Lesson Learned From America's Got Talent

[HappyDad]

Well, show me a YouTube video with 1,000,000 views that involves DCI. I don't think there is one. And there should be. I think DCI is WAY more interesting than barbershop quartets. Tell you what, if you start creating content that generates interest, popularity will increase. It's pretty simple, although you seem intent on making it seem difficult.

Were you even awake during the World Cup? Did you not go to local bars and see the interest? It's not my fault your eyes aren't open.

And for some reason you're operating on the premise that popularity is fleeting. And you're excluding the loyalty factor. Popularity is acquisition. Loyalty is retention.

I do not believe there will ever be. As I understand this, performances shown on You Tube must be free of performance rights issues to the composers. So, unless the work being performed is in the public domain, performing it via You Tube would violate copyright terms.

And perhaps this would be a more valid comparison. Show me any marching organization with a million viewers. I like to see the show bands from the Southeast perform. I would guess if their performances are there in You Tube the viewers would be less than 50,000. I would like to see what other college marching bands and high school bands are on You Tube too. How man viewers do they have.

If performance rights were not an issue, I believe DCI would be on the You Tube. But, it seems that much of DCI is on their own Fan Network so I paid to see it. I would think that some of what I pay goes back to the composers who own the rights to the music. That would be fair.

[atlvalet]

I do not believe there will ever be. As I understand this, performances shown on You Tube must be free of performance rights issues to the composers. So, unless the work being performed is in the public domain, performing it via You Tube would violate copyright terms.

And perhaps this would be a more valid comparison. Show me any marching organization with a million viewers. I like to see the show bands from the Southeast perform. I would guess if their performances are there in You Tube the viewers would be less than 50,000. I would like to see what other college marching bands and high school bands are on You Tube too. How man viewers do they have.

If performance rights were not an issue, I believe DCI would be on the You Tube. But, it seems that much of DCI is on their own Fan Network so I paid to see it. I would think that some of what I pay goes back to the composers who own the rights to the music. That would be fair.

If this is what's preventing DCI from getting on YouTube, then they need to be more creative. Unless they're distracted by the top 7 corps asking for more money :)

[tommytimp]

while the World Cup gets ratings, what does soccer do in between WC years?

to me, that shows how soccer is viewed.

That depends on what you're talking about. ESPN showed the European Championships from Austria and Switzerland in 08 for the first timeon free TV even though there wasn't a single English-speaking nation in the tournament. I bet they could have backed out after England, Scotland, and Ireland crashed out in qualifying, but they didn't, which reinforces my earlier point about who ABC/ESPN thinks is watching soccer in America. If you're talking about the MLS, it's a smaller story, but the same outcome-some white Americans, some kids, but mostly somewhat older Europeans and South Americans.

[corpsband]

I do not believe there will ever be. As I understand this, performances shown on You Tube must be free of performance rights issues to the composers. So, unless the work being performed is in the public domain, performing it via You Tube would violate copyright terms.

And perhaps this would be a more valid comparison. Show me any marching organization with a million viewers. I like to see the show bands from the Southeast perform. I would guess if their performances are there in You Tube the viewers would be less than 50,000. I would like to see what other college marching bands and high school bands are on You Tube too. How man viewers do they have.

If performance rights were not an issue, I believe DCI would be on the You Tube. But, it seems that much of DCI is on their own Fan Network so I paid to see it. I would think that some of what I pay goes back to the composers who own the rights to the music. That would be fair.

I believe you're wrong. If DCI itself were posting content the issue is completely manageable. In fact the ad-revenue would generate a profit.

Don't believe this storyline being propagated that drumcorps and YouTube can't co-exist.

I can't begin to describe how big a fail it is to not be generating content for the tube.

[Bruckner8]

A few more thoughts on this, as I've read the entire thread again:

1) Barbershop Quartet is an American institution, even older than drum corps, with amateur and religious roots. It's much more inclusive and accessible, and always has been.

2) Barbershop Quartet is forever planted in the American mind, through its use in musicals, especially The Music Man. Every American has seen/heard/experienced/related to a BQ by the time they're 18.

