Americana Music Academy Business plan 2006

 

 

The Americana Music Academy History

The Americana Music Academy, located in Lawrence, is Kansas’s only non-profit American Roots Music School. The Academy first opened its doors in January of 2002 and has been providing the area with affordable instruction in American roots music instruments such as banjo, mandolin, folk and country fiddle styles, bluegrass guitar and much more.

 

In addition, Americana provides Music Therapy for the disabled community in Lawrence and the greater Kansas City area. Americana is also building Kansas’s first American Roots Music Archive. The school is now the financial umbrella and headquarters for the Kansas State Picking and Fiddling Championships.

 

In the future the Academy will provide music outreach programs, first for Northeast Kansas and later for the entire state.

 

The Americana has hosted many concerts, workshops, and seminars for touring national and international artists.  The workshops have benefited area schools, teachers, and students of all ages.  The Americana has also provided entertainment by both instructors and students for community events, and host’s weekly jam sessions for local musicians to participate in.

 

Americana has doubled its student base from 2002 through 2004 and increased 25 percent annually in the following years, to the point that it has outgrown it’s location at 1419 Massachusetts. The number of teachers since 2002 has increased 75 percent to over 40 instructors.

 

What the Americana Music Academy Provides

At anytime during the week a consistent flow of students of all ages comes through the doors of the Academy. The house at 1419 Mass Street is filled with he sounds of fiddles, piano music and guitar music coming literally from every room in the house including the attic and basement. When lessons aren’t being taught the house is hosting a band practice, a house concert or a jam session. A group of junior high age fiddlers from several different area schools may be working on a performance tune. A group of professional musicians may be having a planning session on a future alternative community string orchestra venture. The entire venue is vibrating with positive creative energy. 

 

Americana is doing more than just teaching music lessons. It is creating a regional folk life center so that Lawrence and the surrounding cities and towns will have greater access to the musical folk culture of this area. 

 

 

The Americana Music Academy has primarily targeted students from grades two through twelve.  However we have seen in the past that our student base also includes students ranging from college age to the baby boomers. This gives the Academy a unique and inclusive market position compared to other entities that teach music, such as music stores.  With an ever growing population of retiring baby boomers (78.2 million) with spend-able income and time to enjoy recreational activities, we are prepared to grow this segment of our market by focusing our community outreach and increasing awareness of others in their age range taking part in music as recreation.  The ongoing Americana community jam sessions, as recently mentioned in the Lawrence Journal World, are an example of this type of marketing.

 

The last of the Baby Boomers were turning 40 in 2004. Below are some recent articles addressing the Baby Boomer population and their interest in music.

 

“Demographers point to exceptional opportunities for companies targeting affluent baby boomer and older consumers (maturing consumers). Middle-aged consumers are the wealthiest; best educated and most sophisticated of purchasers. They are the single largest consumer group in America. The key to securing and retaining these growing lucrative segments is a better understanding of baby boomers and older consumers and how their behavior, buying motivators and satisfaction needs change as they get older.”

From Coming of Age, Inc.  Profitable Strategies for Baby Boomers & Older Consumer Markets

 

Yamaha started offering beginner music lessons to persons aged 50 or older in the spring of 2004. This program followed the instrument lessons it has been giving to adults since 1994.  Masaru Sumi, chief of Yamaha's music planning office, said his company planned and launched the new program designed exclusively for persons older than 50 because there had been rapid growth in the number of middle age and older people taking its instrument lessons in recent years.

From the Mature Market Report.com - March 2006

 

A recent study by the New England Journal of Medicine concludes that learning how to play a musical instrument reduces the risk of developing Alzheimer's by 69%. Results Over a median follow-up period of 5.1 years, dementia developed in 124 subjects (Alzheimer's disease in 61 subjects, vascular dementia in 30, mixed dementia in 25, and other types of dementia ).  Among leisure activities, reading, playing board games, playing musical instruments, and dancing were associated with a reduced risk of dementia.

 

“Gradually, I began to understand that it wasn't just him. There were hoards of men out there, roughly his age (52), frolicking in guitar wonderlands and shoring up amp arsenals in their own basements. In the weeks after Sept. 11, when I began each sad day with the Portraits of Grief in The New York Times, I read again and again of men commuting home from their working lives, descending their basement stairs, and rocking their Jersey or Westchester or Long Island houses to the rafters.”

