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Speaker 1: Welcome, Welcome, Welcome back to the Bob Left Sets podcast.

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Speaker 1: My guest today is Rob Bright's CEO of the School

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Speaker 1: of Rock. Rob. How many schools of Rock are there?

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Speaker 2: Not enough, Bob? But today we've got three hundred, just

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Speaker 2: under three hundred and forty around the globe in fifteen

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Speaker 2: countries altogether.

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Speaker 1: Okay, And how many are owned by School of Rock

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Speaker 1: or they all franchised? How does it work?

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Speaker 2: We operate forty six of the schools. Those are exclusively

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Speaker 2: in the US, scattered about in key markets, but the

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Speaker 2: rest are franchised all through the US and internationally.

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Speaker 1: So let's say I want to have a franchise, walk

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Speaker 1: me through it.

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Speaker 2: Well, you know what's interesting is we tend to appeal

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Speaker 2: to people who've never done a franchise before, because ours

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Speaker 2: is really a purpose driven passion area where folks arrive

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Speaker 2: at their interest in School of Rock either having been

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Speaker 2: a parent of a student student themselves as an adult student.

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Speaker 2: They may have seen one of our bands perform, they

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Speaker 2: may be a fan of the movie and and come

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Speaker 2: across come across our franchise, so they'll reach out to us,

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Speaker 2: and there's there's a there's kind of a long dating process.

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Speaker 2: We want to find out the intent. We want to

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Speaker 2: understand if they're doing this for the right combinations of

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Speaker 2: changing the world and and doing something that's economically viable,

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Speaker 2: and then we step through a series of discussions that

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Speaker 2: can take weeks or even months to make sure that

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Speaker 2: the match is there. In some ways, it's really similar

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Speaker 2: to other franchise businesses. In other ways it's really different

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Speaker 2: because we are searching for people who have an equal

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Speaker 2: amount of an interest in return on effort as return

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Speaker 2: on investment. People are really looking to bend the universe

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Speaker 2: by transforming lives through music.

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Speaker 1: Okay, so let's assume I'm excited. What is the deal

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Speaker 1: I'm going to get with you? And is every deal

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Speaker 1: the same or is every deal unique?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, the deals are all the same. We've got standard

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Speaker 2: economics that have a initial franchise fee that's just under

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Speaker 2: fifty thousand dollars, and then the economics going forward, there's

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Speaker 2: the startup costs. There'll be the construction, they'll be build

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Speaker 2: out soft costs, architecture, et cetera, et cetera, to build

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Speaker 2: a unit that is physical unit, physical school about twenty

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Speaker 2: five hundred square feet, and then going forward, once that

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Speaker 2: school opens. The transactions are as follows, is that we

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Speaker 2: earn a eight percent royalty and we earn a three

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Speaker 2: percent brand fund that we spend on behalf the franchise ease,

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Speaker 2: on paid marketing, and on infrastructure, and then the rest

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Speaker 2: of the residual economics flow through to the franchise e.

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Speaker 2: And you know, many of our franchises choose to do

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Speaker 2: more than one, but about three quarters of our franchisese

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Speaker 2: are single unit franchisees and most are owner operators.

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Speaker 1: Let me ask you, I've always been interested same thing

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Speaker 1: with royalties in the music business. Okay, ultimately you're getting

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Speaker 1: the better part of ten percent. How do you make

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Speaker 1: sure you get your money?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a it's a great question, and that's that's

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Speaker 2: a challenge for some franchises. For us, we have an

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Speaker 2: integrated point of sale system. We have a monthly subscription

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Speaker 2: for our services at the individual school level, so a

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Speaker 2: parent or an adult student will will kind of sign

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Speaker 2: up for renewing participation, hopefully in our performance program, which

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Speaker 2: I'm sure we'll talk about, and as those transactions happen,

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Speaker 2: the royalties are automatically dispersed to School of Rock, so

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Speaker 2: we don't really have any collections issues, and frankly, our

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Speaker 2: franchisees of such high integrity, I don't even imagine if

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Speaker 2: we were in a scenario where the technology wasn't our friend,

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Speaker 2: where we would've got a high degree of professionalism within

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Speaker 2: the community. But thankfully we don't have to face that

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Speaker 2: uncertainty because it all happens in an automated way.

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Speaker 1: Now, have any franchises gone billy up or has the

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Speaker 1: parent organization need to reclaim them?

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Speaker 2: We have had an extraordinary situation. You know, you will

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Speaker 2: typically see in most franchise systems that you will see

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Speaker 2: a meaningful number on a percentage basis, maybe three four

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Speaker 2: five percent of the system might fail in a given year.

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Speaker 2: We are well below one percent in our history, and

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Speaker 2: that's a source of extraordinary pride, especially given COVID. I mean,

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Speaker 2: COVID should have put us out of business entirely. So

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Speaker 2: we've only had a few circumstances where we've had where

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Speaker 2: we've had schools close their doors, and in many circumstances

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Speaker 2: where there is some concerns that a school has, they're

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Speaker 2: able to transfer it to another enthusiastic perspective franchise e,

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Speaker 2: and in some cases we've acquired schools, but we don't

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Speaker 2: typically acquire schools to operate that are not strong performers.

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Speaker 2: We like to buy schools that are great performers, that

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Speaker 2: we think have substantial upside potential. So I, you know,

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Speaker 2: knock on wood. I'm not sure if I'm in a

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Speaker 2: room with any real wood. But the thankfully, we have

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Speaker 2: not had the kinds of situations that many multi unit

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Speaker 2: operations have where we see periods or even averages of

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Speaker 2: meaningful reduction over time.

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Speaker 1: Okay, so you get someone who's interested, they have the money.

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Speaker 1: You know, when it comes to cost structure and a

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Speaker 1: successful business, location is very important. So to what did

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Speaker 1: we as a parent organization involved in location?

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Speaker 2: It's incredibly important and it's really good instinct that you

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Speaker 2: ask that because it's not obvious. You know, we think

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Speaker 2: when we were kids, you didn't think about visibility or

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Speaker 2: location for music lessons or youth and Richmond activities. It

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Speaker 2: was word of mouth and you'd hear it from your

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Speaker 2: neighbor or a church or synagogue or whatever. Get you

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Speaker 2: just get a hunch where to go for the things.

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Speaker 2: For kids today, locations really important. We provide a we

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Speaker 2: have a kind of preferred partnership with a national real

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Speaker 2: estate site selection firm that helps the franchisees facilitate the

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Speaker 2: selection the negotiation of their leases. They're not obligated to

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Speaker 2: use it. We don't participate in the economics, so we

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Speaker 2: can be an honest broker in regards to making that connection.

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Speaker 2: We approve each site, so we also use our own tools.

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Speaker 2: We've got a really really extensive statistical model that we

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Speaker 2: use that takes all the sites that we have today,

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Speaker 2: evaluates what makes them successful, and that gives us a

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Speaker 2: sense for where we should put a school in a

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Speaker 2: given part of a territory and even more specifically which

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Speaker 2: street or which shopping center based on the data that

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Speaker 2: we have. So we've got a lot of support for that.

