The Music Trades

Not to be confused with The Music Trade Review.
The Music Trades
EditorBrian T. Majeski
Former editorsJohn Francis Majeski, Jr.
FrequencyMonthly
FormatPrint
Digital
Mobile device
PublisherPaul Anton Majeski
FounderJohn Christian Freund
Milton Weil
Founded1890; 135 years ago (1890)
First issueJanuary 3, 1891 (1891-01-03)
CompanyThe Music Trades Corporation
CountryUnited States
Based inEnglewood, New Jersey
LanguageEnglish
Websitewww.musictrades.com
ISSN0027-4488
OCLC60615892

The Music Trades is a 134-year-old American trade magazine that covers a broad spectrum of music and music commerce, domestically and abroad. Founded in New York City in 1890, it has been based in Englewood, New Jersey, since the mid-1970s. The Music Trades is one of the oldest continuously published trade publications in the world.[I] The January 2025 issue — Vol. 172, No. 12 — is about the three thousand one hundred and fortieth issue.[a] A controlling ownership over the last 95 years — seventy-one percent of the publication's total age — has been held by three generations of the Majeski family; few publications have been as long closely held by a single family.[1]

History

Freund and Weil: 1890-1927

The Music Trades was founded in 1890 by John Christian Freund (1848–1924) and Milton Weil (1871–1935). Eight years later, they founded Musical America, the oldest American magazine on classical music.[2][3]

John Christian Freund

Freund, who matriculated in 1868 at Exeter College, Oxford, but left after three years without a degree, had first been a playwright and actor.[4] He emigrated to New York in 1871.[5] In 1875, he founded The Music Trade Review,[b] a fortnightly publication that he later renamed The Musical and Dramatic Times and Music Trade Review. The publication ran for about two years. In 1878, Freund founded the Musical Times, soon renamed the Musical and Dramatic Times. On January 7, 1882, Freund launched a weekly magazine, Music: A Review,[i] which contained an insert called The Music Trade. Sometime on or before July 8, 1882, Freund changed the magazine's name to Music and Drama, supplemented by Freund's Daily Music and Drama. Music and Drama evolved into The Music Trades.[4]

In 1884, Freund and John Travis Quigg (1839–1893) co-founded The American Musician, which during its seven-year run became the official publication of the National League of Musicians union, the forerunner of the American Federation of Musicians.[6][7] Before founding the American Musician, Henry Cood Watson (1818–1875) began in 1864 the publication Watson's Art Journal, devoted to music criticism and trade. Watson died in 1875 and his Journal was taken over by his pupil, William M. Thoms, who improved it, renamed it American Art Journal, edited it until his retirement in 1906, then, upon his retirement, merged it with the American Musician.[8][9]

Around 1895, Freund's younger brother, Harry Edward Freund (1863–1950), was editor of Musical Weekly,[10][11] which continued as a weekly with a new name, beginning January 1896, as The Musical Age. The publication was aimed at piano dealers.


Legacy of Freund and Weil

Milton Weil, 1926

Freund and Weil were exponents of American classical music, although Freund had become a naturalized United States citizen on November 2, 1903. Their publications Musical America and The Music Trades complemented each other, and gave their editors a unique view of the growth of classical music in America and its international rank, as an art form and in commerce. Both publications reached an international readership. Freund and Weil held sway as impresarios and movement leaders of American classical music. Their publications flourished during the early 1900s — on a new wave of American composers, including those of the Second New England School — joined by foreign composers who emigrated to America in a flood of nearly 25 million Europeans after 1880. In commerce, 1875 to 1932 represented a golden age of piano making — nearly 364,545 were sold at the peak in 1909, according to the National Piano Manufacturers Association,[12] notably in New York City and Chicago.

Freund and Weil's publications gave them broad access in the field of music. They served as bridges between the art and the money, connecting artists, organizations, commerce, and public policy. The spectrum that both publications collectively chronicled gave Freund and Weil a strong platform to serve as advocates, opinion leaders, conciliators, counselors, arbiters, and ambassadors for music and the music trades in America. As an example, Freund and Weil helped found the National Music Managers Association (for national managers) and the National Concert Managers' Association (for local managers), aimed at improving cooperation between the two for the benefit of musicians.[13][c] In 1918, Freund and Weil helped found the Musical Alliance of the United States,[14][15] an organization that endures today. Weil served as founding secretary-treasurer, while Freund, the founding president, called upon the group to organize "all workers in the field, from the man at the bench in a piano factory to the conductor of the great symphony."[16]

Music Trades staff in 1926

Trade Publications: 1927-29

On June 13, 1927, three years after Freund died, Weil put The Music Trades and Musical America up for sale.

