Music's Black Market

[Dutchtown Sousa]

maybe what should be put in place is like what the KGB did with important intel: The case they put it in would blow up if not opened correctly. Now instead of an explosion if the case was incorrectly opened it would send a message to your email or something and if you received that email you could activate a gps beacon inside the case if your instrument had in fact gone missing (or you could activate it manually from an app if your instrument had been stolen but has not been opened yet . The signal from the beacon could be sent to you and the police department and you would be able to pinpoint where the instrument was. Only problem is cost and the fact you would have a very limited window of time that you could track it because the battery on the beacon would run out. A similar system could be implemented in cars and there would only be problem if your car's battery went dead.

[TubaRay]

There is a point which has not yet been raised. And that is:

41.749% of statistics are just made up from someone's imagination.

[ShoelessWes]

There is a point which has not yet been raised. And that is:

41.749% of statistics are just made up from someone's imagination.

Indeed, and NPR has been pretty good at making up stats about politics for quite some time.

[ShoelessWes]

PAINT your Yamaha YCB-826S tubas WHITE...

faux-fiberglass !

I thought that was supposed to be in the other thread

"Sneaking tubas in the country from Mexico or Canada"

[TubaRay]

There is a point which has not yet been raised. And that is:

41.749% of statistics are just made up from someone's imagination.

Indeed, and NPR has been pretty good at making up stats about politics for quite some time.

INDEED!

[ShoelessWes]

Since this problem seems systemic in the music world, this begs the question...
What major changes have to happen within our industry to cut down on this rampant problem?

The stat served as a point of discussion, not a doomsday apocalypse.
I was hoping, even if the stat is completely wrong, there could be a discussion about things that need to be reformed to change this growing problem.

So, you don't think that musical instrument theft is systemic?

We have no reporting system.

We have no tracking system.

We have no accountability standards within the organizations that resell these instruments?

Systemic means widespread, it doesn't mean 50% or 100%... or any number really, and just about anyone here has had at least 1 thing stolen from them, be it mouthpiece, music, or instrument, etc.

Saying there is a problem and saying there are surely other manners in which these problems should be addressed is not "chicken little".

[TUBAD83]

Simply put.... NPR is full of crap!

Since I began repairing professionally about ten years ago... I have accumulated descriptions and serial numbers of about 1,200 music instruments I've either repaired, bought, or sold. According to the NPR statistic... that would mean that 600 of them were stolen at one time or another.

To my knowledge... only one stolen instrument has crossed my path... the St. Pete that came through last week. That guy was caught rather quickly because the serial number was in my database already.

Maybe if the NPR stat had read "50% of all the music instruments sold by pawn shop are stolen"... it would be more believable. Those places go through a heck of a lot of drums and guitars. But... not many tubas!

There's no reason to get too excited about tuba thieves. Just keep a record of your serial numbers in case it does happen.

I have checked the NPR website and have found no such story. The LOCAL station may have produced the story and if so, that was some sloppy reporting.
What did find very interesting is the following:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/201 ... california" target="_blank" target="_blank

JJ

[SousaSaver]

For what it's worth, I keep a database of stolen Tubas, Sousaphones and Euphoniums.

If you have had an instrument stolen from you, send me (via a PM or email) some information and if I see your item in my daily scouring of ebay, craigslist and other internet sales, I will let you know IMMEDIATELY.