While I have no doubt that the causes for the demise of the roll
industry that Mr. Jon Hall pointed out were indeed significant, most
likely more so than the demise of cheap, "pirated" rolls, I cannot
help but wonder if the changes to copyright added fuel to the fire.

Mr. Hall points out quite correctly that player pianos themselves were
expensive, and adds that one would assume that if someone could afford
the expensive piano that they could also afford the more expensive
rolls.

This then begs the question of who was buying cheap rolls to begin
with.  I would suspect the answer to that would be young people --
folks who would have been more interested in the current pop tunes than
their parents who, one assumes, had purchased the player piano to begin
with.

Popular music was, and is, the bread and butter of the business, and
player dealers could count on having repeat customers by selling the
latest hit songs to Suzy and Billy once or twice a month, even if
they'd pitched the sale of the instrument to their parents on the
premise of being able to supply "good music in the home" for their
children's musical edification.  Cheaper rolls selling at a half or
even a quarter of the price of the "name" brands means that Billy
and Suzy are happier and, one assumes, buy more of your product.

Not to cast doubt on Mr. Hall's assertions, it seems to me that
the removal of the cheapest rolls from the market might have had a
detrimental impact on the sales of popular hits, if the assumption
holds true that they were typically purchased, not by the adults who
had purchased the piano itself, but by their children, presumably with
less to spend than their parents.

Bryan Cather
Saint Louis, Missouri

 [ The kids of today just beg entertainment money from their parents,
 [ like they always have!  -- Robbie