One bid came from John Francis Majeski, Sr. (1892–1971), who in 1910 had joined the staff of Musical America and become Weil's assistant. Majeski offered a quarter-million dollars for the pair, but was outbid by a new syndicate that also acquired four other publications (The American Architect, The Barbers' Journal, Beauty Culture, and Perfumers' Journal[17]) and consolidated them all into a new company called Trade Publications, Inc.

The deal was handled by investment bankers Schluter & Company and Shields & Company, which issued $1,100,000 (equivalent to $19,294,253 in 2023) in preferred and common stock.[18] Shields & Company and Nixon & Company, of Philadelphia, also made a public offering of ten-year 6+1⁄2 percent gold bonds of Trade Publications, that carried warrants to purchase common stock at a price that closely corresponded with the value of the stock.[17]

Trade Publication's officers included Walter Crawford Howey (1882–1954), president; Verne Hardin Porter (1888–1942), vice president and secretary; and Edwin John Rosencrans (1870–1935), treasurer. The board of directors included these three plus G. Murray Hulbert, John Zollikoffer Lowe, Jr. (1884–1951), and Joseph Urban. Howey and Porter had been executives of the Hearst Corporation.[18] Rosencrans, a civil engineer, was the managing editor of The American Architect; years earlier, he and architect John F. Jackson (1867–1948) had a partnership that designed more than 70 YMCAs.[19][20] Lowe, a lawyer, had been a partner in a law firm with Samuel Seabury.

Howey, who had been the founding managing editor of the New York Daily Mirror, left Trade Publications on August 1, 1928, to retake his old job.[21]

1929 bankruptcy

The following year, Trade Publications filed for bankruptcy. The Irving Trust Co. was appointed receiver for the company, which had liabilities of $716,839 (equivalent to $12,719,725 in 2023) and assets of $59,511.

On July 19, 1929, bankruptcy referee John Logan Lyttle (1879–1930) oversaw the auction of the magazines. Majeski, Weil's former assistant, bought four of the six for $45,200: Musical America, The Music Trades, The Barbers' Journal, and Beauty Culture.[22] About $11,000 of the total went for Musical America and The Music Trades, the publications for which Majeski had offered a quarter-million dollars three years earlier. The acquisition included the publications' names, a collection of back issues, and a few months of office space in the Steinway Building.[23]

A few months before the bankruptcy auction, Weil was said to have sold his interest in Trade Publications for $200,000 (equivalent to $3,548,837 in 2023) in preferred stock. He and his wife—Henrietta Lander (née Rich; 1874–1935)[24]—then moved to Paris with $5,000. Weil's father, Jacob A. Weil (1835–1913), was a Paris-born American and his mother, Dina (née Lilienthal; born 1843), was a German-born American.

Double suicide of Milton and Henrietta Weil

Hotel Scribe, Paris, 2011

The bankruptcy sale wiped out Weil's stake, built up over a lifetime. Distraught over the loss of their fortune during the pre-Crash of 1929, then the Crash, and their subsequent inability to recover during the Great Depression, Milton and Henrietta Weil carried out a double suicide pact on May 22, 1935, leaving a note and taking the barbiturate Veronal in their room of the Hotel Scribe in the Opera District of Paris.[25] Henrietta died the next morning, May 23, 7:40 am at the American Hospital;[26] Milton died 23 hours and 25 minutes later, May 24, 7:05 am, at the same hospital.[27] They are buried next to each other at the New Cemetery of Neuilly-sur-Seine.[28]

The Majeski years: 1929–present

John F. Majeski, Sr., 1926

On August 22, 1929, some five weeks after Majeski acquired the publications at bankruptcy auction, he formed three holding companies: The Music Trades Corporation, for The Music Trades; The Musical America Corporation, for Musical America, and Beauty Culture Publishing Corporation, for Barbers Journal and Beauty Culture.[29]

In 1959, Majeski sold Musical America—which would merge with High Fidelity in 1964—but retained his interest in The Musical Trades, and served as its publisher until his death in 1971. The publisher's job was taken over by his son, John Francis Majeski, Jr. (1921–2011), who was already the magazine's editor.[30][31][32] The younger Majeski served as editor until 1982 and publisher until 1985.[23]

In 2005, he received the American Music Conference Lifetime Achievement Award for his achievements, contribution to music, and long tenure as editor of The Music Trades.[33][34]

Current ownership

As of 2022, the Majeski family continues its ninety-five year ownership of The Music Trades through its holding company, a New Jersey entity based in Englewood. Paul Anton Majeski (born 1960), has been publisher since 1985, and Brian T. Majeski (born 1956), editor since 1982. Paul holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from Ohio Wesleyan University (1982) and Brian holds a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Lawrence University (1978).


