Artist Relations - it sounds like a relatively modern business concept, but Baldwin was writing the book, literally, on artist relations a hundred years ago. The "book" is the handwritten record of Baldwin's executive committee meetings from 1907-12, and it details some of Baldwin's business dealings with its artists.

At the time, Baldwin was fighting 293 other U.S. piano makers for a piece of the booming market. Artist endorsements were an absolute must for a top-quality maker. It was such serious business that Baldwin didn't call it Artist Relations; it had the more candid and blunt name of Artists & Exploitation. Baldwin not only secured artist endorsements, the company went so far as to book and promote tours for those artists - a risky business that instrument companies don't get into today.

Baldwin's big gun of the period was Vladimir de Pachmann, a Russian pianist whose specialty was the music of Chopin. He was a Baldwin artist by 1905 when the photo at the left appeared in a flyer, and he remained a Baldwin artist for many years, but he was by no means Baldwin's only artist.

According to the executive committee meeting minutes, in September 1908, C.M. Robertson, who seems to have been an all-purpose business manager for Baldwin, recommended supporting a recital tour by a "Mme. Calve" in 15-20 cities. This was the famous French opera singer Emma Calve, but her fee, as later entries would show, was modest. Baldwin's regional sale offices would cover the expense of providing a Baldwin concert grand at each show, and the home office would cover Mme. Calve's fee of $50 per show. Mr. Robertson's recommendation was approved.

Later in 1908 Baldwin engaged Blanche Marchesi, a London-based soprano, to use Baldwins on her tour. Baldwin kicked in half of her $100 fee, but Mr. Robertson was able to convince her manager to kick in the back page of the eight-page concert program for a Baldwin advertisement.

Things didn't go so well for Mr. Robertson in the early part of 1909. In May of that year he announced that he had secured a Mr. Van den Berg for a straight salary of $400 a month, but if the rate is any indication, Mr. Van den Berg was only a minor star. The committee had been expecting the French pianist Raoul Pugno. Pugno had given Baldwin a ringing endorsement when a Baldwin piano won the Grand Prix at the Paris Exposition in 1900, but Baldwin president Lucien Wulsin had nixed a Baldwin-supported tour at that time, noting that Pugno had flopped on his last U.S. tour. Pugno was apparently a big enough draw in 1909 - too big, in fact. He had increased his price from $300 to $500 per show. That, according to the committee, "relieves us of the necessity of engaging him for a tour."

And that was a problem, as the minutes noted in the next sentence: "That leaves us without representation for the coming season. It is felt that it is essential that we make preparation now to meet this situation."

The committee decided to go after Leopold Godowsky, the Polish-born pianist and composer of a series of etudes based on Chopin's work. Although he had become an American citizen, Godowsky had been living in Berlin since 1900. Securing an artist of his stature was important enough that the committee did not want to wait for correspondence to be exchanged back and forth from Europe. They authorized a Mr. Somlyo to personally go to Europe to sign up Godowsky or "some artist with international reputation."

The committee set no limitations on Mr. Somlyo, trusting his experience to make the best deal or to cable home if he needed instructions. Mr. Robertson suggested offering Godowsky $15,000 for 30 concerts or $20,000 for 40. No one on the committee pointed out that that was the same fee - $500 per concert - that they had only a few moments earlier refused to pay Raoul Pugno. To get Godowsky, Baldwin would also kick in expenses for his trip by steamship from Europe and his railroad travel in the U.S. Godowsky would pay for his own hotel and food. As an extra incentive, he could have any profit Baldwin made above the $500 per show guarantee.

Mr. Robertson would not be caught without a Baldwin artist for the 1910 season. Late in 1909 he reported securing a 25-concert tour by Wilhelm Backhaus, a 25-year-old German piano whiz who had become the premier Beethoven interpreter, at the bargain rate of $100 per show, with Baldwin paying all U.S. expenses and advertising and giving Backhaus any net profit. Mr. Robertson showed that he had learned a thing or two about booking talent by signing Backhaus to an option for a second tour.

By this time, Baldwin's support of artists was not limited to big names. In the same meeting that the Backhaus tour was announced, the committee decided to provide pianos - but no cash - to Max Friedlander, a professor who was giving a lecture tour; an apparently regionally popular performer named Pepito Arriola; and the European soprano Marcella Sembrich. The committee also directed the various regional sales offices to stock up on concert pianos so that they would be available to touring artists.

The book goes halfway through 1912 with only one more mention of an artist - a note about de Pachmann, so he must have been back on Baldwin roster. Mr. Robertson gave no more reports on artists. He seems to have had his hands full negotiating deals with the companies that supplied music for the newly popular player pianos. He also tried (unsuccessfully) to hedge Baldwin's bets in the home entertainment market by proposing that Baldwin distribute Victor Talking Machines.

Despite the absence of artist business at the executive committee meetings, Baldwin's artist roster grew ever stronger through the years, and the efforts of Messrs. Robertson, Somlyo and Wulsin set a standard for artist endorsement that endures today.

The Baldwin Story, scheduled for publication in early 2003, will feature a full chapter on Baldwin artists written by noted piano journalist Robert Doerschuk, as well as a more detailed look at the executive committee records of 1907-12 by Gibson/Baldwin historian Walter Carter.