On stage, he looks like a middle-aged Irish poet, bespectacled, dressed in the same rumpled suit he teaches in. He is not a great musician and still can play only seven chords (which is four more than you need, he points out). But to succeed at anything is just so unlikely in the first place. Why should the fact that he's 53 and a musical neophyte make watching his band rock out on stage any more bizarre for me? Why should I be so surprised by the possibility of being surprised?

From the article “I’m with the Band” Gene Hanff Korelitz New York Times March 13th 2005

 

 

AMERICANA’S COMPETITION

One of strongest business features of the Americana Academy is that we do not have any head to head competition for music students, besides the relatively few music stores in the area that actually provide on-site lessons. There are private music teachers in the Lawrence area as well as those associated with Kansas University, but because our focus is primarily “American Folk Music” and their focus is more towards the “Classical Styles” we complement each other, but don’t compete.  We will also provide, especially for the private music studio teachers an inexpensive alternative performance venue for recitals and programs. This will be a source of operating revenue for the school. It is one of the reasons the Carnegie Building is of great interest with its performance hall.

 

There are no other competitors offering year-round group lessons. There are also, no other competitors offering jam sessions.  There is a limited amount of affordable performance space in Lawrence for community events.  The new building for the school could benefit many in the community by providing an inexpensive place for concerts, special events and recitals for different groups, as well as Americana‘s continuing programs.  Private teachers would be notified and it would be listed as available in our Academy Catalogs that are distributed four times per year. 

 

If Americana continues to develop its student base at a conservative figure of 20 percent per year, in 2008 we will be serving over 2000 students. This includes only the students who are enrolled in private lessons. Since we are out of space in our current facility, we have no place to conduct group classes. These sessions could now be added, and it is realistic to expect that we would have at least three to four group classes of

4 to 5 people each week.  More Music Therapy Classes could be added as well as pre-school music classes. The opportunities are endless.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NATURE OF THE INDUSTRY

The Americana Music Academy is a unique organization in our regional music scene.   Because we can address so many different facets of the music industry from lessons, to performance, to recording, to music therapy, we have what no other single organization can provide to the Lawrence and surrounding towns. Even Kansas City does not offer the wide variety of services that we have in place.  We have over a dozen large communities within an hour’s drive to provide us with a steady base of students.  We are exclusive among non-profit organizations in our offering of music therapy. Since we already have a steadily growing student population, we could, with the right facility, easily double that base. There are many grants and sponsorships offered by various companies in the music business for non-profit music schools.  Having the proper facility would provide the credibility that we need to help obtain these grants and sponsorships. 

 

Americana Strategy and Implementation

Upon obtaining the remodeled Carnegie Building, Americana would begin it’s own remodeling project beginning with the lower level. We will transform the area into 10 to 12 teaching studios. The teaching rooms would be soundproof. The next area to be built would be the recording studio. This area will also be for recording on-site concerts with visiting artists in mind as well as the jam sessions we hold on a regular basis. A small office and reception/waiting area would also be created. The upstairs would be remodeled to two performance areas, one large, and one for smaller concerts. A kitchen/catering area would be added as well.  Part of the upstairs would be designated for the archiving area. An upstairs reception/box office area would also be included.

 

Once the building is ready to serve our needs, we would begin to schedule, with other community organizations such as Westside Folk Concert Series, Lawrence Barn Dance Association, and the EMU Theatre Company, dates for their annual events. These community organizations would be given priority for scheduling. Once dates have been assigned, the remaining timeslots would be advertised to rent out as needed. A sample of charges would be $300.00 for four hours for the larger hall and $100.00 for four hours for the smaller hall. An additional $75.00 would be charged for a Hall Monitor per event during times when the Academy personnel did not staff the building. We would then be able to accept scheduling for traveling professional musicians that are frequently contacting the school looking for reasonably priced performance venues in this area.  Workshops will be scheduled along with concerts.  Both would provide additional income.

 

In the summertime music camps will be offered for grades K - 12.  Teen nights will be organized. An area referral service for musicians will be created.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Americana Management Team

The Americana Academy is under the direction of a 16 member Board of Directors representing a wide range of community interests. Beneath them are our Executive Director and our Assistant Director. As our programs expand we will appoint interested parties to the following positions. As the Academy grows, various positions may become paid positions.

