SCV's show was an epic musical fail.

[Bluzes]

5 hours ago, SWriverstone said:

Sorry ouooga—let's see how the activity is doing in 10 or 20 years.

Lived this for the past 30 years when us old timers stop going the activity is done. It's a conspiracy theory against dci. Let me give you a clue and it makes me very jealous. High School kids don't age. The seats on the bus going to shows never ends. I been to shows all over the place. Ogden UT friend lives up the mountains been dragging them to Ogden for years. School bus after school bus plie in what happened they now have a corps. Sound Sport is breaking out all over the place. dci is right in your wheel house and you don't like it. I am good with that but you seem to have all these problems why you got all these degrees in music and don't like it.

Edited August 15, 2018 by Bluzes
typo

[Jeff Ream]

1 hour ago, Jurassic Lancer said:

In most cases, this is true, but not all. I would suggest this year’s Bluecoats percussion book was an exception to writing to the sheets and they paid a price because of it. I am still glad they choose to write a show appropriate to the jazz idium rather than write to to sheets. 

i think they needed to just play cleaner

[MikeN]

46 minutes ago, ouooga said:

'Everyone' should not be DCI's target audience, agreed. But the audience I that's constantly forgotten is the former fan.

Assume right now there's three sets of audience members:

1) People currently involved in marching band in some way/shape/form

2) FMMs

3) Family/friends of CMMs

2 is us, and we're pretty die-hard fans. 3 is probably difficult to retain once people age out, though the ones who enjoy it to enjoy it might stay. But 1 is the one that's forgotten.

I actually think DCI has designed their tour, and their marketing, hard as an arrow towards #1.  If you get #1, then they bring #3 and become #2.  I *want* current bandos to see our corps and go "that is the most awesome thing ever and I want to do that."  I'm happy if parents and family like it, but it's definitely less critical.  In general, the parents support our group and our mission, so they'll generally go along with us. I'd *hope* FMM's continue to support us, but if it comes to a FMM or a CMM, the CMM is the one we're doing all of this for.

Mike

[Jeff Ream]

45 minutes ago, ouooga said:

'Everyone' should not be DCI's target audience, agreed. But the audience I that's constantly forgotten is the former fan.

Assume right now there's three sets of audience members:

1) People currently involved in marching band in some way/shape/form

2) FMMs

3) Family/friends of CMMs

2 is us, and we're pretty die-hard fans. 3 is probably difficult to retain once people age out, though the ones who enjoy it to enjoy it might stay. But 1 is the one that's forgotten.

It's easy to sell more traditional drum corps shows to people who are involved in marching band. High school/college students are playing that kind of music, and it resonates with them. But it seems the current marketing model just assumes that, as those people lose interest in marching band as a whole as they grow up, new people will fill in to take their place. Those people just have different tastes as they get older.

But some importance on developing a more accessible version of the activity, not necessarily in all corps but definitely in some, would be the way to retain those individuals. It's not like they stopped listening to music entirely, they're just not immersed in scholarly band anymore.

For one third of the audience (I'm estimating those are three equal buckets, not sure if they really are), drum corps' goal from a marketing standpoint is to attract new people rather than retain. Marketing 101 teaches us that that's a much more difficult model to sustain.

the activity tried for 20 years to continue to try new things AND appease the older fan that only liked their version of drum corps. And it didnt work. Going back to solely what was isn't going to work. going forward, even at a cost, has actually helped. so stay that course

[Jurassic Lancer]

16 minutes ago, Jeff Ream said:

i think they needed to just play cleaner

That too, though they were 4th in achievement and 7th in content.

Edited August 15, 2018 by Jurassic Lancer

[ouooga]

8 minutes ago, Jeff Ream said:

the activity tried for 20 years to continue to try new things AND appease the older fan that only liked their version of drum corps. And it didnt work. Going back to solely what was isn't going to work. going forward, even at a cost, has actually helped. so stay that course

I'm a proponent of staying the course. That's my point. SCV 2018 seems like the kind of show that a former fan would still be interested in.

[ouooga]

35 minutes ago, BRASSO said:

 True, but I'll only point out that each generation of Drum Corps loses a significant, sizable numbers from the generation that went before. I suspect that this will continue. I would imagine that a significant numbers of the young that follow  and prefer todays style of " Drum Corps " will leave when it changes once more... for example when it adds the rest of the conventional MB instruments, ie the woodwinds, clarinets, what have you. The notion that the young fans of todays style of Drum Corps will be following the new and improved version in another 10-15 is dubious at best. I highly doubt it. Most of them will walk away then too... to replaced by a new and younger generation that will love the woodwinds in Drum Corps, or whatever new incarnatiion develops in the next 10-15 years. So the current young fans of todays Drum Corps that prefer todays style, certainly must know that the next generation of fans is not going to prefer the current 2018 model. Will there be any remaining vestiges of single gender Drum Corps in 10-15 years ?  I don't think so, 'really doubt it. Change takes place in Drum Corps, no doubt, but with that change comes many former fans going out the exits, and other newer, younger fans coming in the entrance. Same as it ever was. What evidence is there that this 60 year trend of massive transformative changes in the Drum Corps genre  will somehow slow down, abate, or reverse course ? None, as far as I can envision at the moment. And with that, fans coming and going will likely continue uninterrupted in the activity long into the future as well, imo.

Imagine if the McDonald's marketing strategy was "once they've lost interest in the Big Mac, I'll forget about them. There's new people being born every year, and I'll just sell Big Macs to them. Close the test kitchens!"

[BRASSO]

14 minutes ago, ouooga said:

Imagine if the McDonald's marketing strategy was "once they've lost interest in the Big Mac, I'll forget about them. There's new people being born every year, and I'll just sell Big Macs to them. Close the test kitchens!"

 McDonalds today in 2018 if they developed the Fast Food model akin to DCI change formula the last 40 years ( prop included ) Notice how much bigger their Big Mac could be fast food delivered right to your home or office too !

 

 

Edited August 15, 2018 by BRASSO

[Bluzes]

34 minutes ago, Jeff Ream said:

i think they needed to just play cleaner 

Jeff has anyone played drums with the brushes like the Blue Coats did at the beginning of their show? 

[Bluzes]

35 minutes ago, MikeN said:

that is the most awesome thing ever and I want to do that

Had several band kids over the house since we been back, they love it. Went to Big Loud & Live. They give me tips on how they hide things on YT what filters to select. It's all insane these days. Right after SA a few years ago you could have already purchased all the current shows, now we wait till Christmas playing right into the evil of YT, why?