Get a real, LIVE person on the phone!

We’re always talking about our knowledgeable staff—you’ll find that very phrase on much of our printed advertising, as well as on our website. Stanton’s sales staff is separated into departments to ensure that each staff member is well informed about a specific area of the wide variety of music that we carry. So when you call and ask about music for trumpet, you’ll be speaking with someone who has first-hand knowledge of repertoire, not just a phone operator with no musical experience. Here’s what you’ll find in each department:

CHORAL DEPARTMENT (ex. 1)
Church Choral Music
School Choral Music
Elementary Classroom Music
Classical Solo Vocal
Handbell

BAND DEPARTMENT (ex. 2)
Concert Band
Marching Band
Jazz Ensemble
Orchestra
Solos for all concert instruments
Instrumental Method Books
Music Software/Technology

POP/KEYBOARD (ex. 3)
Sacred & Secular Piano
Organ
Piano Method Books
Popular/Broadway Solo Vocal
Contemporary Christian Vocal
Guitar Solos and Methods
Music for Folk Instruments

BILLING AND ACCOUNTS (ex. 4)

You can direct emails to the exact department you need by clicking the links above, or press the appropriate extension when you call 1-800-42-MUSIC (1-800-426-8742). If you’re unsure of which department to choose, we’re always happy to direct you to whoever can best address your needs; press “0″ to have your call directed, or send a general email. At Stanton’s, it is important to us that you receive the most educated answers to your questions and the finest music recommendations.

Stanton’s “21-Day Trial” Program

Did you know that you can preview music from Stanton’s before you decide to buy? We know that it’s difficult to tell if a particular piece of music will fit your needs without actually reading it through, so similar to checking things out from a library, you can “borrow” resources from our store using the “21 Day Trial” program!

Each of Stanton’s departments has slightly different guidelines about what/how many items can be sent on “21 Day Trial,” but in general we can send printed sheet music that is currently in stock. You can request items for trial by phone, email, fax, online or in person—any of the ways that you can place a regular order—but make sure that you specify “21 Day Trial.” You can list the music you’d like to peruse, or you can give us some specifications (like “Christmas piano solos,” “SSA choral music on the theme of friendship,” or “new publications for 8th grade jazz band”) and Stanton’s knowledgeable staff will find some suggestions for you!

We require account or credit card information so that if you choose to keep the music we can charge you accordingly, or return the music within 21 days of your invoice date and you’ll never be charged! (You’ll just have to pay return shipping to get the music back to us.)

As you return from Winter break and begin programming the rest of your school or church year, remember that Stanton’s Sheet Music is here to help!

Stanton’s Travels Continue!

After our trips to Rochester, Grand Rapids and Cincinnati, Stanton’s has one more stop on our convention circuit – next week we’ll be heading to Louisville for the Kentucky Music Educators Association Conference!

In Louisville, you’ll find us in the exhibition hall under the big, blue Stanton’s balloon. Stop by for all your music needs, or to give us a good restaurant recommendation! Contact us this week if you have any special requests for the music we’ll choose to fill our large booth.

We don’t need no stinkin’ wires!!!

That’s right, free WIFI for Stanton’s Sheet Music customers! Bring your wireless device right into the store and log on. You’re thinking, “that’s all well and good but now what?” Well, here’s the really cool thing! We’re very proud of the vast quantity of sound files (36,297 at last count) in our listening library. Our customers can now shop anywhere in the store and listen to the musical arrangement they happen to be looking at! Plug your earbuds into your iPhone, iPad or Android, log on to the free WIFI and you’re good to go! No more waiting in line to use the CD player, cassette tape player or the turntable (turntable - what the heck is a turntable!!!).

Stanton’s Sheet Music… always on the cutting edge!

What’s the Difference?

In this ‘information age’ of internet websites, digital downloading and social networking, you can order and purchase music through any number of sources at any time of the day (or night), and even do it via your smart phone, so what’s the difference?  Granted, Stanton’s Sheet Music has quite an internet presence due to our website and online listening library, we have a digital download site with ever increasing inventory, you can become our ‘friend’ on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and, let’s face it, you’re reading our blog, so what REALLY sets us apart?

