Music City Folds

[Sayre Kulp]

I agree that Open Class needs more promotion and exposure. DCA does this for it's A Class and it has worked out quite well. For those that don't realize, in the early 90's there were only about 13 corps showing up for DCA Championships. Since Class A was created in 1997, participation has risen and there are now more than 20 corps showing up for prelims as there has been since the early 2000's. I'd call that a success story.

But again - DCI is not here to babysit its member organizations. And while a corps going under is sad, if they can't manage to run their corps in a responsible and stable manner, its probably better that they DON'T take children out on the road for several weeks.

[ThatCorpsGuy]

OK...While I hate going off topic - as has happened in this thread - I do want to chime in on what Boywonder has posted.

HOWEVER, first off let me state that I am another of those fans who are really sad to see Music City fold. While I wasn't necessarily a fan of their shows, I still admired how tremendously energetic and enthused their members have been through the corps' brief existence. While I don't know if it will happen, I none-the-less hope that they can somehow right their ship and return to the field.

Now, as for Wonderboy = Your passion/opinions are much appreciated...but not based on the state of the activity, today; especially concerning Open Class.

First off - DCI does NOT have an interest - vested, or otherwise - in the Open Class. Evidence of this comes from two sources - First, unlike World Class, Open Class does not receive performance money for every show. Rather, they only receive a small compensation for the World Class shows they attend - the amount of which comes nowhere near to the amount World Class corps receive.

Second, the Open Class tour is a loosely slapped together schedule that all too often forces corps to travel extreme distances between shows - with 2-3 days between each show. This forces Open Class corps to find and pay for their own housing on the off days - as opposed to the tight knit schedule designed for World Class.

I believe you mentioned earlier about feeder corps and talked about Blue Devils B and Vanguard Cadets. Unfortunately, neither of those corps serve as feeder groups. Amongst them both, only about 5-10% of their members are even given consideration for moving up - despite what they publically proclaim.

As for corps finances/management - DCI, while having a rigid set of criteria that each new/re-emerging corps must pass before being allowed to compete in DCI sanctioned shows, does not involve themselves in the operation/financial management of any corps. DCI is an organization that provides a circuit of shows for corps to perform at; they are not a governing body to oversee corps operations. Hence, they don't interject themselves in corps internal business.

While logic would dictate that DCI foster the growth an expansion of the drum corps activity, logic does not prevail here. Rather, by the admission of the entity known as the G7, the smaller corps are a burden to the "prestige" and "goal" of DCI being a marching major league. The G7 truly would have no problem with DCI being an exclusive entity for only those worthy of participating, ie. the top 7 World Class corps.

Hope that helps to clarify some of your statements.

[DrumManTx]

Really sad about this. Music City was the first corps I saw live in 2010 when they did the "River Sounds" show.

They will GREATLY be missed.

[BoyWonder1911]

^^ I understand what you wrote above is largely based on a mixture of reality and things that you believe are reality.

I cannot believe for a second that the "G7" have no vested interest in Open Class.

In fact, I would bet that the directors from these corps would say otherwise as well.

They DO have an interest, and here's why.

1) They need competition. Competition spurs excellence. Competition also helps give opportunity for more kids to join, become better marchers and players, and then go and feed into WC corps when they are ready. Without Open Class, we would see a big decline in quality of the activity. Competition also spreads word of mouth about the activity, and popularity, etc. Many kids learn about DCI through local word of mouth, friends marching smaller corps, etc.

2) The directors of these corps know themselves the value of the activity for the ones who partake in it. The big thing I learned during my time in the activity is that it's all about the experience. It would make sense that the more corps, the more positive experiences for more kids.

I don't know where you get this "by their own admission" they disdain OC. They want a bunch of Cadets? They want finals night to include 12 corps that score 94+ pts? The only way to do that is to gain popularity, and that cannot happen when you have corps folding all the time. This kind idealism is a bit ludicrous.

Maybe what you said is true, but it's not right, and it's not the answer.

If you want to have 30 corps that have the ability to score 85+ pts by the end of a season, lol, well I'll tell you this. The talent is there, there are enough kids in this country who have the talent and ability to do this, but not all of them WANT to march, and not all of them can AFFORD to march, and oh - btw - the ones are talented marchers got there at some point by marching band, or an Open Class corps. How many Carolina Crown members this past season start out in an OC corps?

If you or they think that DCI can survive as a 7 or 10 corps only activity without any open class corps, well good luck with that idea.

My whole point is that DCI NEEDS Open Class, and without it, there is no future. Just like MLB. Major League Baseball needs minor league teams to foster the growth of newer, younger talent, give them the opportunity to hone their skills, and when they're ready, then go play for the Yankees or somewhere else. Get traded, go to other teams, have a career. etc.

