You know drum corps is dying when.............

[danielray]

Yes, apparently garfield misstated, and the 990 form requires only that the top five salaries be listed if they exceed $100K (not $50K).* It would seem no one at YEA has a salary that large. With a budget of $3.4 million (do I have that right? I'm no accountant), I don't find that surprising. I know of several arts organizations with budgets of about $6 million whose directors make about $150K. DCI's budget is about $10 million, and its director makes just over $100K, right?

*Did that change at some point? I certainly remember seeing a 990 from about 10 years ago which reported a salary as low as $55K.

Well, what they publish publicly is pretty much what I think they would want to be floating out there. I don't really want to comment on numbers of anything not published.

One comment I will make is that gross numbers don't mean too much and the only number that matters is the net profit.

I am an absolute firm believer that activities like drum corps should not be non-profit activities, but not-for-profit. A very different mindset. There should be a MAJOR emphasis on generating profit, not just covering expenses.

So, $10M is a pretty big number if you're keeping a good chunk of that. If your expenses are $9M, $10M is a lot smaller. If your expenses are $11M, $10M is a failure.

A great profit margin on a $10M figure for a group like DCI would be about $2.5M banked. If they are pulling less than that, they are probably spread too thin, and are in areas they don't need to be in.

An area where they could seriously benefit from investing in is improving efficiencies (mostly technology and training), which could translate to a solidly improved margin in future years. Also, a couple of key areas that would be able to generate revenue not related to drum corps year round would make a hell of a lot of sense.

I've been a strong advocate of dividing DCI's activities and separating the event related aspects into a separate operating entity that would operate year round, building on the expertise, experience, equipment and infrastructure of the organization to produce and manage events and tours for non-corps related activities, in order to generate year round income and attract highly-experienced individuals in the events management, as these guys would be utilizing their skills year round, rather than only 1/3 of the year. This would also cause the departments within DCI to be much more focused.

A bit of a tangent... but...

[danielray]

Mesa AZ shows this year....no BD and no SCV for first time in 4 years I think? Little change in attendance. Stands still full. I was there.

Well, it's Mesa... so 1/2 the audience was probably just a 2-3 families. :)

In all seriousness, that is a corps run show and a revenue center for that corps, so, they are definitely going to get people there. There's a measurable difference between corps run shows, non-corps shows and DCI shows.

[CuriousMe]

Then why do professional musicians do it?

The professional brass players I've seen who use mic's do so because they also have a lot of electric instruments (ie everything's electric but the horns). I haven't seen a primarily brass group that used microphones....well, until drum corps that is.

Likely, because there's no need for them. It doesn't take that much skill to be able to play with control and still be heard from the stands. Heck, I played my first horn solo from the field when I was 13. It wasn't a screamer, it wasn't FFF and I was heard just fine.

[WOOHOO]

The professional brass players I've seen who use mic's do so because they also have a lot of electric instruments (ie everything's electric but the horns). I haven't seen a primarily brass group that used microphones....well, until drum corps that is.

Likely, because there's no need for them. It doesn't take that much skill to be able to play with control and still be heard from the stands. Heck, I played my first horn solo from the field when I was 13. It wasn't a screamer, it wasn't FFF and I was heard just fine.

Well, I have seen professional brass players use mics to be heard, but I know this is a "eye of the beholder" argument

[soccerguy315]

My prior post regarding a 20 man tuba line. Add the synth bass to the mix = easy button.

Turning the volume up on the synth at high impact moments = easy button.

This is comming from an ex tuba/hornline member.

you realize the kids in the line aren't adding the synth, right? The staff is adding the synth. The kids are only doing what the staff tells them to do.

[WOOHOO]

you realize the kids in the line aren't adding the synth, right? The staff is adding the synth. The kids are only doing what the staff tells them to do.

Come on, we're lazy. We didn't walk to school 7 miles through the snow every morning.

[blue_devil_fan9903]

Pretty big britches from a n00B who's just learning to shave with DCP shaving soap!