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Speaker 2: And then of course there's always art to the sciences,

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Speaker 2: as you know, you know, the location is something that

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Speaker 2: a local entrepreneur, a local community member may know a

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Speaker 2: little bit more about than even a broker. They may

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Speaker 2: know what's happening from a residential development standpoint, they may

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Speaker 2: know where the schools are. And then those weird dynamics

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Speaker 2: where somebody may not drive past this highway because that's

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Speaker 2: just not where we drive or morning side of the street,

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Speaker 2: afternoon side of the street, et cetera. So we're very

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Speaker 2: very active in the selection or in the help of

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Speaker 2: the selection of the locations because we want these to

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Speaker 2: be of enduring value. We want them to be successful

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Speaker 2: for decades, not just for the next five years.

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Speaker 1: Okay, what are some of the criteria that make a

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Speaker 1: location successful.

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Speaker 2: Well, you know, we tend to focus in areas that

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Speaker 2: have combination the following attributes, high disposable income, high percentage

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Speaker 2: of kids, and where there's enough aggregate population to provide

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Speaker 2: you know, enough of a rich target set for just

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Speaker 2: enough people to populate the school. And then beyond that,

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Speaker 2: we always in the territory. Since we're performance based and

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Speaker 2: our real product is producing young performers. How that comes

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Speaker 2: to life is in venues. So we'll always look at

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Speaker 2: what the venue configuration is in a given territory and

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Speaker 2: make sure there's enough proximity and magnitude of venues. We're

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Speaker 2: huge fans of independent venue operators in part because we're

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Speaker 2: really dependent on strength of that community to make sure

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Speaker 2: that we've got these sweet spot sizes of the two hundred,

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Speaker 2: three hundred, four hundred seat venues. And so we take

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Speaker 2: that into consideration as well, and then it gets down

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Speaker 2: to really specific things bob visibility, co tenancy. We do

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Speaker 2: well as you can imagine near places like a Whole

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Speaker 2: Foods and where there's other things for mom to do.

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Speaker 2: Once she drops her young artist off at the school,

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Speaker 2: we want her to be in a position to go

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Speaker 2: do her thing, be convenient, come back when that kid's

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Speaker 2: a little more proficient and a little happier.

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Speaker 1: Okay, how many of the franchisees is this their primary

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Speaker 1: mode of income?

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Speaker 2: We don't have good data on that, so I can

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Speaker 2: only give you an anecdotal answer to it. Would suspect

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Speaker 2: that the majority it is, but I'm not certain that

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Speaker 2: it would be the vast majority. We have a mix

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Speaker 2: of both. And what's what's interesting is that I'm often asked,

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Speaker 2: is the success model in our franchise system single unit

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Speaker 2: or multi unit owner operator versus passive operation? And if

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Speaker 2: you map our units, we've got we've got schools in

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Speaker 2: every one of those categories, and we've examples where the

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Speaker 2: unit economics and the customer satisfaction are super high. So

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Speaker 2: the answer is that while it's most most is the case,

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Speaker 2: we are not exclusively focused on that because if you

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Speaker 2: can build a team as a investor or a more

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Speaker 2: passive operator, and build a team that has passion like

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Speaker 2: they're the they're the owners themselves, this can be a

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Speaker 2: very very very successful, more passive ownership model. We always

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Speaker 2: want the owner to be engaged. They should be there

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Speaker 2: at the shows. They should be making sure that the

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Speaker 2: facility and the culture and the core operations are excellent.

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Speaker 2: But I think that ultimately we're actually open to all

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Speaker 2: of the different models, which may be a little different

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Speaker 2: than some other franchise systems.

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Speaker 1: How much money can I make owning a school of rock?

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Speaker 2: Well, the good news is we have some data in

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Speaker 2: our in our franchise disclosure document. I always to be

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Speaker 2: careful because the FTC could you know, you can see

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Speaker 2: on zoom I'm short and a little stout, so stripes

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Speaker 2: wouldn't look so good at me on me. So but

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Speaker 2: what one of the benefits we have in our franchise

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Speaker 2: disclosure document is I can report out the profitability of

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Speaker 2: our corporate owned schools with great precision. And I think

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Speaker 2: this year we're going to be We're going to be

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Speaker 2: delivering kind of a twenty percent ebit DAH margin on

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Speaker 2: average unit volume that is well north at seven hundred

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Speaker 2: thousand dollars per unit, so that takes into consideration even

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Speaker 2: if we were if we were paying ourselves royalties, we

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Speaker 2: adjust that percentage as if we were franchisees. So I

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Speaker 2: always recommend, and this transcends music, Bob, you know, I

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Speaker 2: always recommend when folks are looking at franchise opportunities. If

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Speaker 2: the institution doesn't have any company owned schools or company

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Speaker 2: owned units, and you can't get precise economics, it's hard

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Speaker 2: to gauge the likely return on investment. And then further,

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Speaker 2: if you don't get good P and L information from

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Speaker 2: existing franchisees who are comfortable and enthusiastic to share, those

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Speaker 2: two things are probably a good sign that it's something

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Speaker 2: to stay away from. In our case, we have really

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Speaker 2: extensive economics in our own schools, the corporate run ones,

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Speaker 2: and our franchisees are very comfortable sharing the good and

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Speaker 2: the bad of being a School of Rock franchise. Thankfully,

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Speaker 2: we've had remarkable growth over the last six years, comping

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Speaker 2: double digits every year, and even when you take COVID

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Speaker 2: into account, we have an annual compound annual growth rate

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Speaker 2: of our ebit in the double digits, which is really

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Speaker 2: terrific for our schools.

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Speaker 1: Okay, let's say I've jumped through the hoops, I've signed

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Speaker 1: the agreement, I've found a location. Let's talk about physical

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Speaker 1: space that generally speaking, it's twenty five hundred or is

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Speaker 1: that the minimum? Does it vary? And once I get

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Speaker 1: the space, is there a specific blueprint such that every

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Speaker 1: school of rock I go in will be similar or

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Speaker 1: are they all completely different? Question?

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Speaker 2: You know, there are some non negotiables we want in

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Speaker 2: that space. The right number of rooms for lessons individual lessons,

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Speaker 2: but just as importantly, the right configuration of our rehearsal rooms.

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Speaker 2: So the magic of what we do are preparing these

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Speaker 2: kids to do real rock and roll gigs, and we

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Speaker 2: need a great back line, we need great acoustics, We

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Speaker 2: need a space that gives the feel and the configuration

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Speaker 2: of a stage environment. And so every school will have

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Speaker 2: a minimum number of lesson rooms, minimum number of drum

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Speaker 2: rooms specifically because those have unique dynamics, and then a

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Speaker 2: minimum number of rehearsal rooms. And then, believe it or not,

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Speaker 2: one of the most important parts of the design is

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Speaker 2: a student lounge. We're really trying to become that third

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Speaker 2: space for kids, you know, kind of where Starbucks serves

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Speaker 2: the adult population. We want them as they're transferring between

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Speaker 2: songs or on a break from a given song in

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Speaker 2: their rehearsal, sitting in the lounge, comparing notes, learning how

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Speaker 2: to interact with each other. Is a lot of what

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Speaker 2: we deliver is not just the musical proficiency. It's civics.