Selected editors and publishers

Editors-in-chief
1890–1924 John Christian Freund (1848–1924)
1924–1927 Milton Weil (1871–1935) was editor through July 2, 1927
1946–1947 Samuel Charles Klores (né Shlomo Chaskell Klores; 1913–1994)
1946–1951 John Francis Majeski, Sr. (1892–1971)
1951–1982 John Francis Majeski, Jr. (1921–2011)
1982–present Brian T. Majeski (born 1956)
Managing editors
1917–1918 Charles Barrett Bowne (1889–1952) was an alumnus of Brown University (1911), he went on to become a journalist with his hometown paper, the Poughkeepsie Eagle-News, then four years with the New York Evening Sun, then he enlisted in the U.S. Infantry as a 2nd Lieutenant from April 4, 1918, to November 20, 1918
1918–1919 Charles Fulton Oursler (1893–1952) was the first managing editor who, in that position, had his name printed in the masthead — Vol. 56, No. 21, November 23, 1918
1919–19?? After returning from World War I, Charles Barrett Bowne (1889–1952) became an editorial editor in 1926
1922–1924 William Joseph Dougherty (1893–1951), formerly of the Poughkeepsie Eagle-News, left in 1917 to become city editor of the New Rochelle Pioneer, then joined the Music Trades staff in 1918 as news editor under Charles Barrett Bowne. He went on to become assistant managing editor, then managing editor (1922)
1924–1927 Milton Weil (1871–1935) was managing editor through July 2, 1927
1922–192? William Joseph Dougherty (1893–1951)
1927–1928 William Joseph Dougherty (1893–1951), again became managing editor with Vol. 74, No. 3, July 16, 1927; then in 1928, general manager (see "General manager" below)
1928–1929 Arthur A. Kaye (1895–1967)
1929–1946 Emil Raymond (1891–1946); beginning with Vol. 77, No. 17, December 1929, Raymond became managing editor
1930–193? Harry P. Knowles, beginning with Vol. 78, No. 7, July 1930, Knowles became managing editor
1930s–1943 William Joseph Dougherty (1893–1951), after World War II, October 1945, Dougherty became associate editor of Music Trade Review, then editor of Musical Merchandise, one of several magazines founded by Glad Henderson (né Gladston Winchester Henderson; 1884–1942), then, beginning around 1949, advertising and sales promotion manager for Mastro Industries Inc., founded by the French-born reed manufacturer Mario Maccaferri (1900–1993), then, beginning around 1950, executive editor of Music Dealer
2000–present Richard T. Watson
General manager
1928–1928 William Joseph Dougherty (1893–1951), after again serving as managing editor beginning with Vol. 74, No. 3, July 16, 1927, became general manager at the beginning of 1928, but left December 1928 to become editor of both The Soda Fountain the Music Trade Review, both owned by Federated Business Publications, Inc.[35][36] He left in 1932 to become general manager of The American Hairdresser, a monthly trade magazine founded in 1877
Associate editors
1947–1974 Henry Clay Fischer (1900–1978)
1978–2007 Grace Lila Frary (1934–2013), a graduate of Syracuse University School of Journalism, worked 31 years as an editor, joining in 1976, serving as associate editor sometime before 1978 until her retirement in 2007[37][38]
2007–present Sonia Clare Kanigel (born 1982)
Staff editors
1940s Louis Ernst (1871–1947)
1902–1942 Morrison ("Squire") Swanwick (1865–1946) started at The Music Trades in 1902 as a reporter; from 1929 to 1942, when he retired, he was vice president and director
Correspondent editors
1918–19?? Katharine M. Kelly (1892–1974) was from Poughkeepsie and a 1913 graduate of Vassar College. After working for The Music Trades, Kelly went on to work with Women's Wear Daily (editor), the Meriden Record, New Haven Register, The Fashionist (managing editor), Fashionable Dress (critic), Apparel World (editor), and Vogue (contributor). She married John Anthony Redegeld (1899–1996), a longtime senior executive with AT&T.
Columnists
Present Bob Popyk (né Robert S. Popyk; born 1940) has published influential articles aimed at the business of music for musicians
Publishers
1890–1924 John Christian Freund (1848–1924)
The Music Trades Company
1924–1927 Milton Weil (1871–1935)
The Music Trades Company
1927–1928 Walter Crawford Howey (1882–1954), President
Trade Publications, Inc.
1928–1929 Verne Hardin Porter (1888–1942), President
Trade Publications, Inc.
1929–1971 John Francis Majeski, Sr. (1892–1971)
The Music Trades Corporation
(a New York corporation from 1929 to 1972)
1971–1985 John Francis Majeski, Jr. (1921–2011)
The Music Trades Corporation
(a New Jersey corporation from 1972 to present)
1985–present Paul Anton Majeski (born 1960)
The Music Trades Corporation
(a New Jersey corporation from 1972 to present)

