The talking machine world (Jan-June 1928)

00 The Talking Machine World, Nezv York, June, 1928 Market for Quality Records Is a Fertile Field for Dealers Frederick N. Sard, Columbia Sales Promotion Manager, Talks on Methods of Merchandising Record Album Sets at Pennsylvania Dealers' Convention IN an address delivered before the third annual convention of the Pennsylvania Association of Music Merchants, held in Philadelphia last month, Frederick N. Sard, sales promotion manager of the Columbia Phonograph Co., New York City, and executive director of the Schubert Centennial, gave an interesting discourse on the Masterworks series of records issued by the Columbia Phonograph Co. and the aims and purposes of the Schubert Centennial, which is being observed this year. Mr. Sard spoke of the demand for album sets as a new market for dealers and gave suggestions on merchandising the products. He said, in part: "About four years ago the Columbia Phonograph Co. adopted the policy of promoting business. It started with eight or ten Masterworks. This modest group included a few symphonies, some sonatas, and the first attempt in this country to present unedited chamber music — the last and highest form of music — in which a composer expresses his philosophy of life and his meditations of the spirit. "Two prejudices had to be overcome: first, the widespread belief that there is a highbrow music and a lowbrow music; second, that America is culturally inferior. Our initial task, therefore, was an educational one. With the aid of the musical forces of this country we established that good music is not remote from the average mind nor is it forbidding to the average ear. "Certain developments favored our task: the multiplying of concerts and recitals; the spread of musical education throughout the schools; the improvements in the standards of manufacturing records; and the growing realization that the best popular tunes are borrowings from the classics. "In the succeeding four years the Masterworks catalog grew by leaps and bounds and now has reached the substantial figure of eighty-nine separate albums, comprising thirtyfive symphonic works, over thirty classics of chamber music— trios, quartets, quintets and a group of sonatas and concertos. When the new Schubert Centennial Edition stands with the other Masterworks, the total will exceed one hundred. This growth has more than numerical significance; it proves that the merchandise is sound and that there is a public for it, with the potential demand exceeding, to a considerable degree, known demand. "Neither these Masterworks nor the people who buy them are queer The people who buy them are no queerer than the millions who buy the Bible, Shakespeare and the Harvard Library of Classics. The human nature which chrows away trashy books and magazines and reserves good books for the home is the same human nature that enjoys the popular dance music, which it so quickly tires of, and then turns to the Masterworks of music for constant refreshment and permanent beauty. The buyer of Masterworks is not a faddist; once a Masterworks lover always a Masterworks lover. Dealers who know this hold the key to a desirable, steady business, in which prestige does not interfere with profits. "The response to the Masterworks from the country over has caused a fundamental change in the outlook of dealers. They now recognize that they are armed with a new merchandising force. Many who started by selling $25 worth of Masterworks in a day found, within six months, that their total was three to four, hundred dollars a day. A recent instance of the new rate of turnover is afforded by the Masterworks Set known as No 79, sold at $1650. This set contains exclusively Wagner selections, recorded by us in the Bayreuth Festival Theatre, the finest acoustical auditorium in the world. Dealers in many cities sold between seventy-five and one hundred sets the first three days of the release. The case of the mounting sales on Set 41, the Unfinished Symphony of Schubert, is also relevant to our discussion. "But we have scratched only the surface. There are millions ready for the appreciation of good music to whom this music has not come — the great army of wage-earners whose standard of living makes them potential users of quality merchandise, whether in music, books, furniture or decoration." Philco Has Line of Receivers in Color Full Line of Models of New Philco Radio Sets Finished in Popular Colors — Sayre M. Ramsdell Tells of New Vogue Philadelphia, Pa., June 5. — The advance in radio cabinet design has been one of the outstanding trends in the industry and with each announcement of new models, the inclination Sayre M. Ramsdell toward finer furniture in the cabinets housing sets is noticeable. A recent announcement by the Philadelphia Storage Battery Co., of this city, manufacturer of Philco socket powers and sponsor of the "Philco Hour" states that a full line of models in the new Philco radio receiver line will be in popular colors. "The vogue for color is very strong, we find," said Sayre M. Ramsdell, sales promotion manager of the company. "Hence we believe radio sets in shades that will harmonize with most any color scheme will prove highly popular. We made a careful survey amongst furniture designers and distributors a,s well as housewives before committing ourselves definitely. We found red and green to be in exceedingly high favor. So we have designed truly beautiful effects in Nile green, Mandarin red and Labrador gray, as well as in brown. These have been delightfully decorated by hand in a floral motif. The effects are rich and harmonious and are bound to impress lovers of color, line and form, for we have employed the best talent for the designs. "Our color combinations have been planned with the single aim of good taste and harmony. I might mention, too, that we have a new instrument that embodies inventions of our own technical division. We believe it sounds a new note in quality of performance." Music in the Summertime The Goldman Band, which has become one of the great attractions of New York during the Summertime, will resume its concert season on June 11 and will continue to August 19, the time being divided between the Mall at Central Park and the Campus at the New York University. The "Symphony in Brass," as the Goldman Band is popularly termed, which has been developed and conducted by Edwin Franko Goldman, is one of the great organizations of the country, and has won wide popularity through its radio broadcasts, and the records of the band which are issued by the Victor Co. That the coming season will be most successful and enjoyable is evidenced by the tremendous and increased interest in these concerts. And Now — The Dealer Can See It Through Speedy and efficient servicing oi radio receivers is dealer, set owner and all associated interests, the best assurance against mortality ol public interest Without adequate facilities for radio set servicing none oi the various commercial enterprises which in radio reception. depend upon satisfactory reception oi broadcasted For a small premium it protects manufacturer, programs can hope to make desirable progress. The Solution Is Efficient and Profitable Radio Set Servicing Lack of proper equipment no longer complicates the present A.C.-D.C. situation. Weston offers the radio dealer a new design of radio set tester for both A.C. and D.C. receivers of all types. It offers the service man a complete testing outfit self-contained in a compact, light-weight carrying case. It is provided with two special 31/!" diameter instruments for both A.C. and D.C. readings. Connections are automatically made by an ingenious system of switches and binding posts. This Weston radio set tester is provided with the necessary socket adaptors and instruction book. Simple to operate. Requires no auxiliary batteries or other source of power than provided by the set itself. Increases many times the number of service calls that can be made in a day. Increases dealer profits and insures customer satisfaction. Write for descriptive literature. WESTON ELECTRICAL INSTRUMENT CORP. 606 Frelinghuysen Ave. Newark, N. J. 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