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Speaker 2: It's the lessons on how to socialize. So to put

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Speaker 2: that to get back to your specific question, we do

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Speaker 2: have a specific configuration, but we're really flexible. That can

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Speaker 2: be a square space, that can be long and narrow

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Speaker 2: or shallow and wide. It can be two floors, it

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Speaker 2: can be on the second floor of a shopping center.

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Speaker 2: But we do have minimum criteria and twenty five hundred

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Speaker 2: is our target. We've done less in highly urban locations.

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Speaker 2: You know, Palo Alto is a location under two thousand

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Speaker 2: square feet, one of our highest volume schools, but we

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Speaker 2: really like to be at that twenty five five hundred

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Speaker 2: square feets. Some of our schools choose to do their

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Speaker 2: own mini venue inside the school, and that might add

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Speaker 2: another five hundred to seven hundred and fifty square feet.

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Speaker 2: We don't require it.

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Speaker 1: Though, how many lesson room, how many drum rooms?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, we like to have you know, in the seven

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Speaker 2: to eight range lesson rooms and to have two drum rooms,

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Speaker 2: so those will be double kits, and then our rehearsal

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Speaker 2: rooms will have drum kits in them. And we actually

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Speaker 2: the rehearsal rooms will have the full back line, so

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Speaker 2: our rehearsal rooms will also serve as lesson rooms at

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Speaker 2: high capacity times. So so think about it as you know,

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Speaker 2: ten individual lesson spaces and typically three group rehearsal areas.

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Speaker 1: Okay, I've got the space, I've built it out, I've

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Speaker 1: got some furniture. Do I have to also purchase musical equipment?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, we help. You know, we've become a gear supply

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Speaker 2: over the last six years, which has been an area

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Speaker 2: of great passion and interest. So we've established relationships with

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Speaker 2: all the major gear players and what we do is

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Speaker 2: we provide a recommended list of gear for starting up

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Speaker 2: and really for staging the school for operation. School owners

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Speaker 2: are not required to buy through our resources. They typically

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Speaker 2: do because we get wholesale pricing on their behalf, so

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Speaker 2: they'll get that into wholesale pricing. Will help coordinate the shipment,

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Speaker 2: they'll get a couple of palettes in largely from the

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Speaker 2: same locations, so that helps as well. And then in

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Speaker 2: addition to that, since we have these wholesale arrangements, we

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Speaker 2: also can resell to students, so we might have you know,

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Speaker 2: I come from an old retail family, so there's the

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Speaker 2: phrase one to show, one to go, which may ring

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Speaker 2: a bell. You know. We have that kind of mentality

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Speaker 2: for key, high moving units like a starter pack, a

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Speaker 2: fender or epiphone starter pack or drum pad and sticks.

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Speaker 2: But we can get everything up to a Moog grandmother

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Speaker 2: if if our customers need it. And so yes, we

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Speaker 2: are a conduit for really really competitively priced gear. We

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Speaker 2: see that as a meaningful growth opportunity for us going forward.

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Speaker 1: What a local retailers in guitar center, major retailers say

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Speaker 1: about you going direct and cutting them.

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Speaker 2: Out, well, the reality is that you know the the

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Speaker 2: I will project how I feel about them, and I

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Speaker 2: hope they feel the same way about us. Which is

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Speaker 2: that so much about driving assumption and creating a new

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Speaker 2: player that will be a long term customer for any

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Speaker 2: of ours is about continuity of performance and continuity of commitment.

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Speaker 2: So in the short term. Is there a risk that

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Speaker 2: I'm going to cannibalize Guitar Center's fender starter pack? Well, yes,

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Speaker 2: there's a zero sum game for the initial buyer. But

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Speaker 2: you know the old joke, what's the right number of

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Speaker 2: guitars to buy? The answer is always is one more.

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Speaker 2: And ultimately, guitar Center has a really important role to play.

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Speaker 2: Sweetwater is a really important role to play. And since

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Speaker 2: we are meeting customers at different parts of that customer journey,

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Speaker 2: and since we're physically located in really really different places,

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Speaker 2: a guitar center can never be located where a school

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Speaker 2: of Rock is because it's hard to find thirty thousand

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Speaker 2: square feet on you know, the upper east side of

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Speaker 2: New York on seventy first, whereas we can get a

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Speaker 2: two thousand square foot location. I think the other thing

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Speaker 2: is that, you know, our view is that we play

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Speaker 2: a really important role where which is diminishing in all

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Speaker 2: the retail environments, which is very high touch, high consultative sale.

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Speaker 2: So we have the opportunity where we're spending three hours

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Speaker 2: with our students a week. Even guitar centers, most fervent

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Speaker 2: shoppers don't stay there for three hours a week, So

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Speaker 2: we have this incredible opportunity to really do that kind

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Speaker 2: of Hogwarts matching exercise where we help a student meet

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Speaker 2: it's their perfect guitar, bass, keyboard, microphone, et cetera. And

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Speaker 2: I think that's something we're in a unique position to

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Speaker 2: do when we're having that much continuity, because we have

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Speaker 2: mentors musicians themselves, and they can say, this is why

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Speaker 2: I play the Fender, this is why I pay play

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Speaker 2: this SG, this is why I choose gretch, And I

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Speaker 2: think that that's a role we earn a position to

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Speaker 2: uniquely play that. Having been said, no one likes competition,

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Speaker 2: I'm not. I don't. I'm mindful of the fact Guitar

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Speaker 2: Center teaches lessons and their music and Arts subsidiary teaches lessons.

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Speaker 2: But if they're doing a great job and lessons, that's

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Speaker 2: great for society. So in the grand scheme of things,

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Speaker 2: I'm okay with that.

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Speaker 1: Okay, In this transaction, in selling merchandise to the store

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Speaker 1: and to the customer, you are taking a spif you are.

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Speaker 1: This is a profit center, however minimal for the School

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Speaker 1: of Rock.

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Speaker 2: It's a profit center for our schools, and it's we

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Speaker 2: largely just cover our cost at the retail level. We've

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Speaker 2: chosen in the configuration of our economics, We've chosen to

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Speaker 2: participate the wholesale level, so we don't actually charge a

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Speaker 2: royalty in our sales uh to for franchisees. So we

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Speaker 2: want them to capture as much of the gross margin

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Speaker 2: as possible. And franchisees within the limits of map pricing,

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Speaker 2: which you're familiar with, you know, they are allowed to

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Speaker 2: have certain flexibility to h to charge and advertise promote

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Speaker 2: certain pricing. We want to preserve as much of that

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Speaker 2: margin for them as we can. So I don't see

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Speaker 2: for us the idea of massive EBITDA transformation valuation transformation

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Speaker 2: by becoming a conventional retail player. Rather, I want to

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Speaker 2: reduce the friction to make sure that we're the best,

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Speaker 2: high touch, customized matchmaker between a young artist and their needs.

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Speaker 2: By the way this applies to our teachers too, is

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Speaker 2: that our teachers are all gigging musicians. We want to

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Speaker 2: put the best gear in their hands, and we may

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Speaker 2: be the only way they're going to get their hands

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Speaker 2: on an American strat as opposed to a lesser model,

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Speaker 2: because we can get it to the meta price, it's much.