Selected articles, quotes, and reviews

Articles and quotes

Music Trades staff photo, 1948, John F. Majeski Sr., center, in the double breasted suit
  • Vol. 21, No. 21, May 25, 1901: Responding to a 1901 campaign by the National Musicians Union against ragtime, [the campaign is] "rather quixotic. There are ears to which "rag-time" is more fascinating than grand opera, and ears of this sort are more numerous"
  • "Too Many Piano Factories in Chicago," by Philip J. Meahl (1865–1933), Vol. 23, No. 1, January 4, 1902, pg. 13: "There is some likelihood of the piano manufacturing business being overdone"
  • "Succeeded Without Being a "Catalog Dealer,'", by Bert Aaron Rose (1866–1940), Vol. 64, No. 26, December 23, 1922, pg. 32: The author, owner of the Metropolitan Music Co. in Minneapolis and director of bands at the University of Minnesota,[39] illuminates the threat of catalog sales, similar to early 21st-century concerns over online sales vs. physical stores
  • "First Selmer Silver Saxophone is Pronounced Superior to Brass Instrument by Rudy Wiedoeft," Vol. 73, No. 15, April 9, 1927, pg. 35
  • "The Petrof Piano Saga" (feature story), Vol. 156, No. 12, January 2009, pps. 112–118: The article is an example of history and commentary works of the magazine

Historic reviews

Harry Botsford (born 1890) wrote an article titled "Diversified Needs of the Trade Magazine," in The Editor (Ridgewood, New Jersey), Vol. 52, No. 7, April 10, 1920, pps. 4–5. In it, he lauds The Music Trades as "one of the foremost publications which may be classed as a trade journal," and proceeds to examine a particular issue — Vol. 58, No. 25, December 20, 1919. Botsford points out that the articles in the issue are diverse, but at first glance, seemingly not relevant for a lack of direct connections to the music field. Yet he sees how topics of other sectors and industries — and commerce as a whole — relate to music commerce. Botsford stated that the articles, all of them, were interesting and well-written; but averred that each writing assignment might have been better-filled by "a live writer in the field, if said writer would have used his brain." Botsford, a trade writer himself, seemed to be challenging his profession to exercise more interdisciplinarity writing. Referring to Secor's article, Botsford posed the question, "Why couldn't some of we fellows who write for farm papers have thought of the idea? Have we been overlooking possibilities?"

The December 20, 1919, issue, as a whole, bears some similarities to some of the special macro-economic issues of the 21st-century. Botsford's review covered the following articles by authors, nearly all of whom were trade publication editors:

