London, W.1.

THE GRAMOPHONE London Offices: 58, Frith Street,

Edited by COMPTON MACKENZIE

TELEPHONE: Regent 1~S3

Vol. III.

JUNE, 1925

No.1

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THE NEW

VOLUME By THE EDITOR

WE cnteI' 01.U third year ,h a sea 'on when the vitalit.y of the gTamophone i' popularly :mpposcd to be at i ts lowest ebb . In spite {)f that the a,tmo sphere buzzes pleasantly with whispers of com ing excitement. His Master's Voice announce a new method of r ecordirw electrically. This inorning I received an imritation from the Vocalion Company to dine a - Princes at the end of May and witness some unique developments in the gramophone. Unfortunately I re ce ived b y the S:1111e po ~ t a letter from my publishers inquiring a,nxiollsly about th e h ealth of my next book. Fillcd with a sense of something remarkably like guilt, I forced myself to de cline the invit.ation , .remembering that on July 9th we have om first Gramophone Congress. This, like most of the sehemes which I start and leave the London officc to get on with, is something of an experiment, but t hanks to the support of the trade i t looks like being a big success. I f the Public led in by our readers responds as nobly, i t will be a big success . Next year H.nd every year a,f terwards we hope to make this Congress a three-day affair, awl to hold i t in various great eities of the kingdom in turn. Much depends, therefore, on om ability to demonstrate to the Press, to the Trade, and to the un converted Public t he n eed for such a Congress. So please rally round and make the ajjair an unqualified success. You will read elsewhere the particulars. This is a personal appeal to om r eadcr ;:; to stand by.

Kow with regard to our Circulatioll ompetition. '1'his does not mean, as somc of our good friend;:; have feared, t.hat we are in parlous strait. I am '7cry glad and 1'ery thankf ul to lJe able to say that our circulation rises steadily ever y month, both at home and overseas; but [L paper l ike this, whielt stands alone without the support of other publications, must stand all the more firmly on i t :,; own feet in conseqnence. I t cannot have capital la ished upon i t , because l:L specialist's pltper cannot obta.1u an unlimited circulation. I t is because we feel that wc have not yet nearly reached that posl'ible circulation that we are making this strenuous cffort. For insta.nce, not a single copy of TIill GUAMOPHONE if old in the city of Norwich from t he London office. (I am not talking of copi.es sold by the big distributing agents like W. H. Smith.) Not one is , ent by us to Lichfield, Dmham, Worcester, Exeter, Chester or Gloucester. In fact, episcopal sees are apparently all a,nti-gl'amophonic, with notable exceptions like Canterbmy, an<l, of comse, gTeat cities like Liverpool and M:anchestpl'. I wish we could convert a few ecclesiastical dignitaries. I have not much hope from bishops, because bishops are natmally fidgety people and also very much overworked. . But deans aJ:e not

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