|
|
| Disc
Makers' Fast Forward e-Newsletter |
From
CD to IPO
John Somers' big band economics |
| Anyone
who has ever dealt with the financial aspect of running a band knows
it's tough to stay afloat. Imagine how hard it must be if you're in
charge of an 18-piece orchestra. John Somers of the Somers Dream Orchestra
(SDO) took his cue from Wall Street and offered his band members shares
of stock. Now his band is the best selling Amazon.com CD in New Jersey
and his future is looking bright. |
How
did you come to this unique approach of starting a band?
Before founding the SDO, I spent years of freelancing with many bands
throughout the NY/NJ area, observing and listening to many leaders
concerning all their ordeals and tribulations in the industry. One
day, in 1980, I felt I was ready to start my own band, so I started
the Garden State Brass Ensemble and still run that group to this day.
The band consists of 6 all-brass musicians. In our best year we had
47 engagements, which I felt was pretty good for a specialty group
and not a dance band. However, as all new leaders are bound to do,
I made some mistakes, first and foremost in the "business" end of
the business, as the IRS reminded me, if you get the picture. Oops!
Taxes? What's that? We play music, but pay taxes? Well, I have since
seen the light, as I had a dream on a cold winter night in January
of 1995. |
| I
dreamed of starting my own big band of 18 hand-picked musicians and
setting the band up under a most unusual corporate structure. I picked
all the musicians based on three criteria: musicianship, personality
and love for the music. In short, I wanted a group of highly professional
New York and New Jersey musicians who didn't look at their watches
and really wanted to be there. A real "check your ego at the door"
approach. We all know we can play so now let's have fun playing music!
I formed a corporation called T.G. Entertainment, Ltd. with a lawyer,
a CPA... the whole works. The organization was born in February of
1995 as the "parent" company! |
| The
cost of running a big band must be tremendous, since that's what did
them all in back in the '50s. How do you manage to keep costs down,
especially tour costs? |
Man,
you hit the nail on the head. A band this size is a huge cost factor.
One chart alone could cost you as much as $500.00 as a custom arrangement.
Let's face it, you aren't going to find this kind of music in many
local music stores! The music stands, the artist designing the logo,
the trademark of the logo, the sound system, a bank account, lawyer
fees, stationery... it all ads up. So, I sold stock in the corporation,
asking all the musicians to actually purchase their respective seat.
Everyone at first looked at me as though I was nuts!
I assure you I am not. Learning from my past business mistakes and
determined not to let that happen again, I decided to treat this as
a business first and then enjoy the music second. It worked and is
working to date. I was able to generate enough revenue from selling
stock to get the corporation off the ground and fielded one of the
best collection of musicians anyone could ever dream of.
Hence, the SDO was born. My musicians can go on tour, play a Broadway
show and still come back home to their seat. It's a unique concept
that allows us to hold on to a very dedicated core of approximately
85% of our musicians for every gig because they all have a vested
interest in the corporation. Everyone is treated the same right on
down to payment from gigs—no envelopes are handed out in our
orchestra—and I think everyone respects me for that. In fact,
the profit from our CD will be divided by the Board of Directors among
all the owners / shareholders. In short, I've created a fun environment
for everyone without taking anything away from what we do best...
play music!
Being
such a big band, how do you approach booking gigs?
Most of our engagements are private affairs for corporations, weddings,
country clubs or the like. Due to our size and the high cost to book
us, only major ticket venues and/or agents can book us. However, on
occasion we have public performances. For example, we are scheduled
to perform at the Bethlehem Musikfest 2000 in Pennsylvania on August
4th from 9pm to 11pm on the AmericaPlatz Stage. This is the largest
music festival in the Continental United States so, we are happy and
proud to be a part of it. On the last Monday of each month, we perform
from 8pm to 11pm at Tierney's Pub in Montclair, NJ. We pack the house
every time. Last year we performed 46 public performances—not
bad for an 18-piece orchestra! Believe me, budgets are always a problem
when we start talking business with future clients. I never sell our
orchestra short—our members never receive less than Union scale
and they usually get more. Remember, music is a business, the trick
is to handle it as one and yet still have fun making music, because
we love MUSIC! I LOVE MUSIC!
To contact the Somers Dream Orchestra, call 1-800-465-BAND, or visit
www.somersdreamorchestra.com.
|
|
|
Print
this page
