No mass appeal, no future – A detailed explanation

[bass5]

I think focusing anything to the "mass appeal" audience is a recipe for disaster.

Look at T.V. - pretty much 99% pure garbage.

Look at the news - now that it its a for profit business trying to appeal to a larger audience we hear more about pop culture

than young men & women fighting and dying in Iraq or dictators slaughtering their populace in countries that have no oil reserves.

Most people get their info for the people they elect by 30 second sound bites that have nothing to do with the truth, just an easy "mass appeal"

tidbit that is nowhere near the truth.

Now if you're talking about marketing sure they can certainly do a better job.

I would market it as a DIFFERENT product than marching band rather than trying to become Marching Band.

I think DCI should really put a lot of emphasis on helping the local small shows advertise to get more fans in the stands.

I feel the product is actually taking a nice turn back into more entertaining shows with the emphasis in music going back to melody

which to me will bring old & new fans into the stands again.

My 2 centavos.

[MikeD]

I don't think corps need to return to the 80's format, show designs simply need to be recognizable or at the very least catchy. Every song gets heard for the first time, some stick with you, most don't. I personally beleive corps designers need to either use something that is currently popular, or create something that is along the lines of what is popular. It is important to experiment and push the activity, but when show designers go too far too fast, they become no longer relavent to main stream society.

Except even when popular music was more prevalent in drum corps it was still 'oooo...look at the geeky marching band trying to be cool' to most people.

In the small Garden State Corps I marched with in 68/69 (see sig) we played Bobby Hebb's "Sunny" one year and Herman's Hermits' "Kind of Hush" another. My friends still thought I was nuts.

In Garfield we played "White Rabbit" in 1970. Outside of one event in my mind I don't remember us getting any 'props' from young people in general. And...the head of the VFW wanted to kick us out of champs for playing that tune and forming a Peace Sign on the field. So much for relevance. :P

IMO we are a niche activity...the royal "marching band"...and DCI is doing the right thing by focussing their efforts in that area.

[Liam]

Now if you're talking about marketing sure they can certainly do a better job.

I would market it as a DIFFERENT product than marching band rather than trying to become Marching Band.

I think DCI should really put a lot of emphasis on helping the local small shows advertise to get more fans in the stands.

Now here's where I do think there needs to be some pushing. The marketing by DCI (and, by extension, the corps and shows) is weak and antiquated, imo. I get a couple of emails a year because I'm a regular ticket buyer and a mailer here and there. If we want/need to maximize the subculture that is Drum Corps, they have GOT to do a better job than this. Last year, there was this much bally-hooed partnership with a major marketing firm ... GREAT.... but I haven't seen anything meaningful change yet. Sure the DCI website is updated and the multi media stuff is cool, but that's all preaching to the choir. Look, figure skating is a niche market, too, but I know a heck of a lot more about that activity than I should as a less-than-casual observer. I know when there is a show in town, even though you couldn't pay me to go. How is that, when I often don't know about DC shows in my neck of the woods until it's too late? Just one example, but there are folks out there who would be DC regulars (marchers/fans/volunteers) if the connection were made. How many? Don't know, but plenty more than are involved regularly now, I would hazard.

I do believe that DCI has done the right things to keep the activity going forward. But now is the time to step up and turn themselves into a fully professional organization to take Drum Corps to the next level in the future.

[mobrien]

Look, no offense, but what the MAJORITY of Americans think is good (aka "popular") usually sucks. And sucks badly.

What was the most popular movie last year? Any guesses as to whether it was also a significant piece of work that will be well-regarded in years to come? (the answers are "POTC 2" and "no", respectively).

NASCAR is popular, but so is WWF and Ultimate Fighting. Do we really wanna get down into that morass of "mass entertainment"?

Look at what's popular on tv; does anyone REALLY think that "American Idol" represents the high point of our culture?

Who sold more CD's last year, Kelly Clarkson or the Chicago Symphony? Which one of the two is really more valuable to the culture overall?

