RIN:027 |
homepage: www.fritz-reuter.com | . |
 REUTER'S FOCUS REPORT English
Report Summaries-Available
German Titles
 |
||
RIN:027 |
homepage: www.fritz-reuter.com | . |
|
REUTER'S FOCUS REPORT English
Report Summaries-Available
German Titles
|
||
THE CHICAGO SHORT
CUT: |
Dedicated to my colleague and valued provider of
information and encouragement,
Hans Weisshaar
President of the International Society of Violin and Bow Makers.
|
True ethical responsibility
requires an absolute commitment to honorable behavior and practices, even at the sacrifice
of personal advantage. -- from the American Federation of Violin and Bow Makers,
Inc. |
Imagine yourself
casually reading through the classified ads of almost any magazine or newspaper, perhaps a
musical periodical. Suddenly, your attention is drawn to the following:
|
| *2. You, like most readers, start to ask questions. Who could succumb to
such a siren call of easy riches? Who could possibly believe it? Who -- especially among
the string playing elite -- could be seduced by greed this plain, this undiluted, this
silly? *3. In Japan, it was none other than the country's most famous and illustrious concert violinist, artist, pedagogue, and public servant: Professor Yoshio Unno. As an earlier FOCUS REPORT explained, Professor Unno was drawn into felonious actions with bait supplied by Kanda & Co. of Tokyo; this scheming dealer's successful manipulation of a venerated if fallible musician established the "Kanda" scandal as a paradigm of bribery, forgery, fraud, deception, and ignorance. The scandal itself, a Byzantine conspiracy fueled by corruption, nauseated even the most desensitized devotees of ornate violin folklore. It caused the collapse of Japan's market in old and antique violins. Indeed, it prompted "a general loss of confidence by Japanese musicians in what they are being offered [by musicians dealing in violins]" (see: The Strad July of 1982). |
| *4. Let us, therefore, raise further questions. Where did Mr. Kanda's grand schemes have their nefarious origin? Were they the fruit of an educational system whose superiority has been proudly flaunted by Prime Minister Nakasone? Or were they first nourished, not in Japan, but far closer to home? |
| *5. "Kanda" definitely was not Made in Japan. The Japanese
imported it from -- where else? -- Chicago, U.S.A., the city renowned as bastion of
general merchandising and as purveyor of less savory, more specialized, goods and
services. These include nearly all aspects of the "music business." They are
like tentacles with an enormous reach. Their threatening power is a consequence of
disciplined, muscular support -- the intense concentration, unique to Chicago, of a
special form of brazen white-collar craftiness: the musician dealing in violins. These
musician-dealers are members of what may be called the Chicago violin M-A-F-F-I-A, a
multi-faceted acronym for: Makers And Fiddlers
Fleecing In Accord |
| *6. Kanda & Co. did not have to go it alone. Expert opinion was always available! Quite probably, it was the MAFFIA which backed Kanda & Co. in the scandal which the violin trade calls, smirkingly, the Chicago Flim Flam and Fiddle Scam. This conspiracy gained Kanda & Co. great wealth and prominence -- until the bubble burst, much to the chagrin of the teaching profession which, now, was viewed with disdain and suspicion as an accomplice in the scam. |
| · CHICAGO'S
VIOLIN M-A-F-F-I-A: Dominant Characteristics *7. Members of the Chicago Violin MAFFIA display distinctive operational characteristics and are committed to species-specific fleecing procedures. We will first turn to the characteristics. *8. MAFFIA members are part of a network of merchants, fiddling procurers, and others who -- working in conspiratorial collaboration -- have become highly adept at fleecing the gullible purchaser of violins (usually a student). These conspirators' special goal is to keep the violin a classical "blind" item. To achieve it, they employ schemes of deception, outright fraud, and bribery and/or extortion. For all practical purposes, they have created a monopolistic oligopoly -- a ruling clique whose decisions are, in effect, those of a monopoly -- a small group whose choices determine the supply and demand within the Mid-West trade in old and antique fiddles. These members are marked by their involvement -- sometimes partial, sometimes complete -- with a special triune concept of fraud. |
| (1) --Deception-- *9. To protect their symbiotic relationship and keep the monies flowing, MAFFIA insiders -- through brainwashing -- consciously create new, and work to sustain old myths and lies and disinformation collected over the generations. Playing upon and exploiting aspiring players' hidden hopes, fears, insecurities, and superstitions, the MAFFIA merchant renders the violin buyer psychologically dependent through the double dealing Matchmaker -- the "hidden persuader." It is the Matchmaker's nonsensical regurgitations which keep alive the supposed mystery or secret of Stradivarius. This "mystery" has tricked the general public into accepting the most amazing pseudo-scientific absurdity:
