phantomphan8384

Wow, DCI pays for mechanical licensing and copyright permission? What a crock of crap that is for DCI and a sweet deal for the corps! As a band director that sweats the details with that stuff, my program foots the bill for every second of every show I put on the field. If I do a 20-second snippet of a song, I may pay $1,000 for permission if I really want to use it. If I can't afford the copyright fees, I don't do it and I need to come up with a cheaper alternative. You can't even enter a BOA show without having proof of having paid the copyright permission for every selection in your show. I can't even imagine how much money DCI is shelling out for that little privilege. The corps should pay that, period. They may think twice or three times about what they play. There, I just saved DCI a boat load of money. In terms of your last comment, I am certain there were meetings back in the day, but they weren't made so public and the members of the corps were certainly not put in the middle of the situation. I just got 3 of my staff members back from tour and they said all of this G7 nonsense was an enormous intrusion during the last week particularly. Sure the directors were competitive but what happened on the field was where it counted, now, this crap is spilling out into the field and the stands, that's wrong, no matter what you may think. Al Gore didn't invent the Internet, George Hopkins did, just ask him. He probably wants the revenue stream to start flowing from it now and would like more voting power over who gets faster connections.

Funny. I'm actually a very good bike rider, thank you. My question then is why is everyone making such a big deal about nothing? We have been listening to George Hopkins and David Gibbs complain for a decade that DCI is a stagnant activity and if someone doesn't stir the pot it's all going to settle into mediocrity. Some random mole contacts CNN and drops an old proposal on the eve of Finals and it actually gets press coverage like some world economic summit? How lame. I have also grown tired of all the marching band bashing, I teach a very good marching band and have had dozens of students march in many of the top 12 corps. Drum corps need to be careful, most all of their membership at one time marched in a marching band and most of the instructors for corps now filter into the high schools to work with them. Actually, I get 3 of my instructors back today. I defintely don't want to see woodwinds in DCI, I like the way it should be. Being negative on the MB scene is not real cool, my students read all this garbage and then come to me and ask why the corps don't want anything to do with them. Sounds like our dance team or football team. Maybe some DCP sage should put a gigantic thread that says, "G7...the hoax is over", and move on about more important matters like how many points BD will win by next year. Yawn.

I guess I have missed something since I woke up this morning and went on a bike ride. Has the G7 withdrawn their proposal this afternoon? Maybe they have received more not-so-kind messages from drum corps fans and decided money is nothing without the activity. Just wondering where your information comes from. Thanks

Seriously? If there were G7 directors who weren't even aware of this proposal and are seemingly forming the future of DCI, it makes me wonder, is this how they manage their corps? Maybe explains why they can't keep money in their pockets, can't even keep track of what they believe in anymore.

I don't think the management of Star decided to leave DCI because they weren't seeing enough profits from the shows they were participating in. Or that they didn't feel they had enough voting influence on the BOD. They were a financially healthy drum corps, maybe the only one through 1993. In the 90's nobody (directors or management) had the greed to desire what the G7 is devising. Drum corps was still about the competition on the field, for the most part. Fans would have had this same reaction to a group exodus whenever it would have happened. The only time you don't hear the fan's outcries has been when corps have folded. That sadness is conducted in privacy. Where was the outcry when 27th Lancers folded? or Suncoast Sound? or Bridgemen? or Freelancers? Most old-time fans can name 50 corps that were around in the 1980's but no longer exist. There is where the injustice is. If these G7 corps want to split from DCI, then fail miserably and end up folding in 3-5 years, let them, the joke's on them. The corps that went before them will have at least met their demise with dignity and a fan base that truly supported them to the end.