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Speaker 1: Lower Okay, so I'm opening a school of rock other

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Speaker 1: than the physical plant, how much am I going to

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Speaker 1: have to spend on equipment?

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Speaker 2: Our equipment tends to be in the sort of twenty

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Speaker 2: to twenty five thousand dollars range, and naturally, at retail

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Speaker 2: value that would be a much higher number. But we

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Speaker 2: tend to try to outfit the schools for everything they

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00:25:06,280 --> 00:25:10,560
Speaker 2: need to operate in that zone in terms of gear.

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Speaker 2: In terms of gear, naturally there'll be things like soundproofing,

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Speaker 2: there'll be millwork, furniture, et cetera, et cetera, And depending

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Speaker 2: that's mostly driven by square footage, your buildout will be

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Speaker 2: directly proportional to square footage, and typically, you know, it'll

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Speaker 2: be a little over one hundred a little over one

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00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:37,040
Speaker 2: hundred dollars per square foot to build out a school

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Speaker 2: of rock in terms of construction in some markets, that

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Speaker 2: can be up to one twenty one thirty.

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Speaker 1: Let's say I walk in the front door with my

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Speaker 1: parent and I'm sold, but I have no equipment. Is

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Speaker 1: there literally equipment in the store that I can buy

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Speaker 1: right that day or is it ordered? How do I

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Speaker 1: get the equipment in my hands?

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Speaker 2: In most cases, our schools that are committed to our

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Speaker 2: gear program, they'll have two or three of the fast

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Speaker 2: moving units in each instrument, so they'll have a starter

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Speaker 2: guitar pack, they'll have a starter based pack.

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Speaker 1: UH.

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Speaker 2: They typically wouldn't inventory keyboards because it's just such high

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00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:22,400
Speaker 2: cube it's hard in a small space to keep those around.

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00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:28,760
Speaker 2: They certainly will have drums, drum sticks and UH and

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Speaker 2: practice pads and practice pads thank you. And then we'll

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00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:40,040
Speaker 2: have mic and amp solutions, starting solutions with partners like

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Speaker 2: Shore who are who are great partners. That having been said,

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Speaker 2: many of our students start their journey before selecting their instrument,

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Speaker 2: and we're very very much in favor of that. So

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Speaker 2: our our way in by our little or we call

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00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:04,879
Speaker 2: our Little Wing program our Rookies program. This is a

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00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:09,040
Speaker 2: group learning environment where we're giving them the opportunity to

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00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:13,920
Speaker 2: speed date with a range of instruments, so they may

390
00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:18,920
Speaker 2: come in with a bias to pick their forever instrument.

391
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Speaker 2: But we think that's actually one of the things that

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00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:28,400
Speaker 2: has impeded success in music education is leaping too quickly

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00:27:28,920 --> 00:27:31,440
Speaker 2: to an instrument that ends up not being the right

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00:27:31,480 --> 00:27:36,080
Speaker 2: one emotionally or physically for the student. So it's a

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Speaker 2: very rare circumstance where immediately someone comes in and they

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00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:43,359
Speaker 2: don't have an instrument and they need it immediately. But

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00:27:43,480 --> 00:27:46,040
Speaker 2: when we do, we can get it with great haste.

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Speaker 1: Let's say that you know, I'm a dedicated student. Are

399
00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:54,959
Speaker 1: you selling strings, straps picks that kind of stuff?

400
00:27:55,080 --> 00:28:00,239
Speaker 2: We are? We are, And that's pretty universally provided all

401
00:28:00,280 --> 00:28:03,719
Speaker 2: of our schools and again comes through the same supply

402
00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:07,080
Speaker 2: chain for us. And you know another one that's great

403
00:28:07,119 --> 00:28:11,119
Speaker 2: for us we're really proud of is hearing protection. Huge area.

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00:28:11,400 --> 00:28:13,600
Speaker 2: We try to make sure every one of our kids

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00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:19,280
Speaker 2: from the very get go understands the importance of it.

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Speaker 2: And in our rehearsal rooms we require hearing protection as

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00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:26,520
Speaker 2: a mandatory item. So we'll also sell some really good

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00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:29,480
Speaker 2: brands like Erasers in our schools.

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Speaker 1: Okay, I'm down the line, I signed my agreement, I

410
00:28:34,880 --> 00:28:39,239
Speaker 1: have my equipment, I've built out my space. What do

411
00:28:39,320 --> 00:28:42,840
Speaker 1: I do for personnel? How many people do I need?

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00:28:42,960 --> 00:28:45,480
Speaker 1: What kind of structure, what kind of payment? Where do

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00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:46,280
Speaker 1: I find them?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's the most important question because the software of

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00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:56,280
Speaker 2: our business makes or breaks it. We don't have a

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00:28:56,320 --> 00:29:01,360
Speaker 2: complex technological footprint, we don't have a complex lex build out.

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00:29:01,440 --> 00:29:05,480
Speaker 2: It's got its uniqueness with sound attenuation, but the software

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00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:10,160
Speaker 2: the people is really really important. The beauty of our

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00:29:10,240 --> 00:29:14,880
Speaker 2: model is that we favor gigging musicians as our staff members.

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00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:22,000
Speaker 2: We don't favor necessarily folks who have ten years fifteen

421
00:29:22,080 --> 00:29:27,960
Speaker 2: years in traditional music instruction because we are upending the

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00:29:28,080 --> 00:29:33,200
Speaker 2: model of music instruction. We want happier kids who stay

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00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:37,000
Speaker 2: with their instruments longer, that have the subsidiary benefits of

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00:29:37,080 --> 00:29:41,080
Speaker 2: learning not just music but how to perform. And so

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00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:45,400
Speaker 2: as you probably know, you know, you don't have to

426
00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:48,200
Speaker 2: go you don't have to go beyond your local Starbucks

427
00:29:48,240 --> 00:29:53,960
Speaker 2: to find a you know, proficient gigging musicians. And so

428
00:29:54,040 --> 00:29:58,760
Speaker 2: there's a high degree of supply in all major markets

429
00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:03,400
Speaker 2: in the world of people who are passionate musicians. And

430
00:30:03,480 --> 00:30:06,240
Speaker 2: depending on the age of the student, the level of

431
00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:13,240
Speaker 2: proficiency can range. So to your quantitative questions, school might

432
00:30:13,240 --> 00:30:15,800
Speaker 2: have twenty people on the payroll, most of those are

433
00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:20,440
Speaker 2: part time. There may be only one full time salary

434
00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:23,600
Speaker 2: team member as a general manager. And in an owner

435
00:30:23,600 --> 00:30:28,760
Speaker 2: operator school, that might be the owner, and there'll be

436
00:30:28,800 --> 00:30:32,680
Speaker 2: a music director that will be somebody who's more advanced

437
00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:36,280
Speaker 2: in terms of teaching and their organization skills and their

438
00:30:36,840 --> 00:30:43,400
Speaker 2: leadership skills. They really administer the pool of instructors. And

439
00:30:43,480 --> 00:30:47,360
Speaker 2: then we'll typically have one or two administrative staff who