*10. Yet the obvious consequence of aging is, of course, not improvement but its opposite: deterioration!! |
| *21. All payoffs, whether cash or in-kind, need to be understood
musically -- as variations on a scheme! At this point, therefore, it is best to emphasize
the schematic line by stating some of the more prominent variations, perhaps though no one
engages in all of them, and briefly developing each. *22. The Token of virginity. The "token of virginity" is a small portion of the so-called "professional discount" itself an amount deducted from the arbitrarily set sales price. The "token" is a relatively recent development. It came into existence after the original (1971) publication of Reuter's "How to Buy a Violin." This booklet exposed the kickback conspiracy of dealers and matchmakers. The dealers, in turn, resolved to disguise their offensive practices by giving the buyer a rebate -- perhaps 10%, 20% top -- as a reassuring "token of their innocence." In this way, the "token" puts the seller's honor beyond question -- at least where appearances are concerned -- and still leaves layer after layer of profit for the merchant and matchmaker to divide up between them. |
| *23. Priming the Pump. "Priming the pump" is the-musician-dealer's device for recruiting potential matchmakers prior to the consummation of a sale. Why do this? The object is simple: to make the potential matchmaker an actual matchmaker, to secure his cooperation in the sale of an overpriced instrument to an unwary victim. After all, someone shopping for a violin most often arranges to take home several instruments supplied by diverse dealers -- the idea being to play them "on trial" and, as part of this procedure, to show them to one's teacher. Advice, not deception, is the student's desire. But the "creative" dealer sends the teacher and potential matchmaker an inducement -- directly put, a bribe-representing roughly 10% or 20% of the estimated sales price. The money is advanced with euphemistic references to a "good will offering," as an invitation to share in communication and mutual profits from here on. |
| *24. Topping It Off. The phrase "topping it off" refers to an additional amount charged to the buyer by the musician-dealer. . . and, amazingly, after the sale has been made. By fawning or otherwise stimulating the victim's infatuation with his newly acquired instrument or bow, the matchmaker gets things to a point where he can tell the dealer of an additional amount which could still be charged to -- i.e., extorted from-the buyer. Once informed, the dealer lets the buyer know that there was a "mistake" in their original transaction -- that he was charged too little for his instrument or bow, and that renegotiation in light of "actual" value is necessary. The added amount, once extracted from the victimized buyer, is customarily split equally between dealer and matchmaker. |
| *25. Sweat Money. Dealers, as well as many independent amateur violin makers and repairmen, have lucrative arrangements with matchmakers (teachers, school administrators, and other "moles"). These "sweat money" conspiracies are not focused on merchandise, but on services. The provision which governs them is simple. They are agreements to secretly divide a considerable portion, sometimes 100%, of padded labor charges. For every instrument or bow repair steered his way by a particular matchmaker, the dealer or maker or repairman kicks back a percentage. Even sadder, highly inflated repair bills -- bills itemizing fictional or unnecessary or, even, value reducing "repairs" -- are presented to individual victims (and to school boards) for payment. |
| *26. Double Dipping. "Double dipping" is the method whereby a teacher agrees to assist his student in selecting an instrument -- this, for a fee charged directly to the student -- and, at the same time, secures a seller payoff to himself. By shopping among different dealers and/or private sellers, the teacher flushes out a vital piece of information: the amount of money which the student is willing to pay for an instrument. Then he uses this information in covertly negotiating with sellers for his payoff. At times, such a teacher's profit on a sale goes well beyond 50%. His combined profits, the sum of monies received from the student and the seller, certainly exceed the amount he could extort by collaborating with a dealer or private seller only. |
