The Cavaliers 2024

[Quad Aces]

29 minutes ago, TheOneWhoKnows said:

Most of the time the corps hands are tied waiting for the music owners to approve rights and licenses for use. It isn’t that they don’t have their plans in place and haven’t done their due diligence. They’re just at the mercy of the industry. 

I find it harder and harder to believe every year that this is the case.  If a corps staff really knows what their show will be almost a year out (and in some cases more than a year out) - which we keep hearing - I’m not convinced that securing performance rights takes almost a full year to get for an entire show.

Blue Devils are a corps that we keep hearing has their shows lined up several years in advance.  So magically they seem to always secure the performance rights around the beginning to the middle of May?

It looks more and more likely that a corps delays announcing out of some strange idea that it will generate some sort of buzz.

[LabMaster]

45 minutes ago, Quad Aces said:

What would the reason be that Bluecoats announced the complete rep and not their title yet?  They presumably have secured the performance rights to all of the pieces that they are playing, so that theory for them seems out.  Also seems that if they released the rep, they’re not afraid of any type of preseason critique.

it’s getting harder and harder to stay engaged outside of the now 6-7 week season.

 

Maybe they just want a cool name and don’t feel the need to rush.  What they have put out has them way ahead of their usual timeframe.  And if you are struggling to stay engaged for any amount of time outside of the season, I don’t know what to tell you.  You might need another hobby.

[LabMaster]

4 minutes ago, Quad Aces said:

I find it harder and harder to believe every year that this is the case.  If a corps staff really knows what their show will be almost a year out (and in some cases more than a year out) - which we keep hearing - I’m not convinced that securing performance rights takes almost a full year to get for an entire show.

Blue Devils are a corps that we keep hearing has their shows lined up several years in advance.  So magically they seem to always secure the performance rights around the beginning to the middle of May?

It looks more and more likely that a corps delays announcing out of some strange idea that it will generate some sort of buzz.

You must be new to all this.  No one has their shows planned years ahead, even BD.  They may have ideas bounced around, but the shows themselves aren’t planned out.  That makes no logical sense.  New ideas bubble up constantly.  New music is found constantly. Delays are mostly to allow time for rights, idea development, talent assessment, staff changes, funding.  Many many factors . Locking in a show plan early, could lead to missed opportunities. What it booms down to is; so what if the announcement is later than our personal wants demands it.  Be patient.  No advantage announcing early, no disadvantage announcing later.

[NewArpege]

52 minutes ago, TheOneWhoKnows said:

Most of the time the corps hands are tied waiting for the music owners to approve rights and licenses for use. It isn’t that they don’t have their plans in place and haven’t done their due diligence. They’re just at the mercy of the industry. 

I get that definitely happens. Very understandable, especially when Bloo did Beetles.
 

On the flip side, BD got approval this year to use music from two motion pictures and still released earlier than most everyone. And part of that, I suspect, is bc BD puts a ton of aggressive work into concept design very early and gets the balls moving on execution of that vision asap so their package is tied up by April; then they shift their focus to execution of the field with excellence without distractions. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the best drum corp consistently releases their concepts earlier than everyone; they appear to run a tight ship over there. 
 

I do get not everyone has the resources of BD. But if corps want to be at their level, they need to be thinking about all this pre-work that sets them up to succeed.

Edited May 22 by NewArpege

[Quad Aces]

14 minutes ago, LabMaster said:

You must be new to all this.  No one has their shows planned years ahead, even BD.  They may have ideas bounced around, but the shows themselves aren’t planned out.  That makes no logical sense.  New ideas bubble up constantly.  New music is found constantly. Delays are mostly to allow time for rights, idea development, talent assessment, staff changes, funding.  Many many factors . Locking in a show plan early, could lead to missed opportunities. What it booms down to is; so what if the announcement is later than our personal wants demands it.  Be patient.  No advantage announcing early, no disadvantage announcing later.

Nope, been around the activity since 1985.

Are you new to the activity?  The BD crowd has sworn for years up and down, left and right from what they understand that the BD staff has shows lined up up to three years in advance.  I know for sure securing performance rights does not take three years.

Regardless whether BD literally has shows all lined up years in advance or if that ‘s just an urban myth, why is it that they always announce in early to mid-May?  Is it that the performance rights just happen to all come in and get finalized by then each and every year, or is it more likely that the rights get approved and paid for throughout the offseason, and BD chooses to do the annual reveal at that time (with BD C always coming first, then BD B, then BD A)?

Edited May 22 by Quad Aces

[TheOneWhoKnows]

28 minutes ago, NewArpege said:

I get that definitely happens. Very understandable, especially when Bloo did Beetles.
 