First, and foremost, almost all of our staff (including bookkeeping, receiving, shipping, etc.) are trained, degreed musicians with both performance and teaching experience. We have former band and choir directors, church musicians, former classroom teachers, private instructors and active, freelance musicians on staff. When you pick up the phone and speak with us, we’re more than just ‘customer service representatives’. We have studied and/or taught with much of the material that we offer, make recommendations, and have experienced many of the rewards and challenges of marching season, school musicals, budgets, booster groups, administrators, etc.

Second, and equally important, we are one resource with one location and we do it all! We are a store open to the public, not a warehouse. All of our orders whether phoned in, faxed or placed online are pulled from our in-house stock, backordered from publishers as necessary, and sent from our store. The same sales staff you speak with that takes your orders, fills your orders, responds to customer e-mail, orders our stock, puts stock away, reviews new material, processes internet orders, matches backordered items, and works with publisher representatives. Stanton’s is not divided into script-following CSR’s, order pullers in some distant warehouse, stock orderers hidden away in offices, and a billing department on another floor of the building. The same people handle your order from beginning to end and are available to answer any questions along the way.

If you haven’t worked with Stanton’s before, give us a call (1-800-426-8742), send us an e-mail, visit our website, or visit our store (we not only give music recommendations, but fantastic lunch recommendations as well).  Place your next order with us and find out why we have been the ‘Sheet Music Specialists’ since 1960!

Happy 50th Anniversary Stanton’s!

2010 is a very exciting year for us here at Stanton’s Sheet Music – we’re celebrating our 50th Anniversary!  Founded in August of 1960 by Columbus, Ohio native John Stanton, Stanton’s Sheet Music has grown over the last 50 years from a humble “mom and pop” storefront to our current status as one of the largest sheet music retailers in the country.  We are fortunate to have become a valuable and trusted resource for musicians because of our commitment to quality products and personal customer service; a commitment we continue to build upon.

For a retrospective look at where we’ve come from (and where we’re heading in the future), check out our video below.  Thanks to our wonderful family of customers, we’ve enjoyed an amazing and successful 50 year history, and we look forward to continuing to serve all your sheet music needs for the next 50 years!

Preview new items for FREE!

Did you know that you can preview music from Stanton’s before you decide to buy? We know that it’s difficult to tell if a particular piece of music will fit your needs without actually reading it through, so similar to checking things out from a library, you can “borrow” resources from our store using the “21 Day Trial” program!

Each of Stanton’s departments has slightly different guidelines about what/how many items can be sent on “21 Day Trial,” but in general we can send printed sheet music that is currently in stock. You can request items for trial by phone, email, fax, online or in person—any of the ways that you can place a regular order—but make sure that you specify “21 Day Trial.” You can list the music you’d like to peruse, or you can give us some specifications (like “Christmas piano solos,” “SSA choral music on the theme of friendship,” or “new publications for 8th grade jazz band”) and Stanton’s knowledgeable staff will find some suggestions for you!

We require account or credit card information so that if you choose to keep the music we can charge you accordingly, or return the music within 21 days of your invoice date and you’ll never be charged! (You’ll just have to pay return shipping to get the music back to us.)

Contact us NOW in June and July when we have more time to spend considering your unique trial request. When all the other teachers are dragging themselves into the store first thing in the morning on a Saturday in August or September, you’ll continue to sleep soundly knowing that you’ve already received a package of music, specifically chosen for you, that will be waiting whenever you choose to wake up and read through it…

Get Ready for St. Patrick’s Day!

In celebration of the Irish holiday, St. Patrick’s Day, we have come up with some popular Irish tunes that you might find fun to perform–ranging from piano/vocal sheets, choral arrangements, vocal collections, and mandolin and fiddle pieces to orchestra and jazz band.

The ever popular “Irish Eyes are Smiling” is available in a choral arrangement by Teena Chinn for SATB, 3-Part Mixed and 2-part treble voicings. “Danny Boy,” probably one of the most famous of Irish pieces, is available in almost in any form you can think of!

For those of you who prefer some easy and “fun to play” tunes for the big day, some titles you might enjoy can be found in “Irish Ballad Book” or “Irish Ballads,” both of which are vocal/piano collections. There is also a general music collection titled “Music of Our World: Ireland” for the elementary students.

As you can see the choices are many and all very good; visit our website, email or call us at 1-800-42-MUSIC, and we’ll help to find the right Irish tune for you!

POP goes the sheet music!