440
00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:51,400
Speaker 2: are greeting people as they come in, helping navigate leads,

441
00:30:51,920 --> 00:30:57,160
Speaker 2: giving tours, administering billing, et cetera, et cetera. So it's

442
00:30:57,160 --> 00:31:00,320
Speaker 2: a really good compliment to the gigacon to me for

443
00:31:00,360 --> 00:31:06,440
Speaker 2: real gigging musicians. And so the first hire is typically

444
00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:10,600
Speaker 2: if you're an owner operator, is hiring that really really

445
00:31:10,640 --> 00:31:16,680
Speaker 2: well networked, well connected, very responsible music director. You bring

446
00:31:16,760 --> 00:31:20,240
Speaker 2: them on board a couple of months before opening, and

447
00:31:20,280 --> 00:31:24,640
Speaker 2: then they're usually so plugged into the local community they

448
00:31:24,760 --> 00:31:29,080
Speaker 2: can be the trojan horse to get us the amazing

449
00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:32,880
Speaker 2: talent to come in. And we've got a very methodical

450
00:31:32,960 --> 00:31:37,480
Speaker 2: curriculum and technology tools to make it really easy for

451
00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:43,040
Speaker 2: people who've never taught before to be incredibly successful music instructors.

452
00:31:43,600 --> 00:31:45,800
Speaker 1: You know, as an instructor, not as the person who's

453
00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:48,600
Speaker 1: an overseer manager. How much money am I going to make?

454
00:31:50,200 --> 00:31:53,520
Speaker 2: Well, we're we tend to be in the space which

455
00:31:53,560 --> 00:31:58,920
Speaker 2: is north of what they would get in the service economy,

456
00:31:59,480 --> 00:32:02,680
Speaker 2: and so both of what they would get as individual teachers,

457
00:32:04,120 --> 00:32:08,800
Speaker 2: so you might see you know, I can't give a

458
00:32:08,840 --> 00:32:16,360
Speaker 2: precise number because our franchisees economics aren't necessarily obvious to us,

459
00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:20,200
Speaker 2: but will typically be in the high teens early twenties

460
00:32:20,720 --> 00:32:24,000
Speaker 2: on an hourly rate. That'll differ in different markets naturally,

461
00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:26,680
Speaker 2: because you go to a Greenwich, Connecticut, it will be

462
00:32:26,760 --> 00:32:30,120
Speaker 2: very different than a Lubbock, Texas, where we have schools

463
00:32:30,240 --> 00:32:33,800
Speaker 2: in both of those markets. But we tend to be

464
00:32:33,960 --> 00:32:42,400
Speaker 2: very competitive with what musicians part time jobs can provide

465
00:32:42,400 --> 00:32:49,360
Speaker 2: to them. And then some schools also provide incentives and

466
00:32:49,440 --> 00:32:55,600
Speaker 2: bonus bonuses to the instructors that can increase their comp

467
00:32:56,880 --> 00:32:59,240
Speaker 2: if they're doing a show, if they're one of our

468
00:32:59,280 --> 00:33:02,280
Speaker 2: show directors, they may get a bonus for that, they

469
00:33:02,280 --> 00:33:04,720
Speaker 2: may get a bonus for retention, et cetera, et cetera.

470
00:33:04,800 --> 00:33:07,400
Speaker 2: We like to see that, but that varies quite a

471
00:33:07,480 --> 00:33:11,800
Speaker 2: bit through the system. But we don't target. We don't

472
00:33:11,840 --> 00:33:16,160
Speaker 2: compete against the price or the cost or the income

473
00:33:16,680 --> 00:33:21,080
Speaker 2: that a private instructor would have. For very practical reasons,

474
00:33:21,160 --> 00:33:26,040
Speaker 2: we're taking all of the administrative complexity, all of the liability,

475
00:33:26,800 --> 00:33:33,479
Speaker 2: all of the operational distractions, the scheduling, even the place,

476
00:33:33,680 --> 00:33:40,160
Speaker 2: the gear and the lead getting part off the shoulders

477
00:33:40,200 --> 00:33:43,680
Speaker 2: of the individual instructors. So we do see quite a

478
00:33:43,720 --> 00:33:48,360
Speaker 2: few traditional instructors who pursue coming aboard School of Rock,

479
00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:53,520
Speaker 2: but we're not dependent on that cohort as a source

480
00:33:53,520 --> 00:33:54,400
Speaker 2: of labor for us.

481
00:33:55,600 --> 00:33:59,000
Speaker 1: Okay, what's the life span of an employee.

482
00:34:01,680 --> 00:34:10,920
Speaker 2: Well, we have probably about half the churn of conventional retail,

483
00:34:11,480 --> 00:34:14,799
Speaker 2: so we we have since we have tend to have

484
00:34:14,920 --> 00:34:20,480
Speaker 2: younger team members. We team we have team members who

485
00:34:20,520 --> 00:34:24,560
Speaker 2: are touring, going out on tour. As a matter of course,

486
00:34:24,760 --> 00:34:29,400
Speaker 2: we'll understand that and we'll accommodate that. We will see

487
00:34:29,440 --> 00:34:34,520
Speaker 2: probably an average lifetime, an average life cycle for you know,

488
00:34:34,680 --> 00:34:37,920
Speaker 2: seven to nine months of a given team member. That

489
00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:42,880
Speaker 2: differs dramatically whether it's a general manager or a frontline

490
00:34:42,920 --> 00:34:46,080
Speaker 2: instructor or one of our administrative team members. But that

491
00:34:46,120 --> 00:34:52,879
Speaker 2: would be a good bogie. And since our students are

492
00:34:53,000 --> 00:34:57,200
Speaker 2: so keyed into our two hour rehearsal each week, where

493
00:34:58,080 --> 00:35:02,400
Speaker 2: the attachment it's to the brand and to the band

494
00:35:03,040 --> 00:35:07,200
Speaker 2: and to the goal of the show, it's not catastrophic

495
00:35:07,280 --> 00:35:09,680
Speaker 2: to us when one of our team members has the

496
00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:13,759
Speaker 2: opportunity to go tour that we don't have to be

497
00:35:13,880 --> 00:35:18,759
Speaker 2: agonizing about them. Departing always requires good succession management. You

498
00:35:18,760 --> 00:35:20,480
Speaker 2: want to make sure you're not leaving your kids high

499
00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:24,319
Speaker 2: and dry. But it's not uncommon for one week a

500
00:35:24,360 --> 00:35:27,160
Speaker 2: different instructor to come in and our kids tend to

501
00:35:27,200 --> 00:35:29,879
Speaker 2: really dig that because they'll say, hey, this is real

502
00:35:29,960 --> 00:35:35,680
Speaker 2: jazz oriented bass player. I'm learning a completely different side

503
00:35:35,960 --> 00:35:41,000
Speaker 2: of the instrument. So but thankfully, even though we do

504
00:35:41,080 --> 00:35:44,759
Speaker 2: largely compete with hospitality, we have much better retention of

505
00:35:44,800 --> 00:35:49,040
Speaker 2: our team members because it's a community for them too.

506
00:35:49,680 --> 00:35:51,120
Speaker 2: This is a place where they're going to be with

507
00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:55,560
Speaker 2: other musicians and other really purpose driven team members.

