Japanese Death Song, Sharp

Japanese Death Song, by Earl Cranston Sharp, was published by Oliver Ditson and received copyright in 1914. It is interesting to note that it was also distributed through Chas. H Ditson & Co. in New York and Lyon & Healy in Chicago. This piece was not so widely published as was The Firefly and Mollie’s Dream Waltz.  There may be a couple of noteworthy reasons:

• Ditson may have anticipated that this piece would not be so popular as others that he published. It would have appealed to a certain group of individuals identifying with Japanese culture and music. For this reason, he may have strategically identified a couple of locations that would make the most sense from a financial perspective. New York, where Chas & Company was located, was a hub for international activity. It is reasonable to conclude that he may have sold more copies at such a location where marketing and attracting interest for this piece would be easier. Chicago was a strong economic hub for shipping and distribution, so perhaps this was Ditson’s reasoning for choosing Chicago as a publishing location.
• At the point when both Chas & Company and Lyon & Healy were up and running, Ditson had already established himself as the publishing giant in North America. Having already bought out many of the smaller companies in these cities, he faced little competition. The two firms through which he did chose to publish this piece were financially supported by Ditson and run by men that he knew and trusted. At this point in his career, there was less of a need to publish through smaller companies. Once he was into the markets in New York and Chicago, he could easily draw upon his already established reputation and distribute farther through his exhaustive network.