And even more to the point, it's a myth that drum corps was ever mainstream or popular. Really it wasn't. The 'big corps' back in the glory days of the 60s consisted of 80-100 members. Think about that; at a time when there were no size limits, the top corps still couldn't draw in hundreds of kids to march with them. The hometown shows I marched in the 70s had 5 or 6 regional corps at them, with a a few hundred people in the stands on a good night. That, to me, indicated even at the time that this was a fairly niche activity, not anything that was gonna give major musical acts a run for the money.

And as far as the estorica on the field today; between Cavaliers, PR, and a few other finalists corps this year, you have corps playing pop charts or classical standards ("ooh, listen honey: the British Airways commercial theme!"). Not exactly Brainiac central, except to the truly unwashed (who wouldn't be interested in marching bands anyway).

So it's not a case of 'not getting' the point; it's an issue of totally disagreeing with the premise.

====

re: DCI's use of technology in marketing, if someone is only getting one or two email marketing pieces a season, they must have a better spam filter than most, as I get one at least once a week in my inbox. They're selling hundreds of thousands of dollars in tickets and audio/video stuff via online sales (I'd be amazed if LESS than 70% of their business was net based). For a non-profit with limited staff, that's exactly the right approach to take rather than using snail mail and hiring people to sit by the phone and wait for sales orders.

Edited June 26, 2007 by mobrien

[CrunchyTenor]

Though I would love the general public to embrace drum corps as we do, reality dictates that the majority of fans will be former marching members, band members and alumni, family, and the occasional "outsider" who stumbles on drum corps and likes what they see.

Using the NASCAR example won't apply to drum corps. Most people drive and own a car, so there's some relevance to Joe Public. There are some that wonder why people will watch a bunch of other people drive in circles for 200 laps or so.

Yesterday I stumbled across something called "Flyball" on Animal Planet. It's part of a series of dog trials. It was entertaining, but not everyone is going to be entertained by a dog relay (running and jumping over small hurdles, grabbing a tennis ball and running back again).

It would be great to have more fans in the stands, more potential dollars coming into the activity. We have an unusual product. It would be great to tap into the people who played in band through HS, then put down their instrument forever, but there's a reason they put them down in the first place.

In many ways it's OK for drum corps to be a niche activity. At least those involved really, really like it, and continue to support it long after aging out of junior corps, including those who have an all-age corps close enough to continue participating.

I'm working with VK to develop an alumni program, something the corps never really did before. It can be frustrating thinking about all the people who marched in the corps that have lost contact. I'm trying to get the people I've contacted to start networking with others they've kept in touch with. Eventually we can have a strong alumni association, but it's going to take lots of work and follow-up to make it happen. So you can see how even people with an interest can lose their way.

I'm not saying we should stop trying to encourage NDC (non drum corp) people to enjoy what we do, but the more we understand the nature of what we do and how it relates to the general public, the more we can adapt our outreach efforts.

Garry

PS If you're a VK alumus, and you're reading this, go to vkalumni.org and sign up!

[JustABandMom]

There are some that wonder why people will watch a bunch of other people drive in circles for 200 laps or so.

I think it's the beer...

[bawker]

The activity needs to take notice of what is popular in pop-culture and see what changes can be made to push the activity in that direction. Maybe this idea will make drum corps purist sick, but an activity as wonderful as drum corps should not be allowed to slip away.

In short, for Drum Corps to survive, those that design the shows need to be equally aware of pop culture as they are of being artistic. Making minor changes to appease or simply interest the masses (drum corps outsiders) does not make one a sell-out, it make them selfless. It makes them promoters of our activity to the masses.

I would argue that in some areas drum corps are looking at what pop culture has to offer and using it; corps in the late 70's and early 80's used a lot of pop music...now, in recent years, you've had Carolina Crown doing Sarah McLachlan, Spirit this year doing Imogen Heap, and even the Cavaliers this year playing Billy Joel.

It's a shift back by gradients, rather than all at once...but I do think there was some sense in the late 90's/early 00's that the activity had become extremely self-serving and insular.

Don't get me wrong...it still is in many regards. A lot of arrangements are so cut up (Bluecoats playing Michael Jackson? Still trying to find it on the APD this year :P) and put through the visual blender it's hard to get "foot tapping" music, as you mention.

