The Fan Base
Most fans (59 percent) see four shows or fewer per season; around 27 percent see "seven to eight" (or more) shows per season. Thirty-seven percent of fans drive less than 100 miles to see a drum corps show. Fifty percent see more shows now than they did five years ago.

Most people who responded are junior corps fans: 79 percent of respondents see more junior corps than senior corps shows, or attend junior corps shows exclusively.

A majority (51 percent) of respondents spend less than $75 per year on tickets to drum corps events.

Thirty-four percent of fans spend between $25 and $75 on drum corps souvenirs per year. Twenty percent spend between $75 and $125. Around two-thirds of respondents buy DCI audio and video merchandise.

Twenty-five percent of survey respondents were currently members of drum and bugle corps. Twenty-five percent of survey respondents were current or former corps staff members. Thirty-three percent found out about the activity because a friend or family member marched. Twenty percent initially heard about drum corps from a band director.

Likes and Dislikes
Almost half of the survey respondents strongly agree that junior drum corps provides real value for their entertainment dollar. Only 20 percent disagreed with this statement. Sixty-three percent of fans are pleased with the junior corps show design and performance.

Around 60 percent of fans enjoy the musical selections that junior corps perform. Approximately 23 percent do not like junior corps musical selections. For senior corps, 57 percent enjoy the musical selections, but the number of respondents expressing no opinion (26 percent) is higher in the case of senior corps than the number for junior corps (17 percent). This larger number of no opinion likely stems from respondent unfamiliarity with the senior corps product.

Only 33 percent said they feel "strongly" that senior drum corps provides real value for their entertainment dollar, but about half of all respondents said that senior corps is an entertainment value. Keep in mind that most of the respondents see more junior corps than senior corps, and some don't attend senior corps shows, so this question could very well be skeewed. Watch for more in-depth analysis of the data in the next issue of Drum Corps World.

In response to the question, "Drum and bugle corps scoring is a concern for me," more people indicated that it was a concern for the junior corps shows (55 percent) than for the senior corps (36 percent) events. In terms of scoring and judging accurately reflecting outcomes, there were no strong indications in either the positive or negative direction.

One big feather in DCI's cap was that most fans (78 percent) agree that they would bring a friend unfamiliar with drum corps to a junior corps show. Junior corps fans were also more likely to talk about drum corps to their family and acquaintances (77 percent vs. 49 percent for seniors).

Only 24 percent of the total respondents felt that tickets for junior corps championships and regionals were too highly priced. This number drops slightly for senior corps (18 percent).

About 50 percent of junior corps fans are happy with their experience at shows, and about 20 percent are not. There is a strong indication that circuits and show sponsors do not do enough to give notice of upcoming shows (41 percent for juniors and 46 percent for seniors).

Some of the results are indicative of the fact that more people are familiar with and interested in the junior corps activity than in the senior corps activity. The strong results in the senior corps numbers demonstrate the robust interest shown by those who follow senior corps.

For the statement "Drum corps is changing for the better," most respondents (57 percent) were either ambivalent or disagreed in the case of junior corps. However, the largest single response (24 percent) strongly agreed that drum corps is changing for the better.

We acknowledge the kind assistance of Nikk Pilato, Duane Leblanc, Lance Williams, posters on the SoundMachine web chat room, and others in formulating ideas for questions.

Watch for more survey results, analysis and the winners of the survey prize drawing in the next issue of Drum Corps World.