Sorry that I have a life and don't live on DCP, which has basically turned into a site where people like to complain about corps they don't like. I completely understand that some people don't like the direction DCI is taking, which is their own opinion, which is fine with me. But everything progresses and changes over time. If music stayed the same for 300 years, we'd still be listening to baroque style music, and I think I would want to stab a pencil in my ear, because I personally don't like that period of music. But music then progressed to the classical period, which was a step up, then music progressed into the Romantic Period(and without this, Carolina Crown would not have had the source music to play the Mahler and sound so wonderful at doing it.) So music has progressed and changed over many many years, DCI is doing the same thing. And I'm sure one day DCI will go back to it's roots. There's always a cycle. So if I'm just saying, if you like DCI of the 70's, then get your audio files of the 70's and have a grand ole time listening to that. If you like the 80's, listen to them. I personally listen to DCI shows between 1979-2010, partly because those are the audio files I have, I don't have any from 70-78. And I also personally enjoy what DCI has turned into. I've watched it progress, and I'm enjoying these kids play and march at such high levels.

[garfield]

Daniel, two points:

The first is a bit of crow to eat, but only a little. You chose to example the one corps whose director is part of a much larger organization. Page 10, line 7, column C of YEA!s 990 shows asks for "Other Salaries and Wages", and reflects $238,130. The Cadet's directors' salary of $105,000 is included in that. I know this because it's reflected in their annual report. The $100,000 reporting threshold reflects "Past" officers and directors who are being paid. Because, technically, Cadets' director's salary is not listed in the 990 I will concede the point. However, in the time that I ate dinner I also looked at Crown's, Phantom's, BAC's, Blue Stars, Pioneer,and 4 other 990s and each has the director's salary listed, along with a request to list the 5 next highest-paid employees paid over $50m.

So let's call both of us right. Fair?

Point two is that I've followed the links to your marketing "manifesto" and I wonder if you're one of those paid employees of YEA!. That "Drum Corps = Marching Band" is attributed to you is one thing, but the G7 presentation includes nearly all of your marketing points verbatim. Is this coincidence? I realize Hop and Steward laid out the "vision" years before, but it's a little creepy how much of your marketing ideas are included in this years' presentation.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this except to point out the correlation. I guess I'll leave it there for now.

[garfield]

Sorry that I have a life and don't live on DCP, which has basically turned into a site where people like to complain about corps they don't like. I completely understand that some people don't like the direction DCI is taking, which is their own opinion, which is fine with me. But everything progresses and changes over time. If music stayed the same for 300 years, we'd still be listening to baroque style music, and I think I would want to stab a pencil in my ear, because I personally don't like that period of music. But music then progressed to the classical period, which was a step up, then music progressed into the Romantic Period(and without this, Carolina Crown would not have had the source music to play the Mahler and sound so wonderful at doing it.) So music has progressed and changed over many many years, DCI is doing the same thing. And I'm sure one day DCI will go back to it's roots. There's always a cycle. So if I'm just saying, if you like DCI of the 70's, then get your audio files of the 70's and have a grand ole time listening to that. If you like the 80's, listen to them. I personally listen to DCI shows between 1979-2010, partly because those are the audio files I have, I don't have any from 70-78. And I also personally enjoy what DCI has turned into. I've watched it progress, and I'm enjoying these kids play and march at such high levels.

On this I can accept and agree. But you have to admit that it's a stark contrast to the post where you told us "dinos" to go stick a pencil in our ears and leave DCI to the "enlightened ones" (my words, not yours).

Thanks for the calmer reflection. I just happen to think that drum corps' future lies in maintaining its uniqueness and not blending into summer marching band. But that's just my opinion.

[Carl306]

you realize the kids in the line aren't adding the synth, right? The staff is adding the synth. The kids are only doing what the staff tells them to do.

Come on, we're lazy. We didn't walk to school 7 miles through the snow every morning.

Please, don't bring logic to this discussion.