508
00:35:55,640 --> 00:35:59,960
Speaker 1: Okay, I'm building out. To what degree is sound reinforce

509
00:36:00,480 --> 00:36:04,759
Speaker 1: meaning deadening, et cetera. Or neighbors complaining? Is this an issue?

510
00:36:05,440 --> 00:36:09,040
Speaker 2: It's one of It is the most important topic on

511
00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:12,200
Speaker 2: the build out. It's less important if you have a

512
00:36:12,239 --> 00:36:15,799
Speaker 2: standalone unit, but if you're in the middle of a

513
00:36:15,840 --> 00:36:21,440
Speaker 2: shopping center. We deploy a lot of expertise. We have

514
00:36:21,560 --> 00:36:27,319
Speaker 2: relationships with vendors. We even have consultants on on on

515
00:36:27,520 --> 00:36:34,040
Speaker 2: call who have now helped dozens and dozens scores even

516
00:36:34,080 --> 00:36:39,799
Speaker 2: of schools navigate through specific issues and those can be

517
00:36:40,120 --> 00:36:44,759
Speaker 2: everything from how sound travels through an air conditioning unit

518
00:36:45,400 --> 00:36:51,000
Speaker 2: to raised floors. But we have in our design guidelines

519
00:36:51,280 --> 00:36:55,200
Speaker 2: super specific recommendations in terms of double drywall and green

520
00:36:55,280 --> 00:37:01,160
Speaker 2: glue and and uh. And then we have certain requirements,

521
00:37:01,239 --> 00:37:03,080
Speaker 2: and then we have certain nice to haves that we

522
00:37:03,120 --> 00:37:07,640
Speaker 2: give our franchisees the opportunities to navigate through. We've been

523
00:37:07,719 --> 00:37:11,440
Speaker 2: really lucky in that now. It wasn't always like this,

524
00:37:11,560 --> 00:37:14,760
Speaker 2: but now we're in a situation where we know how

525
00:37:14,800 --> 00:37:18,000
Speaker 2: to mitigate the sound, and we know how to administer

526
00:37:18,120 --> 00:37:22,080
Speaker 2: the relationship with the landlords and neighbors so that it's

527
00:37:22,120 --> 00:37:28,120
Speaker 2: not contentious. Some of it is even setting explicit decibel requirements,

528
00:37:28,440 --> 00:37:31,040
Speaker 2: which is we will commit to not being above this

529
00:37:31,880 --> 00:37:36,200
Speaker 2: level of sound that'll be well below with municipal limits

530
00:37:36,239 --> 00:37:39,400
Speaker 2: are But yeah, it's a big It's the only really

531
00:37:39,520 --> 00:37:43,960
Speaker 2: complex part of our construction is sound attenuation. The rest

532
00:37:44,080 --> 00:37:50,440
Speaker 2: is drywall, framing, carpeting, painting, electrical plumbing, very standard stuff.

533
00:37:50,960 --> 00:37:53,240
Speaker 1: Okay, I've jumped through all the hoops, signed the agreement,

534
00:37:53,239 --> 00:37:56,440
Speaker 1: built out, have a staff, have the sign on the door.

535
00:37:56,960 --> 00:37:58,360
Speaker 1: How do I start the business?

536
00:37:59,680 --> 00:38:04,520
Speaker 2: Well, well, you ask a question that almost need to

537
00:38:04,640 --> 00:38:07,759
Speaker 2: challenge the premise, which is that our view is the

538
00:38:07,760 --> 00:38:11,319
Speaker 2: business starts the day you sign the agreement. And that's

539
00:38:11,360 --> 00:38:13,799
Speaker 2: been one of the things that's been a transformation for

540
00:38:13,880 --> 00:38:19,359
Speaker 2: us is that the marketing and the community relationship that

541
00:38:19,440 --> 00:38:24,759
Speaker 2: you can establish anticipating opening is really rich. So what

542
00:38:24,880 --> 00:38:29,920
Speaker 2: we always ask our franchisees to do is immediately stop

543
00:38:30,200 --> 00:38:35,240
Speaker 2: start mapping your community. Map, the schools map, the mom's clubs, map,

544
00:38:35,360 --> 00:38:44,560
Speaker 2: the local activities like art box and farmers' markets. Get

545
00:38:44,600 --> 00:38:46,960
Speaker 2: to know businesses that are going to be adjacent to you,

546
00:38:47,040 --> 00:38:51,400
Speaker 2: because sometimes they'll be your first students. Your landlord often

547
00:38:51,440 --> 00:38:53,920
Speaker 2: will have a child they want to send him to

548
00:38:54,000 --> 00:38:56,879
Speaker 2: School of Rock. That's a great place to start. And

549
00:38:56,920 --> 00:39:00,520
Speaker 2: so what we always try to do is actually have

550
00:39:01,160 --> 00:39:04,919
Speaker 2: twenty or thirty students pre enrolled, so unlike a lot

551
00:39:04,920 --> 00:39:08,480
Speaker 2: of franchises, we actually try to start off with revenue

552
00:39:08,880 --> 00:39:18,319
Speaker 2: from day one, and so now beyond that we are

553
00:39:18,520 --> 00:39:21,200
Speaker 2: doing the way to think about it is that we

554
00:39:21,320 --> 00:39:24,920
Speaker 2: run at the corporate level the air war for our franchisese.

555
00:39:25,400 --> 00:39:32,600
Speaker 2: We'll do digital, paid and earned media, We'll do seasonal campaigns,

556
00:39:32,640 --> 00:39:35,040
Speaker 2: and we'll do always on campaigns, will do very very

557
00:39:35,120 --> 00:39:41,440
Speaker 2: sophisticated prospecting and targeting on our individual school's behalf, but

558
00:39:41,520 --> 00:39:45,320
Speaker 2: we're counting on the franchisees and the local company school

559
00:39:45,360 --> 00:39:49,479
Speaker 2: teams to do the ground warfare, which is we want

560
00:39:49,520 --> 00:39:52,960
Speaker 2: them to be everything from that a frame outside of

561
00:39:52,960 --> 00:39:56,000
Speaker 2: the school to the lights coming out from the school,

562
00:39:56,400 --> 00:39:58,719
Speaker 2: to setting up that table with what we call the

563
00:39:58,760 --> 00:40:04,680
Speaker 2: instrument petting zoo at the children's festival, or you know,

564
00:40:04,760 --> 00:40:08,680
Speaker 2: going to the art walk and having your kids play

565
00:40:09,560 --> 00:40:14,640
Speaker 2: at the event. That's really where the source of leads are.

566
00:40:15,280 --> 00:40:21,560
Speaker 2: And we've have very very precise mechanics of doing our

567
00:40:21,719 --> 00:40:25,359
Speaker 2: lead gathering, so we know at any time how well

568
00:40:25,400 --> 00:40:29,640
Speaker 2: situated a school is for longer term success based on

569
00:40:30,280 --> 00:40:33,759
Speaker 2: their lead flow and their conversion dynamics. We do that

570
00:40:34,239 --> 00:40:35,520
Speaker 2: very scientifically.