Page
9   "The Business Press Making Big Strides"
Gustavus Dedman (G.D.) Crain, Jr. (1885–1973), founder of Crain Communications in 1916 and later, in 1930, founder of Advertising Age
13   "Pricking the Oil Bubble of the Economy"
Iverson Currie Wells (1873–1950), editor of The Black Diamond
23   "Our Dependence Upon Machinery"
Fred Herbert Colvin (1867–1965), principal associate editor of American Machinist
30   "The Farmer a Rube? Try Him On Your Piano!"
Alson Secor (1871–1958), editor of Successful Farming
35   "Present and Future of Our Export Trade"
Benjamin Olney Hough (1865–1931), editor of the American Exporter
41   "Salient Insurance Points for Businessmen"
Julius Wilcox (1837–1924), editor of Insurance magazine
45   "The Modern Trend of Advertising"
Paul William Kearney (1896–1970), associate editor of Advertising & Selling
49   "'Hominess'" The Modern Furniture Ideal Design"
Earle Manton Wakefield (1889–1941), former editor of the Furniture Record
55   "The Open Mystery of Period Styles"
Alastair Robertson-McDonald (1883–1927), formerly of the editorial staff of The Upholsterer and The Furniture World
56   "Coal in 1919 with a Forecast for 1920"
Robert Dawson Hall (1872–1961), editor of Coal Age
49   "How the Inland Waterways Project is Progressing"
Gen. Felix Agnus (1839–1925), publisher of the Baltimore American
169   "To Complete Canal Chain"
99   "Contracts of Minors"
Ralph H. Butz
"Contracts of Minors" had been published earlier in The American Blacksmith Auto & Tractor Shop. Vol. 18, No. 1, October 1918, pg. 129
163   "Product Scarcity Makes the Iron and Steel Situation Acute"
Charles E. Wright, editorial staff of The Iron Age
163   "The Pig Iron Market in 1919"
Charles J. Stark (1882–1978), editor of the Iron Trade Review
165   "Hardwood Trade Works To Increase Output As It Enters New Year With Deepened Stocks"
Arthur Lee Ford (1871–1939), editor of the American Lumberman
167   "Sees Prosperity Ahead in Hide and Leather"
Rudolph Charles Jacobsen (1860–1929), editor of Hide and Leather

Regular features and sister publications

The Music Trades Centennial Celebration in Chicago, 1990; (l-r) Larry Linkin, National Association of Music Merchants CEO; Brian T. Majeski, editor; Paul A. Majeski, publisher; John F. Majeski Jr., then editor emeritus

The Music Trades: current annual cover stories, analyses, and awards

  • "201X in Review" is published in the January issue
  • "The NAMM Show Special" is published in the February issue, which are released every January — in sync with the annual January event
  • "Music Industry Census," published in the April issue, is an annual cover story survey of dollar volume and unit data; in 2014, it the Census covered 65 product categories, including musical instruments and audio products
  • "The Top 100," published in the April issue as part of the "Music Industry Census," is an analysis and recognition of the largest U.S. suppliers of music and audio gear ranked by sales volume
  • "Retailing Around the World" is published in the May issue
  • "The Retail Top 200," published in the August issue, is an analysis and recognition of the largest retailers in the United States
  • "The Guitar Issue" is published in the October issue
  • "The Global 225," published in the December issue, is an annual analysis and recognition of leading music and audio suppliers worldwide

The Music Trades: quarterly reports and analysis

  • "Quarterly Retail Sales Data" — published in the March, June, September, and December issues — is a poll of U.S. retailers (over 1,000) on sales trends of product categories and regions
  • "Quarterly Import Data" — published in the March, June, September, and December issues — is a statistical supply chain report and analysis of imports

Separate reports The Music Trades publishes current industry reports, data, and analyses — separate from the magazine — aimed at all constituents in the supply chain of music products.

Sister publications

  • The Purchaser's Guide to the Music Industries is published by The Music Trade Corporation. It was first published in 1897 as The Piano Purchaser's Guide, but was soon renamed The Piano & Organ Purchaser's Guide for 19XX. Sometime around the 1920s it was again renamed The Purchaser's Guide to the Music Industries, and absorbed The Piano & Organ Purchaser's Guide. Since inception, it has been published annually and, for many of its early years was included with a subscription to either The Music Trades or Musical America. The 2025 edition of The Purchaser's Guide to the Music Industries is the one hundred and twenty-ninth edition.
  • Musical America, from 1898 to 1960 — when it was owned by Freund, then Trade Publications, Inc., then Majeski — was an affiliate publication

Serial identification

Volume numbers

  • Weekly: 1891–1929
The Music Trades — first published January 3, 1891, Vol. I, No. 1 — was a weekly publication from inception to February 9, 1929, Vol 77, No. 6. The following issue, dated February 15, 1928, Vol. 77, No. 7, was the first monthly, followed by March 15, 1929, Vol. 77, No. 8. As a weekly, the volume numbers changed every half year; i.e., the first half of 1924 — January 5 through June 28 — was published under Vol. 67, Nos. 1 through 26. The latter half of 1924 — July 5 through December 27 — was published as Vol. 68, Nos. 1 through 26.[ii][iii]
  • Monthly: 1930–present

Beginning with February 1929, when the magazine became a monthly publication, the volume numbers changed every year, initially at January, but eventually at February. For February through December 1929, the Vol. was 77. The publication currently, for 2025, is on Volume 172 (CLXXIII)

Copyrights

  • Issues of The Music Trades published before 1923 are in the public domain. The copyrights for those publications have expired.