Stanton’s receives many calls and emails that begin with “I’ve got a great piece of music here that’s pretty old…” and, sadly, that conversation often ends with “I’m sorry to tell you that piece is permanently out of print.” What does that mean for you, the director/musician when something is permanently out of print (POP)? Read on to find some of the most common questions and their answers:

1) Why do things go POP?
When we inform someone that a certain piece is POP, the most common response we receive is “I can’t believe it—that piece is so good!” While it is true that sometimes a piece is taken out of print due to lack of sales, this is not the only reason. Sometimes there are copyright changes, royalty disputes and other business issues that have nothing to do with sales. Even if a piece is taken out of print due to low sales, that’s not necessarily an indicator of quality. A piece that is “good” may also be very difficult, or extremely contemporary or use an unusual voicing/instrumentation, all of which could lead to low sales despite how “good” it is.

2) Why does Stanton’s show POP titles on their website?
When Stanton’s determines that a piece is no longer in print, we indicate that on our website so that you, the customer, can also have that information. If you were looking for a certain piece and simply didn’t see it listed, you may just conclude that it’s not available from Stanton’s, or that you had typed something incorrectly.
Sometimes a piece that is permanently out of print is not yet listed that way on our website. While we make every effort to keep the information on our website up-to-date, we usually don’t learn that a piece has gone POP until we try to order it and the publisher says “sorry, no.” Please call us if you have questions about the status of a particular piece.

3) How do I determine that something is POP?
As stated above, we encourage you to contact Stanton’s whenever you have questions about a piece of music. If you are interested in doing some research yourself, you can check the website of the publisher to see if they have more information. If the music is from a publisher that is no longer in business, their copyrights, or “imprints,” are probably still owned by another publisher; the same arrangement may still be in print from the “new” owner of that imprint. You can find more details about defunct publishers on the Music Publishers Association’s directory of imprints.

4) Do I have any options for obtaining this music?
Once you have determined that something is POP, you may contact the publisher to request permission to photocopy (Stanton’s can give you their contact information) if you have at least one original copy. Especially in the case of churches and schools, the publishers will often grant this request for little or no cost. The publisher will then send you a letter stating that you have permission to make copies. If you do not have an original copy, you might acquire a copy from someone else’s library by sending out a query on the ChoralNet listserv, or a similar forum. IT IS ILLEGAL TO MAKE PHOTOCOPIES WITHOUT THE PUBLISHER’S PERMISSION, EVEN WHEN SOMETHING IS NO LONGER IN PRINT!

5) This music is still in print, so why is it so hard for me to get it?!
In addition to “in print” and “out of print,” there are a few other ways to designate the status of a piece of music. It may be “temporarily out of print” (TOP) or “on backorder” (OBO), which means that the publisher is sold out of the music in their warehouse and will need to print some more. It also may be designated as “print on demand” (POD) or an “archive edition,” meaning that it is not something that the publisher keeps in stock, but they will print special copies on request. A piece of music might be a “special import” that is not kept in stock in the US, but that a publisher can get from their international partners. ALL of these situations may affect how long it will take to get your music and how much it will cost.

6) Is there any chance that it WILL come back into print?
No. There may be other arrangements of the same composition available, but once something goes POP, it will not come back.

Permanent means permanent.

How may I direct your call?

We’re always talking about our knowledgeable staff—you’ll find that very phrase on much of our printed advertising, as well as on our website. Stanton’s sales staff is separated into departments to ensure that each staff member is well informed about a specific area of the wide variety of music that we carry. So when you call and ask about music for trumpet, you’ll be speaking with someone who has first-hand knowledge of repertoire, not just a phone operator with no musical experience. Here’s what you’ll find in each department:

CHORAL DEPARTMENT (ex. 1)
Choral Music for School & Church
Elementary General Music
Classical Solo Vocal
Handbell

BAND DEPARTMENT (ex. 2)
Concert Band
Marching Band
Jazz Ensemble
Orchestra
Solos for all concert instruments
Instrumental Method Books
Music Software/Technology

POP/KEYBOARD (ex. 3)
Sacred & Secular Piano
Organ
Piano Method Books
Popular/Broadway Solo Vocal
Contemporary Christian Vocal
Guitar Solos and Methods
Music for Folk Instruments

You can direct emails to the exact department you need by clicking the links above, or press the appropriate extension when you call 1-800-42-MUSIC. If you’re unsure of which department to choose, we’re always happy to direct you to whoever can best address your needs. At Stanton’s, it is important to us that you receive the most educated answers to your questions and the finest music recommendations.