Cookies Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 The top corps make much more money for themselves and DCi than do the mid to lower corps. It costs more money to be first than it does to be last. This is where parity could play a huge role in keeping corps alive. Professional sports have salary caps, why not drum corps? Watch out! I mentioned salary caps earlier and a bunch of trolls -1 me! They probably like you though, so you'll be fine 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasgre2000 Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 if you want parity, then make it a paid activity. If corps B wants to move up, like any other sport, they could buy out several great lead trumpets or a center snare from one of the top groups. If this happened like sports, you could buy a great team, ala Yankees. It's a youth activity, so when top kids have the option to take their talents elsewhere, they typically are leaving 12-20 and going to 1-6 at some point. Not going to change anytime soon unless the present model gets reinvented. No different than picking a college for a music degree and its why a school like Indiana and UNT have tons of trumpets audition, while the smaller schools only have a handful. Its human nature to want to go be a part of the best. At least if you are truly motivated to be great in life. And where is the money for that going to come from? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasgre2000 Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 The top corps make much more money for themselves and DCi than do the mid to lower corps. It costs more money to be first than it does to be last. This is where parity could play a huge role in keeping corps alive. Professional sports have salary caps, why not drum corps? Yep. Let's make them all equally mediocre. Competition breeds excellence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie1223 Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 (edited) People are sounding the alarm as if they are the ONLY one who think there is a problem. I think, based on everything that's been said over the past 3 years, if you don't think there is a problem then you live under a rock. However, I see that DCI is attempting to do something about it. Maybe it's not as "Dramatic" as some people would like, like regional touring schedules etc. But in the past 3 years DCI has changed the sheets, changed DCI week formats, made new private partners, Added TOC shows, added season opener events, and DCI has started a number of initiatives to "grow drum corps". Clearly DCI will die if no body does anything... But what I see is that people ARE doing things! Individual corps and their organizations are doing their part! Changing the way they do things from shows to management to events... some even making new corps... (albeit not in DCI) Unless you want to completely ignore the changes made in only the last 3 years then you can believe the sky is falling as much as you want. But while you are behind the curve in "announcing" these problems to DCP the decision makers in the activity have already taken the first steps toward solutions. However slow, or effective they may be... Edited July 13, 2012 by charlie1223 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Of the 43 remaining active DCI corps this season (in Open and World), California has 11 of them. Literally a quarter of DCI is in California now. And to think, there have been at least a half-dozen MORE California corps that have come and gone in the past decade (Fever, Incognito, Esperanza, Mystikal, Alliance...) This is a state with horribly funded schools, arts programs being razed like wheat, and high cost of living. How come DCI is (relatively) thriving? My belief: drum corps is basically a "regional" system out here. Many of the CA corps do not do a full tour; some don't leave the state at all. Yet the state still has what is basically a three-week tour in June/July. DCI's survival will require at least a PARTIAL back-tracking to the "regional" schedules of decades pasts, where corps maybe only cover 1/4 or 1/3 the country before Finals. All corps shows like San Antonio, Atlanta, and Allentown need to be gotten rid of (meaning, get rid of the "all corps" requirement). I would be perfectly fine with DCI World Prelims on Wednesday night being the first time all year all the corps are competing together. I understand DCI's drive towards visibility and applaud their efforts to get the activity out there... but the current model just is not sustainable. Reality is going to triumph; you can work with it or fight against it, but it's going to win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 I seem to have made an enemy in this thread.. First off, if you are going to -1 my posts because you don't like the idea, grow some balls and tell me why because guess what: you're being childish and your actions are not wanted in a brainstorming thread. Secondly, I'm sure you are the BEST coworker to work with EVER! Thank you to those who have identified what they see wrong with the salary cap idea. In a dream world, DCI finals would rotate from area to area though... no more echo chamber =) if you're really about reds and greens on a public chat forum, then you're here for the wrong reasons 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something." ~Plato. I'm not sure if my need to "speak" is wise or foolish, but I offer my humble "half-full" perspective: In 1991, by my count, 22 "open class" corps competed in quarter finals. In 2011, 23 "world class" corps competed in the quarter finals. In 1991, membership was limited to 128. Currently, membership is limited to 150. If the top ten corps each season fielded a "full corps", that alone would account for 220 more members on the field for finals in 2011 over 1991. This would suggest that the world class has expanded (albeit barely) based on the number corps and perhaps more so based on membership. At a minimum, to me, it suggests an overall 20 year period of relative stability. Taking into account the many cultural and technological changes that have occurred over that same period, that's quite an accomplishment for any youth activity, especially one that is voluntary and fee-based. Certainly, the challenges of sustainability are numerous and occasionally daunting. I'm not trivializing the valid concerns that have been raised. I've had a friend and former marcher say at least once a decade since the mid-80's, "That's it, drum corps, won't survive this." I look forward to hearing him say it again in 2020, 2030 . . . true, but....look at 1991 and tell us how many aren't still here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Watch out! I mentioned salary caps earlier and a bunch of trolls -1 me! They probably like you though, so you'll be fine Staff salaries are not the problem. No corps staffer, even the most successful ones, is doing it because it's bringing in serious cash; it's very much a labor of love. Now, is there room to talk about some sort of parity as it relates to what corps get paid? Sure, although it was a rejection of that idea in part that resulted in DCM dying out. But there's a big difference between income parity for the corps/profit-sharing/whatever else you want to call it, and "salary caps." And just because people disagree with you, doesn't make them "trolls." 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 The top corps make much more money for themselves and DCi than do the mid to lower corps. It costs more money to be first than it does to be last. This is where parity could play a huge role in keeping corps alive. Professional sports have salary caps, why not drum corps? the top corps spend more money too....and are some of the worst off financially Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 People are sounding the alarm as if they are the ONLY one who think there is a problem. I think, based on everything that's been said over the past 3 years, if you don't think there is a problem then you live under a rock. However, I see that DCI is attempting to do something about it. Maybe it's not as "Dramatic" as some people would like, like regional touring schedules etc. But in the past 3 years DCI has changed the sheets, changed DCI week formats, made new private partners, Added TOC shows, added season opener events, and DCI has started a number of initiatives to "grow drum corps". Clearly DCI will die if no body does anything... But what I see is that people ARE doing things! Individual corps and their organizations are doing their part! Changing the way they do things from shows to management to events... some even making new corps... (albeit not in DCI) Unless you want to completely ignore the changes made in only the last 3 years then you can believe the sky is falling as much as you want. But while you are behind the curve in "announcing" these problems to DCP the decision makers in the activity have already taken the first steps toward solutions. However slow, or effective they may be... DCI has two seperate agendas competing right now...and that's a huge part of the problem 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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