| *27. Offering a Dowry. This well-mannered technique is favored by makers of violins and bows. The maker simply presents an outstanding musician or teacher with an instrument and/or bow of his own making -- together with a bogus invoice which is marked "Paid in Full." The maker's gift is actually the "dowry" in a profitable 50/50 marriage of convenience. By showing the instrument and/or bow to students and others under his influence, the teacher creates the illusion that he has put his money where his mouth is... that he has actually invested his own resources in purchase of the creation he praises so highly. His bogus invoice backs up the illusion, encourages the student to purchase from this particular maker, and habituates the same student to accept the kind of inflated pricing represented on the so-called "invoice." Normally, the "dowry" brings -- with every sale -- a 50/50 split between the maker and matchmaker. |
| *28. Candyman's Snare. This is a dealer-to-dealer arrangement. The "candyman's snare" is the payoff one musician-dealer makes to another musician- or violin-maker-dealer when he happens to sell a high-priced instrument or bow to someone within a market "owned" by the other dealer. It is a kind of toll for setting foot upon another's turf. Its obvious purpose is uncomplicated. Like candy, it sweetens any tongue which might successfully articulate questions regarding the value, authenticity, or condition of the instrument sold. As a device, the "candyman's snare" is similar to "priming the pump" -- a method of sweetening the matchmaker -- but is somewhat less costly. The "snare" routinely means a kickback of only 5% to 15% of sales price. |
| ·
THE INSTITUTIONAL KICKBACK PYRAMID *29. So far, we have stressed the way typical MAFFIA members operate. Now we want to shift our stress, temporarily at least, from individuals to their institutions. *30. Actually, a clue to the violin MAFFIA's organizational setup is visible upon entering the sales rooms of many violin dealers. Within the trade, these rooms are often spoken of as "rogue galleries." Sacrosanct displays of portraits of prominent musicians, each portrait personally autographed by its subject, adorn every wall. The faces of these stellar artists, each in control of a specifiable sphere of influence within the musical world, gaze down upon the mere transient who has just walked through the door. Perhaps the potential buyer feels as though he has just entered Egypt's "Valley of the Kings," where each pyramid encloses the remains of an individual once honored as a god. |
| *31. After the fashion of the idolized Professor Unno, many prominent artists head organizational sales pyramids. Given this position, they tend to control, through advice and consent, the disbursement of considerable funds. Now the trend setter at the very top of the pyramid may not only be enshrined in "Who's Who in Music," but also find himself celebrated as a quasi-divine being when he appears at Carnegie Hall and other temples of culture. Such persons' earthly activities, however, tend to be a good deal less than divine. Too often, they divert institutional monies to the vendors who are their coconspirators -- deceptive dealers like Tokyo's infamous Kanda & Co. Some members of string faculties at numerous universities (Roosevelt and Northwestern, for example) and teachers at musical conservatories and schools are, sad to say, notorious for their crooked dealings. What is more, one must add that quartets in residence, music directors of orchestras and symphonies, and music administrators employed by both privately and publicly funded schools seldom -- indeed almost never -- are denied a niche at the higher levels of at least one kickback pyramid. Within each kickback pyramid, the ascending payoff layers reveal the hierarchy -- running from the lowliest student beginner to the venerated and much applauded Star at the top -- which sometimes consumes more than 50% of the final sales price of instruments, bows, and musical services. |
| *32. When one is working in an environment where at least one such pyramid is influential, it is especially helpful to stay alert for traces of one distinction in particular -- that which sets weathermakers apart from other fleecers. The top 10% to 20% of the loot is skimmed off and paid as "entitlement" to those who, by virtue of their prominent positions, are able to act as weathermakers. These are the individuals who create a "climate of opinion" -- who, by persuasion or intimidation, actively promote a specific dealer as the only person to see when their institution's members (whether teachers or students) are seeking an instrument, bow, or service. For providing invigorating weather, conditions conducive to the fleecing harvest, they receive a cut from every purchase made by those who work under their direction or within their sphere of influence. Yet the weathermaker does not perform all of the functions upon which the MAFFIA has come to rely. Journeyman fleecers also have a role to play. In return, of course, they receive kickbacks of their own. Within the pyramid sales organization, various levels of kickbacks go to students' instrumental teachers, orchestra directors, and ensemble coaches. When all these fleecers are added up, their combined take usually represents the biggest cut of the loot. Things are especially lucrative when one individual carries out a major role (or roles) as a fleecer and, simultaneously, acts as the operation's weathermaker! |