Trademarks

"The Music Trades," as a standard character mark, is a US registered trademark. It was re-registered January 25, 2011, under Serial No. 85046105 and Registration no. 3910654. The registration officially reflects its (i) first use anywhere and (ii) first use in commerce on January 1, 1891.[40]

Volume notes

  1. ^ Music, A Review, was published weekly on Thursdays, but dated on Saturdays.
        Vol. 1, No. 1, January 7, 1882
        Insert: The Music Trade
  2. ^ The volume number for The Music Trades of January 26, 1929, was incorrectly published as Vol. No. 78. The issues published the week prior and the week after were both Vols. 77
  3. ^ In Vol. 17, No. 4, January 28, 1899, Freund announced he would "consolidate my two papers and publish them together as Music Trades and Musical America." Each publication kept its own title and numbering

Addresses

During the 1890s, the executive office for The Music Trades was at 24 Union Square East, Manhattan, New York. From around 1897 to 1915, it was at 135 Fifth Avenue at 20th Street — which, at the time, was at the heart of the wholesale music trade district in New York City. From around 1915 to 1937, it was on Fifth Avenue — 505 (1915), 501 (1919). From about 1930 until the mid-1970s, the executive offices for The Music Trades were in Steinway Hall, 113 West 57th Street, Manhattan, New York. From 1927 to 1929, when The Music Trades was owned by Trade Publications, Inc., the offices were at 235 East 45th Street, Manhattan, New York. From the mid-1970s to present (2025), the executive offices have been in Englewood, New Jersey.

See also

References

Archives, curated collections, and reproductions

Online digital

Full view — weekly (originals from Princeton University)
Vol. 56 July 6 – December 28, 1918
Vol. 57 January 4 – June 28, 1919
Vol. 58 July 5 – December 27, 1919
(lacking Vols. 59 & 60, Jan–Dec 1920)
Vol. 61 January 1 – June 25, 1921
Vol. 62 July 2 – December 31, 1921
Vol. 64 July 1 – December 30, 1922
Limited (search only; fee-based) — weekly (originals from Princeton University)
Vol. 63 Jan–Jun 1922
(lacking Vol. 64, Jul–Dec 1922)
Vol. 65 Jan–Jun 1923
Vol. 66 Jul–Dec 1923
Limited (search only; fee-based) — monthly (originals from the University of Michigan)
Vols. 123-136, 1975–1988
Google Books (full online free access)
Vol. 56 July 6 – December 28, 1918
Vol. 57 January 4 – June 28, 1919
Vol. 58 July 5 – December 27, 1919
Vol. 64 July 1 – December 30, 1922
Google Books (search only)
Vol. 66, Issues 1–26, July 7 – December 29, 1923
Vol. 126, Issues 1–6, January – June 1978
Beginning January 1989
January 2006 – present

Microform

  • AMS Press, Inc.
Brooklyn Navy Yard
35 mm positive microfilm
Vols. 23–117, 1902–1969 – 63 reels; OCLC 7965593, 26615425[41]
(lacking 1906, 1911–1914, 1920)
AMS Press is the reprint publishing arm of
Abrahams Magazine Service, Inc., Gabriel Hornstein, president
Originals from the New York Public Library
  • NCR Microcard Editions
The National Cash Register Company
Industrial Products Division
901 26th St, NW
Washington, D.C. 20037
Vols. 1–117, 1890–1969
Indian Head, Inc., acquired Microcards Editions from NCR on March 15, 1973, and operated it through its subsidiary, Information Handling Services (IHS), located in Englewood, Colorado
Indian Head, Inc., was acquired in 1975 by Thyssen-Bornemisza, N.V.; in 2004; Information Handling Services became IHS Inc., and in 2005, became a publicly traded company; as of 2025, IHS, Inc., is still based in Englewood
16 & 35 mm positive & negative microfilm
Vols. 120–125, January 1972 – December 1977; OCLC 12633604
positive & negative microfiche
Vol. 125, January – December 1977
positive & negative microfiche or 16 & 35 mm microfilm
Vol. 126, 1978
Alexandria, Virginia
Originals from the Boston Public Library
(Chadwyck-Healey was acquired by ProQuest in 1999)
  • Brookhaven Press[41]
La Crosse, Wisconsin
35 mm positive & negative microfilm
Vols. 1–120, 1890-1972
(lacking 1890–1902, 1911–1914, 1920)

