Sad News from Music City

[MikeD]

Open Class corps get paid appearance fees for performances on the World Class tour. Once they join the Open Class tour (typically the last two weeks of the season) they receive no appearance fees.

Plus...isn't there some sort of Open class payout received after the season. I have this vague memory that the Open class director committee voted to receive $$$ after the season, as opposed to show-by-show.

Again...that is a vague memory.

[alumniof]

As someone who served on the board of directors for a World Class corps that fairly recently went inactive (while I was on the board- I had to help make that decision) let me offer my perspective. I don't believe the G7 have anything to do with it, the more corps that go inactive and the more the activity shrinks, the more strained and insignificant drum corps becomes and the less relevant everyone is. Most the G7 corps have deep roots in their communities, and have been operating as a highly visible non-profit youth serving organization in their communities going back years and years to when drum corps were all just small groups of local kids. G7 corps have powerful boards, they are tapped in to the local Rotary Club, and they often have established means of fundraising due to lots of community connections. Their high profile and years of competitive excellence lead to equipment manufactures fighting for them to use their equipment, and command the highest performance fees because those corps pull in the majority of the audience. Also, most of the G7 corps have highly professional business people operating the corps behind the scenes, and have very well thought out business plans. Even with all that going for them, most the "big boys" run on a surprisingly thin margin- razor thin in many cases.

Music City and other corps like them, corps fighting to get to World Class, or corps in the bottom of the World Class heap, have the most difficult time. The current touring model places a lot of financial stress on all corps- the amount of money simply to get the corps down the road is insane. Bottom placing corps and World Champion corps pay the same for gas, and the same for food. Fixed costs associated with touring are brutal on all corps, especially the ones without as much community support. Drum corps have a very difficult time funding year to year activity with operations alone (tour fees and appearance fees). The math simply doesn't work out- unless members pay even more than the huge fees they do now, or audiences pay even more for shows (already pushing the envelope for ticket prices as it is) corps just can't stay ahead on operational income alone. Unless a corps has some serious community support, an amazing business plan, and some sort of steady cash flow for outside, it is very, very difficult to make it. Couple that with the fact that corps no longer hold many assets- they don't "own" anything anymore, save for a trailer, souvie trailer, cook truck, and assorted small vehicles. Due to high costs of ownership, most corps lease buses. Just about all equipment is bought/sold off the truck at the end of the season for a financial wash. Thus, at the end of the season, the corps has very little liquid assets. Not much to leverage, and very little cash flow.

So, my .02 is that it is not some evil G7 conspiracy or anything. All those corps directors feel the sting of a shrinking activity just like everyone else. Its not about people's desire to "dominate" or eliminate the competition. If you are the only one left in the race, than why would it mean anything to finish first? For all corps to survive (G7 included), a healthy activity with lots of corps benefits everyone. The current touring model, the difficulty for corps to contend with other charitable non-profits for grants and public dollars, and high cost of doing business is what does corps in. I know- I've lived it.

I'd love your take on my thread about possibilities.

[funkjazzaxe]

Well, for a corps to made it they really need to establish some sort of business plan that creates cash flow outside of just audition/touring/appearance fees. The cost for a corps to outfit and tour is really high, a lot of things are just do to the current state of the economy (gas/food/etc) and the need to recruit and pay good staff so the product (show/tour) is successful and results in positive growth in recruiting. Its a really difficult ball to get rolling the positive direction. To get a lot of kids to audition, you need a good staff and deliver a quality experience. To hire good staff and provide quality, you need cash to pay for it all. To get cash to pay for it all you need a lot of kids to audition. etc etc... It is difficult to get it all rolling the right direction for long term sustainability. An external source of income to keep cash flow coming in year around is important (Star is a great study for this- Bill Cook had many ventures to funnel cash toward Star- of course that situation was unique). Community support can really help out, too. But for that to happen the corps has to be at the table in their community as a viable youth serving non-profit. Has to be able to be at the table elbow to elbow with the YMCA, Salvation Army, Boys Club, etc. Most often that means having a really strong board made up of stakes holders in that community. Drum corps have a difficult time because most often- especially for more competitive corps- they are not local. Kids come from all over the country, and people in the community probably won't give money to an organization that doesn't actually serve kids FROM their community. I am not sure of Music City's issues, and don't know the makeup of their board of directors, but I bet they were plagued by these issues. These are all issues that have been discussed time and time again... I guess the real issue at hand is reducing the costs to tour, and helping corps gain a foothold locally as a viable and fundable non-profit. You'd be surprised at the shovel loads of money that get thrown to organizations in the name of "community arts", unfortunately for a corps like Music City, it is very difficult to make a case for consideration- no matter how worthy they are.

[funkjazzaxe]

Let me also add that it is a difficult "guessing game" you play. Its a gamble. Your only product is the corps. Without fielding a corps, you have NO cash flow. Dead in the water with bills to pay. However, fielding corps leads to more bills and more debt- you have to feed kids, buy equipment, pay staff, etc. So at this time of year it is a tough call for many corps on the bubble, wondering if they can pull of a net-positive year in the upcoming season. I applaud Music City for being proactive and staying ahead of the finances, also the bad things that have happened (Teal Sound, etc) where the rug get pulled out from under everyone- sometimes during the course of the tour- can happen really easy if you gamble and come up short. My hat goes off to anyone behind the scenes, these folks work really hard in a very complicated, difficult financial situation.

[hrnguy500]

That blows. I really liked their show this year.

[alumniof]

This is why I was wondering if DCI did it like BOA......regionals on weekends then championships. With online presentations they can still stream and the fans would flock to regionals....maybe??? This saves corps money on buses, travel, food, expenses. DCI saves. Regionals get more important. Demand increases from fans. New corps can enter the game financially. I could be wrong about all this but I'm thinking out loud.

[Tim K]

This is too bad because Music City did have promise. I saw them for the first time last year and thought "Phantom of the Grand Old Opry" fit them well. I thought they had great potential and was even more impressed this year in Indy. As a matter of fact I thought we'd see Genesis and Music City battle it out over the next few years and thought both had potential to make it to World Class. While I do think it's more responsible to not field a corps rather than field one and realize it can't be funded during the competitive season, I hope someone or some organization that hears this news and can come to the rescue will do so, but if they existed we'd probably have seen the Glassmen compete this past year.

[alumniof]

Go for media sales...streaming, network, etc.....

[funkjazzaxe]

This is why I was wondering if DCI did it like BOA......regionals on weekends then championships. With online presentations they can still stream and the fans would flock to regionals....maybe??? This saves corps money on buses, travel, food, expenses. DCI saves. Regionals get more important. Demand increases from fans. New corps can enter the game financially. I could be wrong about all this but I'm thinking out loud.

Even though the tour is what crushes corps financially, it is the tour that makes DCI what it is. Without the summer tour, I don't see the draw to get kids to audition and be a part of it all. The tour and the total package of travelling and playing lots of gigs is what makes the drum corps experience what it is. I believe the challenge is finding how to make touring more cost and energy efficient, how to build more of a presence for drum corps at the national and local level as viable, charitable non-profit organizations (to open the door to charitable dollars- there are a lot of dollars out there for youth in arts, drum corps aren't currently in play, though), and structure corps with business plans establishing a source of month-to-month cash flow outside of normal operations. Easy, right (and none of these topics have ever come up like 1000X hahaha)!

[FlamMan]

Once again...

In order for the Drum Corps activity to survive, Corps must return to local membership, a regional competition schedule, & design shows that fans actually like.

Pretty simple.