On the flip side, BD got approval this year to use music from two motion pictures and still released earlier than most everyone. And part of that, I suspect, is bc BD puts a ton of aggressive work into concept design very early and gets the balls moving on execution of that vision asap so their package is tied up by April; then they shift their focus to execution of the field with excellence without distractions. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the best drum corp consistently releases their concepts earlier than everyone; they appear to run a tight ship over there. 
 

I do get not everyone has the resources of BD. But if corps want to be at their level, they need to be thinking about all this pre-work that sets them up to succeed.

 

25 minutes ago, Quad Aces said:

Nope, been around the activity since 1985.

Are you new to the activity?  The BD crowd has sworn for years up and down, left and right from what they understand that the BD staff has shows lined up up to three years in advance.  I know for sure securing performance rights does not take three years.

Regardless whether BD literally has shows all lined up years in advance or if that ‘s just an urban myth, why is it that they always announce in early to mid-May?  Is it that the performance rights just happen to all come in and get finalized by then each and every year, or is it more likely that the rights get approved and paid for throughout the offseason, and BD chooses to do the annual reveal at that time (with BD C always coming first, then BD B, then BD A)?

Scott Chandler has absolutely stated he has show ideas bouncing around for years. But that doesn’t mean they’re entirely planned out, nor is all the music set in stone.

You have to consider that being the most winning corps out there and having more funds and legal resources to pursue music licensing would make it easier. Not every corps is going to have that. It’s easy to throw around the “look what we can do with your music” when you’ve got those fancy trophies lined up. BD has had years where they haven’t been able to get rights to every piece and it’s caused certain parts to be cut from the CDs and DVDs. 

[Quad Aces]

40 minutes ago, TheOneWhoKnows said:

 

Scott Chandler has absolutely stated he has show ideas bouncing around for years. But that doesn’t mean they’re entirely planned out, nor is all the music set in stone.

You have to consider that being the most winning corps out there and having more funds and legal resources to pursue music licensing would make it easier. Not every corps is going to have that. It’s easy to throw around the “look what we can do with your music” when you’ve got those fancy trophies lined up. BD has had years where they haven’t been able to get rights to every piece and it’s caused certain parts to be cut from the CDs and DVDs. 

Those parts that get cut from the CDs/DVDs/Blu Rays are not due to performance rights.  Those are separate.  They are sync rights, and are not the responsibility of each corps, but rather DCI, who sells and profits off of the sales.  The large expense of securing the sync rights for every piece for every corps on the media is exactly why DCI does not sell those anymore (for the current season).

But regarding BD - if securing the performance rights (which is the responsibility of each corps) is the reason that they announce late, why do they always announce in the beginning to mid-May every year?  Is it more likely that they don’t secure those rights every single year until then, are do that they hold off on announcing until that time?

Edited May 22 by Quad Aces

[TheOneWhoKnows]

8 minutes ago, Quad Aces said:

Those parts that get cut from the CDs/DVDs/Blu Rays are not performance rights.  Those are separate.  They are sync rights, and are not the responsibility of each corps, but rather DCI, who sells and profits off of the sales.  The large expense of securing the sync rights for every piece for every corps on the media is exactly why DCI does not sell those anymore (for the current season).

But regarding BD - if securing the performance rights (which is the responsibility of each corps) is the reason that they announce late, why do they always announce in the beginning to mid-May every year?  Is it more likely that they don’t secure those rights every single year until then, are do that they hold off on announcing until that time?

Well to be clear, I’m not saying it IS the reason they announce late. It’s just a plausible cause of later announcements. 

For legal purposes, it’s smart not to announce until you have all rights to do so.

[KVG_DC]

Are performance rights tied to a time frame?  e.g. you secure the rights but not until x date because it's only good for 3 months or something?  

[NewArpege]

1 hour ago, KVG_DC said:

Are performance rights tied to a time frame?  e.g. you secure the rights but not until x date because it's only good for 3 months or something?  

I think the performance rights are tied to the number of public performances you profit from.  Securing those rights varies depending on who either owns or controls the music, and the agreements in place around that. For instance (if I recall correctly), Bloo securing The Beatles music required Universal’s approval then representatives of The Beatles estate had to approve to protect their brand and image…and likely, they had to approve final drafts of the arrangements too since they differ from the source material.  But that’s a unique situation, that’s more complex than the normal.

Some songs are public domain, if they are over 100 years old, the trademark expires and corps don’t have to pay for rights or even secure permission.  And if it’s original music, it’s just a contract with the composer….like this year, it seems John Mackey will own the rights after Crown performs bc he’s stated he will rearrange for band after the season.

So not a straight forward answer. It can be easy or complicated, depending on the music and owner.