Active trade journals older than The Music Trades

  1. ^ Railway Age, founded in 1856
       Hairdressers Journal International, founded in 1888
       Timber Trades Journal, founded in 1873

Other notes

  1. ^ The number of issues are derived by counting the weeks when The Music Trades was a weekly publication, from Vol. 1, No. 1, January 3, 1891, to February 9, 1929, Vol. 77, No. 6 (1,989 weeks), then monthly from February 1929 (February 15, Vol. 77, No. 7, was the first monthly issue) to January 2025 (1,152 months)
    Click "show" at right to see calculation

    1,989 weekly issues + 1,152 monthly issues = 3,140 total issues (as of January 2025)
  2. ^ The Musical Trade Review founded by Freund should not be confused with the Music Trade Journal founded in New York City in 1877 by Charles Avery Welles (1848–1913), first named The Music Trade Journal, then renamed in 1879 as The Musical Critic and Trade Review, then renamed again around 1883 as The Music Trade Review, and soon thereafter owned by "Colonel" Edward Lyman Bill (1862–1916).
  3. ^ Milton Weil of this article should not be confused with:
     • Milton Weil (1888–1937), the Chicago music publisher and composer
     • Milton Weil (1869–1938), (i) former secretary-treasurer of the Driggs & Smith Company, piano dealers in Waterbury, Connecticut, until 1912,(ii) manager of the retail department in New York for Krakauer Brothers from 1914 to 1929, (iii) retail manager of Sohmer & Co's. retail department beginning about 1931, and (iv) a piano salesman with the American Piano Company
     • Milton Weil (1876–1934), stock broker based in New York City, co-founder of Gotham Silk Hosiery Company, and collector of cameos and intaglios that were bequested by his estate to the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Inline citations