ABSOLUTELY! What Star did in 1993 was purely motivated by their own desires professionally. I think we need a reminder that DCI is an AMATEUR activity. In my 9 years of marching I never remember being paid for my services. I am not sure if the Blast! members were paid or not, but I can't imagine all that work and all those performances for free. There may have been a small part of them that decided after the 1993 debacle that it doesn't matter how transforming or spectactular your program is, you could still get screwed. I stood on the sidelines in 1993 and heard Star and Cadets (I was an instructor for Regiment) and in my heart I believed we wouuld be second to Star. I understood that after that production, show design and demands on the performer would never be the same, and that deserves a championship if the performance backed it up, and it did. No offense to Cadets, but the finals performance was not championship-calibre, just listen to the audio recording for the first minute and you could tell right away, yet they win. What a crock. Everybody said Star just packed up their toys and went home, well maybe they just wanted to share their toys with people who knew how to play with them. I am sure the SOI organization made some money from Blast!, but they never held DCI hostage. This G7 garbage is just that, a hostile takeover. I have seen the new amendments to the proposal and it is still crap. Regardless of the outcome of this situation, DCI will never be the same. True fans of the activity will forever be leery of these corps' actions as of late and will pass on their disapproval at every show. The unfortunate victims in the middle of all of this will be the members of these corps. They all bust their rear ends doing what they love, but greedy and selfish adults have placed them in the middle. Way to go, directors. Maybe Star wasn't so dumb after all...why would they ever consider a comeback?

I have been reading page after page of comments about this G7 proposal, looked at the original powerpoint presentation and spent a few moments tinking about it and quite honestly, I am more confused by it than ever. Drum Corps International has for years wanted to attain the same notoriety and name brand as the NFL, NBA, MLB and NCAA and guess what? They have succeeded! Talk of the "mighty" wanting more power and influence, breaking up the league or conference, revenue streaming, voting power, performing venues...it all sounds eerily familliar to many of collegiate and professional sports headlines over the past 5 years. I was a member of 2 of the proposed G7 corps during my 9 years of marching and I am somewaht embarassed by the actions these organizations are taking in the effort to enhance and propogate the activity. I am also a band director of a very successful competitive marching band and I am not sure what message this may send my students about the activity. I certainly would have to think twice about encouraging participation in drum corps after they graduate for high school. Drum Corps International always held a very prestigious place in the eyes of music educators who cared about the quality of the marching arts. Often times, marching bands are the brunt of bad jokes or the recipient of poor treatment from their athletic or dance peers. Drum corps was the example that demonstrated that the marching arts could stand on equal ground. This undermines the unity of activity and threatens to splinter the already depleted ranks to a point where it will be a challenge for anyone to thrive. Is this really about money? Here's an idea, cut the prices of the tickets. Really, for my family of 4 to attend finals in Indy it would cost over $250.00 just for the show, program, parking, food (maybe if we just order drinks) . Maybe too many folks have said "no more". I can now spend $18 bucks to watch quarters at a theatre or $30 to watch semis from the comfort of your home. Not quite the same experience, but much more economical. $100 for the DVD's? I thought the corps were footing the licensing costs for copyright permission. Where does that money go? $75 for CD's? Guess I'll just wait for the audio dowloads and spend $4 for who I like instead of having to listen to Blue Devils' screeching and cluster chords to nowhere. I wonder how the Blue Stars feel today...? .1 away from 7th place, geez guys that's just too bad. Just not G7 material I guess. Bluecoats? Crown? Incredible organizations and deserving of their placements and accomplishments, but where were these groups in 1980 when DCI was packing the stands? I know, I marched with one of those groups and we were in the stands in about 50th place wondering what it must be like to make semis and what we had left to wear to go to finals! I think Blue Stars and Madison and Boston and Troopers might be a little put off by notion that they "just aren't good enough to make any influence in the activity". This is just insanity. Let the G7 go off and do their thing for as long as they can sustain it. I believe it will last for about a year and people will be in an uproar over the circus-like atmosphere that the G7 propose at every show and people will be begging for it to go away. It will be too late of course because the most important resourse in DCI will say, "I want nothing to do with this craziness!" That would be the young men and women still looking at drum corps as an activity worth pursuing. Our young people aren't stupid, they will know they are the unwilling participants in a money-making scheme and will say enough is enough. The "other corps" will most likely continue to try and sustain the activity, but if it can't survive with all the groups working together, what makes anyone think it can survive with a split such as this? All I can say is I am glad I marched in a more civil time where the only competition took place on the field and not in some meeting room. Get ready people, the party is over. Spend $39 and get the FanNetwork and watch the shows while you can and talk about "I remember when..."

Hello! I look forward to participating in the forums. It appears we all have a lot to say!