 

Executive Director will oversee the following positions as approved by the Board:

Marketing Director                   Development Director               Grant Writing

Advertising                               Community Outreach

Web Site Management Children & Teen Programs

Fund Raising                             Events Coordinator

 

The Assistant Director will oversee the following positions as approved by the Board:

Human Resources

Teachers

Volunteers

Receptionist

Custodial

Site Management

 

Grants and Sponsorships:

Included in this business plan is a copy of a letter of support from one of our current foundation supporters, D’Addario Strings. In the last two years this international company has donated close to six thousand dollars to programs we have created. They are ready, willing and able to help us in connection with the Carnegie Library if the City Commission grants us primary use of the space.

 

The Helen Boylan foundation, of Carthage Missouri has also agreed to support us if we are given the primary use of the building.  In the past four years they have provided Americana with ten thousand dollars in grants.

 

 

Financial Projections

The Americana Music Academy is operating as a non-profit organization. We are a 501c3 corporation. Our goal is to remain able to pay the bills at the end of the month with a financial cushion for growth and emergencies. Our main form of income is from our students paying for monthly private music lessons. We currently charge $75.00 per month (4 lessons) for non-members and $70.00 per month for members of the Academy. The teachers receive 70 percent of the fee and the remaining 30 percent is given to the Academy. All teachers are on Contract for Labor and are considered Independent Contractors from the Academy.

 

 

 

Income

The Americana Academy student numbers grew 50 percent per year from the opening in 2002 until 2004.  In 2005 the student number increased 25 percent. As of  2006 we will see 1411 students. This will bring $31,748.00 in lesson fees alone. (Numbers shown are 30 percent of gross.)

A conservative projection of 20 percent student lesson increases annually will create the following income. We would expect this to be more in a larger facility.

 

2007                1,970 students              $44,325.00

2008                2,364 students              $53,190.00

2009                2837 students               $63,823.00

2010                3405 students               $76,612.00

 

Rental of the performance venues available in the Carnegie Building based on eight, four- hour rentals per month.                       $38,400.00   annually

 

Other income would be from performances, workshop fees, camp fees, recording studio fees, group lessons, grants, donations, membership, and advertising.

 

2006 Expenses (based on current location)

Utilities             Monthly                        Annually

House Rental                $1100.00                     $13,200.00

Gas Service                  $  380.00                     $  4,560.00

Electric             $    75.00                     $     900.00

Water/Trash                 $    50.00                     $     600.00

Phone/Internet              $   150.00                    $    1800.00

 

Totals                           $ 1755.00                    $ 21,060.00

 

Other expenses

Catalogs                                                           $   2800.00

Advertising                                                       $   2800.00

Liability Insurance                                             $     600.00

Miscellaneous   Supplies                                   $   4488.00

                                                                       

Total Expenses                                     $ 31,748.00

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Executive Summary:

 

The Americana Music Academy is proud to be a part of the City of Lawrence. From our inception we have envisioned a place that would become a center-point for the community at large. We have also considered the fact that as we grow, we will attract students, teachers and guests from a larger and larger area.

 

We will outgrow our current location within the next 15 months. We know that if we are granted use of the Carnegie Library we can continue to expand and provide Lawrence with even more programming for many years to come. Our use of the Carnegie Building will bring more business to downtown Lawrence with our increased student base, their families, performing artists and their concert attendees as well as our community wide multi-cultural events. We will provide for Lawrence the opportunity to lead the way as an example for other small cities, in our willingness to provide our residents with a way to continue to preserve our rich heritage of folk music and community.

 

We will serve the Lawrence community by providing music lessons and playing opportunities for people of all ages. We will engage in archiving the rich musical history of this area as well as the State of Kansas, while continuing to make musical history for future generations. We will provide music therapy for the disabled. We will enhance the community by providing concerts and a performance venue for many other local musically based organizations. We will continue to create new programs for the benefit of the community.

 

We have a successful organization that is entering its fourth year of existence. We have an operating plan that is in place and working. We have a strong Board of Directors that represents various aspects of the Lawrence Community. We offer a very talented and award winning group of instructors. We have a solid staff of volunteers for everything from everyday operation to special events. We also have some very strong corporate and private sponsors who believe in our goals for this community. Most importantly, we have the best interests of the community at heart. We want to support and expand through music, this community’s arts culture in the same way the Lawrence Art Center does, and did when they were in the building.  We will be for community music, what the L.A.C. is for graphic arts.

 

We hope that this business plan will fulfill the City Commissions requirements and that they will find it in their hearts to provide the Americana Music Academy with much needed space to grow. In return we will provide stewardship of the building and more importantly we will provide the downtown cultural and business community with increased awareness and additional opportunities for growth.