  1. ^ "120 Years of Industry Coverage," by Brian T. Majeski & Paul A. Majeski, The Music Trades, Vol. 158, No. 10, November 2010, pg. 20
  2. ^ Pianos and Their Makers: A Comprehensive History of the Development of the Piano, Alfred Dolge (1848–1922), General Publishing Company, Ltd., Toronto (1972); ISBN 0-486-22856-8 ISBN 9780486228563
    Originally published by Covina Publishing Company, Covina, California (1911); LCCN 11-20107 OCLC 1199554, 609801605
  3. ^ "John C. Freund; Founder and Editor of Musical America Dies After Long Illness," The New York Times, June 4, 1924
  4. ^ a b Men and Women of America: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporaries, L. R. Hamersley & Co. (Lewis Randolph Hamersley; 1847–1910), (1910), pg. 659–660; OCLC 2482688
  5. ^ 1910 US Census, Manhattan Ward 12, New York, New York, Roll T624_1028, Page 15A; Enumeration District 739
    FHL microfilm 1375041 (official record at NARA; accessed July 24, 2015 via Ancestry.com)
  6. ^ "Mirror To An Age: Musical America, 1918–30," by Mary Herron DuPree (born 1944), Royal Musical Association Research Chronicle, No. 23 (1990), pps. 137–147; ISSN 1472-3808
  7. ^ "Freund, John C.," Who's Who in Music and Drama, Dixie Hines & Harry Prescott (eds.), H.P. Hanaford (1914), pps. 126–127; OCLC 21786350
        (alternate view)
  8. ^ A History of American Magazines, 1865–1885, by Frank Luther Mott, Oxford University Press (1970), pps. 196–197; OCLC 310244
  9. ^ A Hundred Years of Music In America, William Smythe Babcock Mathews (1837–1912) (assoc. ed.), G. L. Howe (1889), pps. 380–382; OCLC 862556
  10. ^ "Editorial: Bric-a-Brac," Music: A Monthly Magazine, William Smythe Babcock Mathews (1837–1912) (ed.), Vol. 7, No. 5, March 1895, pg. 525
  11. ^ History of the American Pianoforte: Its Technical Development, and the Trade, by Daniel Spillane (1861–1893), D. Spillane (publisher) (1890), pg. 359; OCLC 21361
  12. ^ "US Piano Sales History from 1900 to Present", Bluebook of Pianos (2012)
        1900 to 1959
        Piano Shipments reported by the National Piano Manufacturers Association
        1960 to 2012
        Piano Sales reported in MUSIC USA published by the American Music National Piano Foundation and Conference and the National Association of Music Merchants
  13. ^ The Great Orchestrator: Arthur Judson and American Arts Management, by James M. Doering, University of Illinois Press (2013), pg. 75; OCLC 828140136
  14. ^ Musical Alliance of the United States homepage www.musicalalliance.org
  15. ^ "The Musical Alliance," John C. Freund, Music Supervisors' Journal, Vol. 4, No. 3, January Jan 1918, pps. 22, 24, 26, 28; JSTOR 3382937
  16. ^ Allied in Music: One Man's Dream of Unity" (radio transcript), by Stephen Greene, On Being (radio show), January 31, 2014
  17. ^ a b "Large New Security Offerings Announced," The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 27, 1927
  18. ^ a b "The Advertiser: 'Super Business-Paper' Combine Well Under Way With Big Stock Issue Sold—Hearst Men Head Group," New York Evening Post, July 8, 1927
  19. ^ Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada: 1800–1950, website created by Verity Griscti & Joshua Hull (retrieved 6 September 2014)
  20. ^ Edwin John Rosencrans, '93, C.E., '00," The Michigan Alumnus, Vol. 41, October 6, 1934, to September 14, 1935, pg. 128
  21. ^ "Howie Returns to Mirror," New York Evening Post, July 14, 1928, last col.
  22. ^ "Six Magazines Auctioned," The New York Times, July 20, 1929
  23. ^ a b "Musical America Looks Back Over Eight Adventurous Decades," High Fidelity Musical America, Vol. 28, No. 2, 1978; ISSN 0735-7788
  24. ^ "Congratulations to Mr. Weil," Music Trade Review, Vol. 28, No. 17, April 29, 1899, pg. 15
  25. ^ "Americans Attempt Suicide in Paris," Chester Times, May 22, 1935
  26. ^ "Wife Dead, Mate Near Death In Suicide Pact," Syracuse Journal (INS), May 23, 1935
  27. ^ "Man and Wife Die 24 Hours Apart," Cumberland Evening Times, May 24, 1935
  28. ^ "Reports of Deaths of American Citizens Abroad, 1835–1974," NARA Inventory 15, Entry 205, 1910–1962, Box 1467: 1930–1939
  29. ^ "Music Trades Sold at Auction," Presto-Times, Issue 2232, August 1, 1928, col. 1 (bottom), pg. 8; OCLC 29805477
  30. ^ "John Majeski, Sr., Publisher, Dead," The New York Times, November 21, 1971
  31. ^ "John F. Majeski:" Biography Index, Vol. 9: September 1970 – August 1973, New York: H.W. Wilson Company (1974); OCLC 24559910
  32. ^ "John F. Majeski:" Who Was Who in America, Vol. 5, 1969–1973, Chicago: Marquis Who's Who (1973); OCLC 13864526
  33. ^ "John Majeski Interview," NAMM Oral History Library, January 3, 2003
  34. ^ "Tribute: John F. Majeski, Longtime Music Trades Editor (1921–2011)," The Music Trades, Vol. 160, No. 1, February 2012
  35. ^ "Daugherty is Made Trade Paper Editor," Poughkeepsie Eagle-News, March 5, 1930, pg. 1
  36. ^ "William J. Dougherty Dies After Long Illness," Music Trade Review, Vol. 110, No. 2, February 1951, pg. 30
  37. ^ Foremost Women in Communications, New York: Foremost Americans Publishing Corp. (1970); OCLC 105233
  38. ^ "Grace Frary Retires From The Music Trades," The Music Trades, Vol. 155, No. 6, July 2007; via HighBeam
  39. ^ Forty years of the University of Minnesota, Elwin Bird Johnson (1865–1928) (ed.), University of Minnesota Alumni Association (1910), pps. 407–408; OCLC 7992557
  40. ^ United States Patent and Trademark Office, Serial No. 85046105, Registration Date January 25, 2011
  41. ^ a b c "Music and Other Performing Arts Serials Available in Microform and Reprint Editions," by Stuart Milligan, Eastman School of Music, Notes Second Series, Vol. 29, No. 4, June 1973, pps. 675–693
Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Music Trades (magazine).