571
00:40:36,239 --> 00:40:39,240
Speaker 1: I know everybody enters the program in a different fashion,

572
00:40:39,680 --> 00:40:42,799
Speaker 1: but let's start with some examples. I walk in the

573
00:40:42,880 --> 00:40:46,959
Speaker 1: front door. That's it, no pre existing relationship.

574
00:40:47,480 --> 00:40:51,959
Speaker 2: What happens, well, naturally, somebody who walks in the door

575
00:40:52,080 --> 00:40:55,440
Speaker 2: probably has self selected that they're interested in music education.

576
00:40:55,719 --> 00:40:58,520
Speaker 2: So it's a circumstance where we don't have to convince

577
00:40:58,600 --> 00:41:03,319
Speaker 2: them about what class of trade we're in. The very

578
00:41:03,400 --> 00:41:06,600
Speaker 2: first thing we begin to explain before we do the

579
00:41:06,640 --> 00:41:11,040
Speaker 2: tour is we're performance based music education. So if you're

580
00:41:11,080 --> 00:41:15,840
Speaker 2: looking for lessons only, we might recommend you go someplace else.

581
00:41:17,840 --> 00:41:21,680
Speaker 2: And we think that the efficacy of our model is

582
00:41:21,719 --> 00:41:25,040
Speaker 2: so much better that we don't want to clog it

583
00:41:25,160 --> 00:41:28,560
Speaker 2: up with folks who are interested in just the most

584
00:41:28,840 --> 00:41:33,799
Speaker 2: conventional weekly lesson where they're you know, the it's practice

585
00:41:34,200 --> 00:41:37,440
Speaker 2: with the hope someday of something like a recital. So

586
00:41:37,520 --> 00:41:40,240
Speaker 2: at the very first part of that conversation, we're saying,

587
00:41:40,800 --> 00:41:43,200
Speaker 2: here's who we are. What we are is that we're

588
00:41:43,200 --> 00:41:46,600
Speaker 2: going to have a transformational experience for your kid, typically,

589
00:41:48,440 --> 00:41:53,160
Speaker 2: and that transformational experience is anchored in them joining a

590
00:41:53,200 --> 00:41:57,560
Speaker 2: band and joining the Zeppelin Show or the Green Day Show,

591
00:41:58,239 --> 00:42:02,120
Speaker 2: or the Women in Rock Shaw or the Blue Origin

592
00:42:02,200 --> 00:42:05,920
Speaker 2: of the Blues show that's enrolling right now. We're casting

593
00:42:06,000 --> 00:42:08,319
Speaker 2: right now for that show. The show is going to

594
00:42:08,320 --> 00:42:11,440
Speaker 2: be in three months. We'd love to have your kid,

595
00:42:11,920 --> 00:42:16,600
Speaker 2: if they're already doing music, already having some functional capability,

596
00:42:17,200 --> 00:42:20,560
Speaker 2: and we'll give you weekly lessons as part of that.

597
00:42:20,560 --> 00:42:24,200
Speaker 2: That's really how it begins. And then we take them

598
00:42:24,200 --> 00:42:27,280
Speaker 2: around the school and we show them how the physical

599
00:42:27,320 --> 00:42:33,600
Speaker 2: facility delivers that to them in an incredibly immersive environment.

600
00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:37,360
Speaker 2: Typically they'll be seeing a rehearsal going on or an

601
00:42:37,400 --> 00:42:40,120
Speaker 2: individual lesson going on. They'll get to see the happy

602
00:42:40,200 --> 00:42:45,480
Speaker 2: kids bouncing around the school, and they'll get to do

603
00:42:45,520 --> 00:42:48,280
Speaker 2: a trial lesson where they get the experience of what's

604
00:42:48,440 --> 00:42:52,680
Speaker 2: our teaching method, and then we'll show them our curriculum.

605
00:42:53,040 --> 00:42:56,839
Speaker 2: Depending on the musical ability of its parent, they may

606
00:42:57,160 --> 00:43:00,320
Speaker 2: have a model in their head of how they earned

607
00:43:00,840 --> 00:43:04,520
Speaker 2: the Alba books or how entered books. We have our

608
00:43:04,560 --> 00:43:07,839
Speaker 2: own curriculum which we think is really differentiated and that

609
00:43:07,920 --> 00:43:10,920
Speaker 2: really blows people away when we show them the physical

610
00:43:10,960 --> 00:43:15,400
Speaker 2: and the digital parts of our curriculum. And honestly, Bob,

611
00:43:15,520 --> 00:43:18,960
Speaker 2: when we can get a prospective student in the school,

612
00:43:19,400 --> 00:43:23,880
Speaker 2: we have an amazing hit rate of convincing people that

613
00:43:23,960 --> 00:43:27,799
Speaker 2: this is something unlike, certainly unlike they had when they

614
00:43:27,800 --> 00:43:28,360
Speaker 2: were kids.

615
00:43:29,760 --> 00:43:29,920
Speaker 1: Now.

616
00:43:29,960 --> 00:43:33,240
Speaker 2: A different scenario is when we have a really novice

617
00:43:33,320 --> 00:43:36,840
Speaker 2: player and there we introduce them, depending on their age,

618
00:43:37,320 --> 00:43:40,480
Speaker 2: to either our little Wing program which is sort of

619
00:43:40,520 --> 00:43:44,399
Speaker 2: four to six or our Rookies program, which is more

620
00:43:44,480 --> 00:43:48,480
Speaker 2: like the six to eight year old level. But again

621
00:43:48,520 --> 00:43:53,760
Speaker 2: we're working them towards enrolling in the performance program and

622
00:43:54,239 --> 00:43:56,680
Speaker 2: being ready to get out on stage as soon as possible.

623
00:44:04,040 --> 00:44:05,840
Speaker 1: Okay, so what is your teaching method?

624
00:44:07,680 --> 00:44:14,200
Speaker 2: So it starts in reverse. So when you and I,

625
00:44:14,320 --> 00:44:17,480
Speaker 2: you know, we're exposed to music as kids. I was

626
00:44:17,520 --> 00:44:24,040
Speaker 2: a keyboard player and my teacher was missus van Acker

627
00:44:24,400 --> 00:44:30,600
Speaker 2: rest her soul, a wonderful woman who was very dedicated,

628
00:44:30,680 --> 00:44:34,440
Speaker 2: and I trained classically. As many of the listeners, I

629
00:44:34,480 --> 00:44:41,240
Speaker 2: think that would be their experience, and it was skill first,

630
00:44:42,760 --> 00:44:45,839
Speaker 2: So building up and basically saying you're going to learn

631
00:44:45,920 --> 00:44:50,240
Speaker 2: grammar before I sent you into conversation, and we're certainly

632
00:44:50,280 --> 00:44:52,000
Speaker 2: not going to put you in a room of other

633
00:44:52,040 --> 00:44:56,799
Speaker 2: people speaking until we're absolutely certain that you are articulate

634
00:44:57,520 --> 00:45:00,400
Speaker 2: and you know the letter names and you know the

635
00:45:00,440 --> 00:45:04,680
Speaker 2: parts of speech, et cetera, et cetera. That is one

636
00:45:04,719 --> 00:45:08,080
Speaker 2: way to learn. It happens to be in contradiction to

637
00:45:08,200 --> 00:45:11,160
Speaker 2: virtually everything else we learn, though. It's not how we

638
00:45:11,239 --> 00:45:15,200
Speaker 2: learn sports, it's not how we learn socialization, it's not

639
00:45:15,320 --> 00:45:21,840
Speaker 2: how we learn to speak. So we have the reverse.

