The Columbus journal., 1884-02-13
G,ae5 in Songs.

The secret Of success in the world de-
ponds upon hitting p 'pn!ar fancy at .
| critical moment. Those who aim tn
lead or direct taste generally fail: those
who catch the spirit OF the hour tri-
umph. Thus it is that ephemerals
grew rich and notable while giant
minds are starving in obscurity. We
need no: 90 far fO- IN illustration OF
this anomalous condition. If will
contrast the success of q certain class
of song-writers with the unsuccess OF
| composers of grand melodies and the
builders of noble verse there will be
seer in bold front the difference be-
tween qualification and education in
the matter of taste.
There are several young men in the
| country, bright. observing, but not very
intellectual fellows, who devote q
small fraction of their time to the max
ing of ~light-havored songs that appeal
s~entimentally to the heart, the music
| being little more than q jingle of notes,
with an occasional melodiOus strain.
Being written to catch the masses. and
not to delight the sense of the unsteady
refined, these fugitive pieces are de-
6CIlOCu as oOASS.o anu II WI
versatility of welcome given to many of
them justities the term. These are the
tunes that, heard from the stage, are
| picked up readily and hummcd by
every one, are whistled in the street
and sung in the parlor until they are
familiar with all conditions of people,
from gamin to belle. And these songs
are mostly musical tricks. The writers
shrewdly take up some common emo
ton and play upon it, nothing being
more characteristic of these songs than
their nursery flavor, their childhood
elements.
In one of the most popular there is
an insignificance Of ideas. q tiatness OF
verse, u schoolgirl quality of rhyme
and an insipidity of musical character,
yet there have been over SOC, 1000 copies
of it sold, and the fortunate author has
already received $4,000 in royalties.
This is the song entitled ''Peek-a-Boo.'
written by a bright young Irishman
named Seaman. This young man, who
is but twenty-five years of age. has
written several of these ~''craze" songs,
among them, He Never Went Back on
the Poor" Terry Joined the Gang"
''By-by, Baby. By-by," from which he
has received something more than $685.
OOO, and now calculates his income
from continued royalties about $4,000 q
month.
The sentimental ..Silver Threads
Among the Cold is still selling, after
$50, 900 copies of it have been put upon
the public. '.Put Me in My Little Bed
and s.My Grandfather's Clock have
reached 3OO,OOO copies each, and are
out of demand. There are a score or
more of these craze songs that have
been sold phenomenally, and they are
being turned off necessarily, each sea-
son having born to it from n to a
dozen. Of course a great many write
who get no returns, but that is because
they have neither the tact nor the
means of introducing them to the pub
lie, not because they a possibly write
anything too idiotic to win favor. We
cannot imagine any n writing less
sensible things than the popular
catches,
never drink behind the bar,
Though l may smoke a mild cigar,
'Babies on Our Block o ''Are Ye
There, MOriarity?" The profits on such
songs range between $4,000 and $l5.-
600.
There is another field in which trash
tells against worth in the conquest of
! public favor in astonishing proportion.
Among the most popular plays now are
| those that some years ago would have
been denied admission to the stage.
They are made up of the most direct
appeals to the sympathetic emotions as
distinguished from the reasoning facul-
ties, usually being such affairs as the
Judgment condemns, while the senti-
ment. easily affected, approves. A
successful play yields its proprietor
anywhere from $4,000 to 500, 900 q
year, though the latter figures, OF
! course, cover the very rare exceptions.
Profits of $4,000 q year on theatrio
enterprises are not uncommon. 1t will
| not do to say that good plays and good
| attractions do not succeed, for as q mat
ter of fact they make, in the long run.
| the most money. But the phenomenal
| successes are the plays that, like the
adroitly-timed songs, become a'craze,"
| either for their striking novelty or be-
cause of some Fictitious circumstance
attending their production. The re-
ceipts from the performances Of
Hazel Kirke," for example, have
so far considerably exceeded $1,000
900, and it is yet by no lei worn
out. Mr.. BARLEY Campbell received
in one year from two of his plays
! the sum of $4,000. He perhaps re-
ceives,more than that now. Other play
writer's sell their works outright, when
| the terms range from $4,000 to S10,OOO
! for a play. This year Mr.. DAILY, of New
York, gets 81, 1000 for merely renting
two of his old plays for a season OF
thirty weekst to Mr.. John StetsOn. There
is still a cheaper class of plays. for
which the terms are 500 to $500 for a
play perhaps the work of three weeks.
With these figures to encourage the
! aspirant for wealth and fame, it is small
wonder so many rush into attempted
competition with successful songg-writers
and dramatists. But alas for credulous
human nature. The successes are as
one to a myriad of failures. The for
tunes of the few is the ignus fatus OF
the many. There are musical geniuses
whose songs will never be sung. and
prodigies Of playmakers whose writings
will never be read. They may be more
entitled to the forward place than those
who get there; but the battle is not
always to the strong nor the race to tho
swift. They who succeed are twice
fortunate-fortunate in the chance and
fortunate in happily availing themselves
If II -Hincinn0fi Commercial. Gazette.