Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-06-10
POPULAR SONGS.
The Rhyme Is Not Always Good But
It's Catchy.
AIalk With Dealer On the Popular Soma
Business.
"Shine or rain.
She'll be just the same;
III be happy forever with
Just one girl =

song of the day" said the salesman. as he
stopped long enough to give a how
dye-do to the caller, tit goes like
smoke and we can't seem to keep
stocked up on il. OF course, though. f
will only last for a few weeks. and
then another will come out and be the
rage for its little period"
The popular song business must be
mighty important one, suggested
the reporter, seeing a chance to draw
out something good. And the clerk
quit piling ana sorting big lot of new
goods to say:
There has been an enormous in
crease in the sale Of popular songs dur
ing the past two years. This increase
is due mainly to the increased number
of pianos in use. As popular songs are
always written in a simple manner it
is an easy matter for the amateur
pianists throughout the country to
learn them. Ten years ago a sale Of
10000 copies was considered to be
phenomenal for popular song. At
the present time a sale of 200 900 copies
is by no means infrequent
Among the other causes which have
helped to spread the popular song are
the department stores. which of late
years have gone extensively into this
line Of business. Other causes are the
energy in advertising on the part Of
the publishers, the almost universal
use Of pictures in the Illustration Of
songs in vaudeville theatres, and the
large number of musical comedies in
which popular songs are introduced.
Each of the large publishing houses
in the big cities turn out from six to 80
new songs every month, of which So
per cent are absolute failures, ten per
cent. pay the cost of publishing and
five per cent. are comparative sue
cesses. In any well-appointed music
publishing house in New York there
can be found at least 1000 songs upon
the shelves. Copies of songs are al
ways preserved, for the sorg-pubIish-
ing business is the biggest kind of a
lottery. No matter how much expert
ence a writer or publisher may have
had, he never can tell what will suit
the public. Consequently a song may
law he Ch4lN-aL fp
denly spring into popularity for one Of
dozen causes. For instance Ben Bolt
was practically forgotten until d.
Maurier introduced it into Trilby,
when it was revived with great sue
cess.
AT the present time the four leading
song publishers Of New York have
formed themselves into a board Of
trade for the protection Of themselves
against the ranEost kind Of musical
piracy. Although all the songs are
protected by international copyright,
the hits Of the day are printed in
Canada on cheap paper and brought
back into the United States, where
they are sold at from five to ten cents
per copy. by hard work the publishers
have obtained convictions Of the
pirates in Canada and have defeated
them in Michigan. But despite all the
yiliglncc Of the publishers piratcd edi
tions Of she Was Bred in Old Ken
lucky are now being disposed of in
Ohio. The law is 50 constructed that
TIE publishers are obliged to fight the
thieves in every state in the Union. 1t
is a most unjust law which should be
revised.
AS to the composers, there are not
more than dozen who have reputa-
tons based on songs which have been
successes. This does not refer to must
clans, for strangely enough, the men
who nave made the greatest successes
as writer's of popular songs are not in
(any sense musicians. Indeed, most OF
them are obliged to employ musicians
10 arrange the music for their melodies.
The difficulty with the musicians IS
that they almost invariably write
above the heads Of the persons com
prfsing the popular song market. The
stories written about the fabulous
| sums made by popular song writers
mas stimulated every man and woman
/ in the country who has smattering OF
knowledge about verse-making or an
aa1. for melody to try their hands az
sorg-writing. Hundreds of these pro
durtigns are received every week only
~ b. fired away into the waste basket.
Still now and then writer appears in
the semi-cIassical vein who makes a
hit. This has been the case recently
with young man named Stafford
waters whose beautiful song, The
Dav That's Gone Can Never coml
Again has achieved deserved popu-
larity.
1T is a matter Of comment thai
many Of the popular songs OF the DAY
~ the results of collaboration. II