Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-12-20
MUSIC D:ADHEADS NEED[ D
A GERMAN PLAN BEING TRIED
IN NEW YORK.
Berlin Way of Getting Audiences
for Musicians Making Their
First Appearance.
From the New York Sun

From the New York Sun.
A New York musical manager has put
into practice a made In Germany plan
of attracting the musical deadhead when
needed. The musical deadhead. unlike
the theatrical deadhead. is in a certain
measure a necessity.
In Berlin Conservatives and teachers OF
music abound and many unknown musi-
clans make their first appearance there.
There is naturally no way of attracting
the public to hear unknown players or
singers. although an audience is neces-
sary. So the deadhead system has been
developed into a science in Berlin.
The method followed in Berlin con-
sists, in sending to all the students OF
music enrolled in the Conservatives or
with the well-known teachers a request
that they mail to the agent twenty
stamped envelopes bearing their address,
for which they will in return receive
tickets for certain concerts to be given
during the season. II there is a par
ticularly Indifferent public this request Is
repeated later in the seson.
In this way the agent is sure to get
interested and informed auditors and he
has no expense in sending out seats to
them. Another advantage is that there
are always the envelopes addressed and
ready to send out at the last minute II
the necessity of bringing in the deadheads
arises.
Music Students.
There are enough music students in
New York nowadays" said the agent.
who is trying the system In New York.
Ito make a good reserve army o. dead
heads to be called on for the numer-
Gus concerts that need a little garnish-
ing. as they say in Berlin. in the way
of deadheads. They cost no postage, they
do not even involve the trouble of hav-
ing letters addressed, and they are of
the kind that helps a serious musical
show along.
1T is fatal to invite absolutely I'M
musical deadheads to concert. They
applaud at the wrong time, they look
upon the assisting artists as just as i'm
portant as the star, they give them
selves away.
THE great defect in a musical stu
dent as a deadhead comes from his con-
viction that he could play or sing the
piece much better than the star. Yet
that does not prevent him from applaud
ing and taking an intelligent interest in
the music.
THE task of accommodating a deadhead
audience for play is easy enough. 1t
need not have any special knowledge OF
any kind. The concert crowd, however,
must be something different.
Choice Deadheads.
One department of the concert man.
ayers activity in New York is the accu-
mutation Of desirable deadheads. A series
Of orchestral concerts began not long
ago with so large a house that persons
who stood at the box office endeavoring
to buy seats could rot get In. AS few
persons were in the habit Of buying seats
for these concerts 1t was astonishing
to them that for the first time the concert
was sold out.
1t turned out later that the manager
had given out more tickets to deadheads
than the house could accommodate. He
determined that the public should for
once find 1t difflcult to get in,. calculating.
that the people who were thus disap-
pointed would return with greater enthu-
siasm than ever the next time.
He expected that there would be such
a crowd for the following concert that
no deadheads would be necessary. Tho
fact that the first concert had presumably
been sold out was expected to make the
second affair a real success.
So no paper went out when the sec
ond concert was announced. In spite of
his hopes there was no great demand to
get in the second time. The persons who
wanted to buy tickets at the first con-
cert and failed seemed to be permanently
discouraged, for they never came hack.
So the deadhead list was again brought
into use.
There are, of course, certain concerts
which are enormously profitable to the
performers. There are orchestral con-
certs for which 1t is extremely difficult
to buy seats and there are others at which
seven seats out of ten are given away.
Then there are others SO hopeless that
the managers make no effort to paper
the house. leaving Carnegie Hall to be
seen in all it's shabby emptiness.
The managers of the concerts with big
subscriptions and big single sales for
the orchestra do not regard with kind
ly eye the organizations that send around
deadhead tickets. The practice is regard.