle their department of the agricultural fair feature. The prospect for the enterprise was never more brilliant than it is to-day. Music Publishing in America Possibly no other enterprise in America during the past fifteen years has grown and developed more rapidly than music publishing. Whereas a generation ago a song was popularized slowly, gradually, and by means of its running from one end of the country to the other, without going into any extensive edition, the popular song to-day becomes so, practically, in all parts of the country at once, and is purchased by hundreds of copies in every town within the period of a very few weeks. The change of conditions is very largely, if not entirely, due to the influence of the musical performers, vocalists and concert artists. Publishers have not been blind to this fact. There is not a large music publishing house in the country to-day that does not employ every facility for providing performers with “professional” copies of their product. A generation ago music publishing in the United States was unprofitable, and was usually carried on as a subsidiary branch of some other business. The publisher issued his output tentatively and conservatively. A few hundred or a thousand copies were many months in selling, even though the piece might be played, whistled and sung by many thousands of people during that time. To-day it is not unusual for a musical composition or a song to run into the sale of five hundred thousand or even seven and eight hundred thousand copies in a comparatively short period of time. The ratio of sales of sheet music has been in the same proportion as the increase in piano sales in the United States. Every modest home, where there is any pretense to culture and sociability, is now provided with a piano. Naturally, this increases the denand for sheet music, and though the popularity of a piece may be short-lived, its sale ‘is usually extensive enough during the brief period in which it is featured in the music stores to make the pretentious publishing establishments of our big cities possible. : It is often charged that performers who use almost exclusively the productions of a single publishing house, receive a salary almost equal te that paid by the booking agent or manager of the theatre in which they perform, no matter how large that salary may be. Sometimes a performer is charged with “popularizing” the current hits of several publishing houses at once, and with receiving a monetary compensation from each of them. It is not our purpose here to discuss this phase of the question. Our mentioning it was only for the purpose of citing an evidence of the value of the vaudeville profession as an adjunct to the music publishing ' business. Up to this time there has been no real association formed among Each acts independently and according to the rules are able to turn out compositions that become popular have been numerous enough to supply the demands of all the various publishers. who maintain regular staffs and pay big salaries and commissions to their writers. It is somewhat remarkable that so far only a few really co nmercial men, that is, men of essentially commercial ability, have interested themselves in the music publishing business, and that it has remained in the hands mostly of song writers themselves, who have been successful and prosperous, and have built up publishing houses of their own. What the future of the music publishing business in America will be, it is difficult to say. Some of our biggest publishing houses are even now rated very high in commercial reports. There is little doubt that with time the allurements of profits will have their effect upon men of conmercial ability and large means, and the whole system will be changed. Whatever the future of the music publishing business, it is not unworthy of the brains and ability of the men who are making of it a really important factor of our artistic and business life.