The idea of marketing music cooperatively emerged in 1916 when twelve industry associations formed the Music Industries Chamber of Commerce. Its goals were to foster and promote the development of music, improve business practices in the industry and eliminate the excise tax on musical instruments.

The “Piano Promotion Plan” created by the National Piano Manufacturers Association in 1926 was another major marketing development. To boost declining piano sales brought on by the popularity of the electric radio, the association spent $200,000 to advertise in nine national magazines. The plan met with limited success.

Instead of regarding the radio as a rival, some music merchants put it to work as an ally for advertising. The employees of J.W. Jenkins Sons Music Co. in Wichita, Kansas, promoted their store by organizing a six-piece orchestra to play over station WEAH in 1925.

The national school band movement was the most important marketing development of the time. Several associations and individuals helped in its development. In 1917, The Music Trades Magazine editor John C. Freund founded The Musical Alliance to lobby for music education in public schools. The Music Educators National Conference (MENC) also actively encouraged school music programs during this period.

In 1923, C.D. Greenleaf, owner of C.G. Conn, vowed to make music a part of children's basic education.  He organized the first National Band Contests to draw attention to school music and established the Conn National School of Music in Chicago to train band directors. He also commissioned studies on the benefits of music and obtained publicity for model school music programs with the help of famed conductor John Philip Sousa.

Greenleaf contributed Conn company funds to build the National Music Camp in Interlochen, Michigan, in 1928 and created factory financing to help dealers sell instruments to entire schools. Instrument makers and retailers launched a national campaign in the late 1920s to link music to basic public school education.