| ·
THE FIDDLE SCAM: Major Operatives (1) --The Musician-Dealer-- *33. As merchants, these individuals are dominated by one characteristic in particular; they are basically musicians who, at some point, took up the selling of aged and antique instruments -- at first to fellow musicians, then to the public at large. To perpetrate their "creative" merchandising and financing schemes, and advance the status of that vandalism commonly used in the so-called restoration and preservation of objects of fine art, they depend upon the collaboration of makers and repairmen -- most of them amateurs, most of them without the specialized knowledge and expertise which mark the genuine maker-restorer, all of them unencumbered by the ethical commitments which distinguish the professional as professional. (Violinmaker-dealers, in sharp contrast to musician-dealers, practice instrument restoration and repair subject to the governance of the American Federation of Violin and Bow Makers' Code of Ethics.) |
| *34. To conceal their lack of knowledge and expertise and, thereby, keep their public acceptance and standing secure, the musician-dealer and amateur repairman truly need an alliance with at least one matchmaker. The matchmaker, (whether a teacher, administrator, or something else), skilled in the "creative" procedures we have mentioned provides the kind of assistance which is essential to keeping these operatives -- the musician dealer, the amateur repairman -- respectable and affluent. |
| *35. This alliance is very lucrative, since the merchants -- I speak of both the dealer and repairman -- are free to charge for instruments whatever the traffic will bear. This fact is of particular importance because of its linkage to another matter. The merchants of whom I speak, being primarily musician-dealers (and repairmen in their stables, so to speak), rely heavily upon matchmakers for the sale of their goods and services. That is, it is the manipulation of images which sustains their operations-and, thus, it is sobering but hardly shocking to discover that musician-dealers almost never provide buyers with written cash buy-back guarantees on the purchase of master made instruments and bows. |
| *38. Meaningful, written cash buy-back guarantees are provided only by dealers who -- not being
part of the violin MAFFIA -- do not employ double-dealing matchmakers. Violinmaker-dealers (in sharp
contrast to musician-dealers) usually guarantee the buyer a high percentage, roughly 75%, buy-back on
the purchase of a master made instrument or bow. And it is also the usual practice for
violinmaker-dealers to guarantee the buyer 100% trade-in privileges. In other words, the
instrument you buy today and play for ten years can -- even given the lapse of time -- be
applied to the purchase of another instrument, and with no depreciation at
all. (2) --The Matchmaker-- |
| *40. To achieve his purpose, the matchmaker deliberately selects facts,
arguments, and mysteries(!). He then presents these in ways calculated to maximize their
effect upon the innocent, vulnerable mark. The idea is to bypass the potential buyer's
reason and manipulate, as directly as possible, his feelings and impulses. Thus the
matchmaker will tend to conceal pertinent facts and other relevant considerations, in
order to turn the attention of the victim away from everything except the idealized
fantasy violin. This manipulation must continue, with steadily rising intensity, until the
purchase of the deceptively represented instrument is complete -- until such time as the
victim has delivered over real money for the sake of an illusion. (Of course the buyer now
owns an instrument -- though the instrument he actually owns, and the instrument he
imagines himself to own, are likely to be quite different.) *41. The matchmaker, we can easily enough see, is the key figure in the existence and financial success of the musician-dealer -- the musician who usually specializes in old and antique violins, and who sells them as a sideline. This "open secret" is another basic fact which was uncovered by our 1971 booklet, "How to Buy a Violin." |
| ·