Additionally, as misguided as a lot of us consider it...what Hop has attempted to do with narration, spoken word and storytelling is to try popular culture into drum corps with beatboxing, drum speak and so on. That doesn't really make it the correct way of doing it, but nevertheless, it's an attempt.

[rut-roh]

Additionally, as misguided as a lot of us consider it...what Hop has attempted to do with narration, spoken word and storytelling is to try popular culture into drum corps with beatboxing, drum speak and so on. That doesn't really make it the correct way of doing it, but nevertheless, it's an attempt.

Agreed. This is an instance of be careful what you wish for. Dare I say that if we're trying to appeal to the mass market of "everyone," we should ditch the band uniform look and shakos, crank up the speakers, add electronics and more theatrics and go really wild with it. Unfortunately, the typical drum corps fan probably doesn't want to see that happen. So what to do? There really isn't anything necessarily wrong with being a niche activity. There is always room for growth, but be careful ...with more and more people getting involved, you might just get something you never intended for.

[FrontierEuph]

If drum corps is to survive...

I'm interested to hear your thoughts on why drum corps can't/won't survive with its current products (DCI and DCA are different products.) Are you talking about growth that sustains these activities, or growth that expands these activities? DCA is growing in number of ensembles, membership, and shows. DCI is attempting to grow mind-share/marketing (e.g. ESPN) and is shrinking the number of their corps to be in line with a national, 'professional' circuit.

Since drum corps is a sport and a musical performance (and this is the only activity in the world for which that is true) it's hard to market corps as either. DCI is trying to figure it out; and if anyone can figure this out, it's Dan Acheson.

I would be interested in reading a comparison of DCI and DCA drum corps to other varied sports and musical activities, both local and national. Ballet, figure-skating, synchronized swimming are all somewhat musical sports competitions, but they aren't performed by musicians. Many pop-singers combine athletic dance routines with their musical performances, but they aren't considered athletes nor is their art considered competitive (unless we're talking American Idol, but they're still not athletic.)

Is the corps activity comparable to, say, community theater or Hollywood? Professional or non-professional wind/symphonic ensembles? Community or professional sports? From what I can tell, the local, professional artistic activities are being forced to expand their repertoirs and extend their seasons in order to have enough cash flow.

Could it be: DCI = professional/national and DCA = local/nonprofessional? "Marching Music's Major League" is DCI's new tagline.

Edited June 26, 2007 by FrontierEuph

[scottgordon]

But again -- I don't think that Drum Corps was ever "relevant to main stream society".

Actually, in the 30s and 40s, it was relevant to mainstream society. I have seen 16mm films from the 1930s showing American Legion ticker-tape parades in NYC and Cleveland - nearly the entire parades were drumcorps, I don't know how many, 100 or more in one parade? You'd think they were the Macy's parades or bigger. Corps was HUGE. Every town had a drumcorps - it was a vehicle for people of all ages to support the troops at a time when people yearned for ways of showing their patriotism. Drumcorps was an outgrowth of a particular time and a particular set of circumstances.

Clearly, society has changed and the notion of a town rallying around a drumcorps so they could wave flags and shed a tear for old glory sounds like an artifact from, oh perhaps the 1930s. So how on earth can we expect drumcorps to ever be relevant again?

It's a miracle it's survived this long - and it has done so on the basis of its uniqueness, particularly its regimental precision, and even moreso its utterly unique sound. The fact that that sound (and the regimental precision) is being gradually diluted through electronics, vocals, abstract dance, etc. is very, very risky in my opinion. Once it loses its unique appeal, its lack of relevance will shine through and everyone will move on.

I used to take new people to shows every year - some of them got hooked. They all loved it, until about 15 years ago, when their feedback started becoming more and more lukewarm. Mostly they complained that they couldn't understand why the corps would go to all that work to perfect music that was so abstract, when it would be the perfect medium for rousing tunes. I've stopped taking new people to shows, it's just not for everyone anymore. Although, I still love it because there is enough of that unique sound to hold my interest. For now, anyways.