3) Barbershop Choruses abound. I live in NE Ohio, and there are 10 choruses within an hr drive: http://www.singjad.com/ohtable.htm Can you imagine having 10 drum corps within an hr drive? Yeah, yeah, dinos spare me the "I could go to 10 corps in NJ/PA/NY within an hour Back In The Day!" Yea, and all 10 of them probably sucked, and that's why they're not around anymore. And that brings me to...

4) Barbershop is a lot easier to perform, lol, DUH! Drum corps is very difficult. I won't lie: The first time I saw DCI on TV (1978 Finals on PBS), my first thought was "Wow, I'd never be that good." And those who know me, know that I'm pretty confident. In Barbershop Choruses, all you need is a good ear. Most of the people can't even read music.

5) Barbershop is a lot cheaper. In its simplest form, you only need 4 people with good ears.

6) Barbershop's #1 focus (after perfecting its unique sound, the intonation) is TO ENTERTAIN. NOTHING ELSE MATTERS. Gaudy uniforms ,strange hats, silly gestures...anything to get a rise out of the audience. I haven't seen the competitive sheets in over 25 years, but I know from close observation that entertainment (connecting with the audience) is always the goal.

7) Barbershop has words. Clear words, with clear meaning. The story is always obvious; always being told. There's no guessing. There's no room for "music for its own sake." The words drive the meaning, the harmony, the emotion. It doesn't have to be "manufactured" as it does in 90% of the drum corps shows out there. Granted, lots of drum corps shows use colorful source music, where the story is known, but that is not usually translated very well by the current crop of design teams, whose own personal motivation (check off the sheet) usually trumps the writer/composer's original message. If a leader of a Barbershop Chorus would try to do that, there'd be mutiny!

8) Barbershop is personal, for the performers and the audience. It's up close (when only 4 singers), or it's staged to be up close (like the youtube video Boo posted). Drum Corps is non-personal. Everyone covers their faces. Drum Corps is far away, removed from the audience. My family (mom,sis,bro,niece,neph,sig others) came with me to 2 shows (Akron and Massillon, Go Bloo!, lol). Yes, they were blown away by the excellence of ALL of the corps, but they most enjoyed the encore performances, when they could get closer to the performers (moved down to first 5 rows, and the corps always gets on the track, close as possible). The members perform w/o their helmets. You can see the emotion on the performers' faces, the sweat, the smiles, the work, the intensity. You can see how big the bass drums, tubas and euphoniums really are to the relative size of the people playing them. The drum line and pit antics are worth the price of admission alone!

CONCLUSION: From all of that, it's easy to understand why a Barbershop Chorus video can get 1,000,000 views, and drum corps NEVER will. Unless one is already a brass freak, drum freak, or dancer, there's really nothing to relate to with drum corps, except its pure sound and excellence (which is no different than Orchestra concerts)

If we really want to make drum corps "more relevant," we'll have to change it dramatically. We'll have to encourage more soloists, along the lines of 1995 Madison, or old BD, where good-looking and talented performers are placed front and center, helmets removed, with clear responsibility of carrying the entire show by themselves for a good 4-5 minutes. American audiences love singular talent. Then DCI would have to make marketing materials like NFL "Come see Johnny Soloist and his Blue Devils perform their 2011 Show: Johnny goes Marching Home!" with a picture of Johnny (no helmet! we need to see how handsome he is!) in that lean-back screech position, all blood vessels popping, sweat pouring down.

And then I'll never watch drum corps again, unless there are a few excellent corps bucking that trend.

[HappyDad]

I believe you're wrong. If DCI itself were posting content the issue is completely manageable. In fact the ad-revenue would generate a profit.

Don't believe this storyline being propagated that drumcorps and YouTube can't co-exist.

I can't begin to describe how big a fail it is to not be generating content for the tube.

Does DCI itself hold the performance rights to the music or do the corps? I honestly don't know. Also, if there is the YouTube for free how would DCI get a profit. Maybe I do not understand the You Tube. I just get a link in my email and I click it and it takes me there to watch a video. Is there something more to it? Does DCI make money on their Fan Network? My wife got me a subscription last year for my birthday and I really like that. I can watch videos from the 1970s and 1980s when I got to see more shows back then. It brought back good memories and I remembered some old friends.

Anyway, maybe I don't understand the YouTube. I think that DCI would be giving away videos for free instead of having people come to the Fan Network.