THE FIDDLE SCAM: Merchant-Matchmaker Modus Operandi *42. Without question, the fiddle scam's major operatives have an observable mode of operation, modus operandi, or M.O. It remains, however, to explain it in somewhat greater detail. *43. To protect their symbiotic relationship and keep the monies flowing, both merchants and fiddling matchmakers parrot all the old myths, lies, and violin disinformation collected over generations. The same individuals also propagate and popularize new fictions (these days, "science" fictions are favored!). Taken together, the violin mythology's various tales -- old and new -- effectively conceal the merchant matchmaker mode of operation. |
| *44. The best way to keep violin mythology unquestioned, and thus assure the continued invisibility of their modus operandi, is selective silence. Beyond repeating the mythological tales again and again, merchants and matchmakers seldom say very much. Having reaffirmed the customary fables, their next line of defense has been -- and remains -- the total avoidance of open debate. They refuse participation in any public or private educational forums where even the existence of their scam might be mentioned. Consequently, their fleecing operations remain successfully concealed by a "code of silence" or omerta, as much as by a fictive veil. The evil is neither heard nor seen-and when it is spoken of, the speaker is likely to find himself accused of bad manners. Yet members of the violin MAFFIA's "Chicago Strain" might well serve as an example to, even prove themselves the envy of, organized crime's many branches. With duplicity at the very core of their musical activities, the MAFFIA's blueprint of intrigue incorporates many elements of unethical conduct. Indeed, in the context of certain jurisdictions, some MAFFIA practices would even be viewed as criminal. ("Kanda" in Japan, for instance.) |
| *45. Who would suspect the devoted teacher or performer of being a
calculating participant in a common scam? As educators, teacher-performers strive to
present an image of integrity -- far removed from our picture of a money grubbing swindler
or con artist. They seek to have others think of them as especially virtuous and dedicated
to the common good, as fully deserving of the public trust. Their facade, let it quickly
be added, has proven remarkably successful. Enveloped by a grand scheme of hype and
disinformation, these individuals are free to engage in respectable fraud. *46. Consider too the many unique factors that an unscrupulous seller -- especially a musician dealing in violins -- can manipulate with the assistance of an advising teacher (matchmaker). Musician-dealers. realizing the significance of using pliable "third parties" as matchmakers, have stumbled upon great wealth. Merchant and matchmaker both share in the bonanza. The scheme has worked! |
| *47. But what about motives? Who can suspect a profit motive behind the
friendly academic advice of an educator? But of course, greed is a powerful motivator. It
creates and solidifies a bond of interdependence and trust between the musician dealer and
the teacher-matchmaker. They have a good thing going, and neither would wish to endanger
it. *48. For the teacher-matchmaker, this means something specific. His continuing financial success depends upon the effective manipulation of the real or make believe talent and artistic aspirations of his students -- as well as the hopes and longings of the student's parents! They, if not the child, must believe that the child is gifted with prodigious talent. Only with this belief, and the cultivation of related convictions regarding the prodigy's stellar career, will the next step be possible for the matchmaking teacher. For the parents must be brought to understand -- i.e., persuaded to delude themselves -- that their child's destiny as a performer requires the purchase of an instrument whose status is commensurate with that destiny. |
| *49. Now that the student and his parents (or at least the parents) are
assured that the future holds artistic glory -- at the minimum, a solid professional
career -- the family's financial resources lie open and unprotected before the matchmaker
and his merchant pal. Since the parents and student paid tuition precisely to benefit from
the teacher's knowledge and experience (and since they do not suspect the teacher's
duplicitous role as matchmaker!), they are receptive auditors. They are favorably
predisposed to any sales pitch. Price consciousness becomes irrelevant, since one rarely
rejects advice one is paying for -- especially when that advice entails a confirmation of
one's most passionate aspirations. ·
CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS |
Don't forget to Read PART 2 to this article!
**THE CHICAGO SHORT CUT: Creative
Merchandising of Sound Through Bribery-Part II**
Copyright © Fritz
Reuter and Sons, Inc. 1987, 1996-2000, 2004, 2008. All rights reserved
By Fritz Reuter, Jr.