The thing though with DCI is that they don't have hundreds of millions in ticket sales every year. Marchers do not get paid. It's not a profitable activity. At all. It's an activity that relies on donations to survive.

I am wondering what the total revenue of all competitions were this past season. I'd be really curious to know that.

[Sayre Kulp]

I cannot believe for a second that the "G7" have no vested interest in Open Class.

Believe it.

In fact, I would bet that the directors from these corps would say otherwise as well.

You'd be wrong.

I don't know where you get this "by their own admission" they disdain OC. They want a bunch of Cadets? They want finals night to include 12 corps that score 94+ pts?

No, only 7 or 8 corps that score 94+ points. That comes directly from the proposal they initially sent to DCI, so yes - by their own admission.

This kind idealism is a bit ludicrous. If you or they think that DCI can survive as a 7 or 10 corps only activity without any open class corps, well good luck with that idea.

Yeah, a lot of us thought that too.

[Mike78Mello]

Music City Drum and Bugle Corps is sad to make public the decision by the board of directors to no longer field a corps, following the end of the 2013 season. The challenge going forward is the money and effort required to sustain a corps in the current format...

There has to be reasons why......did they outspend their means?

* color to quotes added

IRS filings for non-profits are public. For 2011 (with 135 members), Music City filed a positive net income of about $40,000--revenue of $251,322 and expense of $211,655. They clearly appeared to have a solid financial model in 2011. What is not being disclosed? It is really the effort? If so, is it not worth the effort to bring the drum corps experience to 135 young people.

Other IRS filings for year-end 2011 (calendar of fiscal) that may be of interest:

DCI: $9,722,125 revenue | $9,429,827 expenses

Blue Devils: $2,686,234 revenue | $3,052,372 expenses

YEA (Cadets): $4,158,128 revenue | $4,158,128 expenses

Crown: $1,586,936 revenue | $1,586,936 expenses

(Note: This is public information, accessible to all)

Edited August 18, 2013 by Mike78Mello

[Stu]

Crown: $1,586,936 revenue | $1,586,936 expenses

Really? There is a very high improbability of this ever balancing out to zero; either you misread their 990 or I would like to see how they claim this actually happened.

[Mike78Mello]

Really? There is a very high improbability of this ever balancing out to zero; either you misread their 990 or I would like to see how they claim this actually happened.

Once again, the information is IRS filings that are public record, and can be verified online. However, it is balance sheets that balance to zero. On an annual basis income and expenses may be close, but rarely if ever match.

The specific point that I am attempting to make is that an Open Class corps can do just fine with a modest budget of $250,000. If the goals is to create a great drum corps that serves the community, it does seem possible. Not everyone needs to create a huge organization with a huge budget, and not every Open Class corps must feel required improve their ranking at Championships every year. It may be that with modest budgets and modest objectives, a drum corps can be sustainable.

Edited August 18, 2013 by Mike78Mello

[MikeD]

* color to quotes added

IRS filings for non-profits are public. For 2011 (with 135 members), Music City filed a positive net income of about $40,000--revenue of $251,322 and expense of $211,655. They clearly appeared to have a solid financial model in 2011. What is not being disclosed? It is really the effort? If so, is it not worth the effort to bring the drum corps experience to 135 young people.

Other IRS filings for year-end 2011 (calendar of fiscal) that may be of interest:

DCI: $9,722,125 revenue | $9,429,827 expenses

Blue Devils: $2,686,234 revenue | $3,052,372 expenses

YEA (Cadets): $4,158,128 revenue | $4,158,128 expenses

Crown: $1,586,936 revenue | $1,586,936 expenses

(Note: This is public information, accessible to all)

Don't forget, the YEA number also contains USBands and the other programs run by YEA (dance team and drum club, and currently C2). USBands is probably the largest single revenue and expense generator, not The Cadets.

[Stu]

The specific point that I am attempting to make is that an Open Class corps can do just fine with a modest budget of $250,000. If the goals is to create a great drum corps that serves the community, it does seem possible. Not everyone needs to create a huge organization with a huge budget, and not every Open Class corps must feel required improve their ranking at Championships every year. It may be that with modest budgets and modest objectives, a drum corps can be sustainable.

So, you contend the Racine Scouts, for example, are providing a community service and therefore they do not have to actually attempt to be competitive against BDB and SCVC; then this begs a question: Since any competition is grounded on a unit improving placement toward the goal of winning a title, why would any 'community service' organization choose to compete in the OC and not be content doing just community service performances?

Edited August 19, 2013 by Stu