640
00:45:22,440 --> 00:45:26,919
Speaker 2: So our curriculum starts song first, and what we do

641
00:45:27,160 --> 00:45:31,040
Speaker 2: is that we build with the show that a kid

642
00:45:31,040 --> 00:45:34,120
Speaker 2: will then roll. Imagine fifteen kids. Sixteen kids in a

643
00:45:34,160 --> 00:45:37,160
Speaker 2: show season, and they're doing their weekly rehearsal and they're

644
00:45:37,160 --> 00:45:40,240
Speaker 2: cast on songs, and we cast them on the songs

645
00:45:40,800 --> 00:45:44,799
Speaker 2: using a database of our songs where we know the

646
00:45:44,920 --> 00:45:48,160
Speaker 2: level by instrument of that song. So we have a

647
00:45:48,280 --> 00:45:53,440
Speaker 2: very proprietary tool where we can take a level one

648
00:45:53,600 --> 00:45:56,120
Speaker 2: bass player and put them on a song with a

649
00:45:56,239 --> 00:46:02,640
Speaker 2: level five guitar player and they can coexist. And then

650
00:46:02,760 --> 00:46:05,240
Speaker 2: what we do is that we have in the same

651
00:46:05,719 --> 00:46:10,759
Speaker 2: massive database of these songs in our shows, we have

652
00:46:10,840 --> 00:46:15,319
Speaker 2: the skills that map to those songs. So a great

653
00:46:15,600 --> 00:46:20,759
Speaker 2: you know, great examples thunderstruck, you know that tune. The

654
00:46:20,840 --> 00:46:22,800
Speaker 2: last thing you want to do is talk about music

655
00:46:22,840 --> 00:46:26,799
Speaker 2: theory when you're teaching a kid thunderstruck. You just want

656
00:46:26,800 --> 00:46:29,400
Speaker 2: them to jam out. But what it gives us the

657
00:46:29,440 --> 00:46:32,640
Speaker 2: opportunity to do in the individual lesson is to say, hey,

658
00:46:32,680 --> 00:46:35,239
Speaker 2: you know that guitar solo. Did you know that's in

659
00:46:35,600 --> 00:46:39,960
Speaker 2: mix olidian mode? And they'll say, well, what's that? And

660
00:46:40,000 --> 00:46:42,960
Speaker 2: then we'll teach them mix Olidian mode, and for their

661
00:46:43,200 --> 00:46:47,360
Speaker 2: entire life, when they hear that configuration of notes, they'll

662
00:46:47,360 --> 00:46:51,240
Speaker 2: know mix Olidian mode much more so than somebody who's

663
00:46:51,280 --> 00:46:54,920
Speaker 2: taught the mode before they're taught to play the mode.

664
00:46:55,120 --> 00:46:58,640
Speaker 2: And so that's a really geeky music theory way to

665
00:46:58,680 --> 00:47:02,000
Speaker 2: answer the question. But we start with the show, to

666
00:47:02,040 --> 00:47:06,960
Speaker 2: the song, to the skill, and then our app reinhorses

667
00:47:07,000 --> 00:47:11,719
Speaker 2: those skills and maps it for the student's use to

668
00:47:12,560 --> 00:47:16,840
Speaker 2: preparing them for the show. So it's it's we sneak

669
00:47:17,000 --> 00:47:23,239
Speaker 2: the kids the music theory, the notation, the technique, but

670
00:47:23,360 --> 00:47:25,799
Speaker 2: it's all in service of their curiosity because they want

671
00:47:25,840 --> 00:47:28,960
Speaker 2: to just jam better. They feel a sense of group accountability,

672
00:47:30,480 --> 00:47:35,960
Speaker 2: and we think it's so incredibly novel in music, partially

673
00:47:35,960 --> 00:47:38,759
Speaker 2: because it's so universal in everything else. That's how you

674
00:47:38,760 --> 00:47:39,680
Speaker 2: and I learned to talk.

675
00:47:41,560 --> 00:47:47,400
Speaker 1: Okay, I'm convinced I signed up. I would think that

676
00:47:47,520 --> 00:47:52,640
Speaker 1: my first meeting is with my teacher. So let's just

677
00:47:52,680 --> 00:47:56,000
Speaker 1: assume I have some skill. I'm not a complete Okay, yeah, okay,

678
00:47:56,600 --> 00:48:00,040
Speaker 1: I meet with a teacher. What goes down in that lesson.

679
00:48:00,960 --> 00:48:03,600
Speaker 2: Well, it may be that your first meeting is with

680
00:48:03,640 --> 00:48:06,520
Speaker 2: your band, so you may actually have your rehearsal first,

681
00:48:07,800 --> 00:48:11,520
Speaker 2: but in either case, typically in rapid succession, you're going

682
00:48:11,560 --> 00:48:14,719
Speaker 2: to meet with an instructor who's really well equipped to

683
00:48:14,719 --> 00:48:17,880
Speaker 2: teach your level of your instrument, and you'll be signing

684
00:48:17,960 --> 00:48:20,880
Speaker 2: up for a show. So part of the choice for

685
00:48:21,040 --> 00:48:25,880
Speaker 2: customers what shows you doing this season, And that'll be

686
00:48:25,920 --> 00:48:29,240
Speaker 2: a little bit of a matchmaking because we'll have certain

687
00:48:29,719 --> 00:48:33,240
Speaker 2: needs still in given shows where it's easier to cast

688
00:48:33,640 --> 00:48:36,880
Speaker 2: that instrument, and then others may be more fall But

689
00:48:36,960 --> 00:48:40,680
Speaker 2: let's say they choose to be part of the pop

690
00:48:40,719 --> 00:48:43,640
Speaker 2: punk show, so they want to do you know some

691
00:48:43,760 --> 00:48:49,239
Speaker 2: forty one and Green Day, and we're casting for that show.

692
00:48:49,320 --> 00:48:52,040
Speaker 2: We've got a great role. So within a couple of

693
00:48:52,120 --> 00:48:54,680
Speaker 2: days they'll spend they'll have a thirty or forty five

694
00:48:54,719 --> 00:49:01,680
Speaker 2: minute lesson with their teacher, talk about their goals, do

695
00:49:01,760 --> 00:49:04,040
Speaker 2: a little bit of demonstration, which is just let's see

696
00:49:04,080 --> 00:49:09,040
Speaker 2: how you hold your instrument or how you navigate at

697
00:49:09,080 --> 00:49:13,200
Speaker 2: your vocal instrument. Let's see your technique. So the first

698
00:49:14,000 --> 00:49:17,160
Speaker 2: lesson typically is an assessment just where do you stand?

699
00:49:17,880 --> 00:49:23,800
Speaker 2: But that second lesson, Bob, they're supporting that student's proficiency

700
00:49:23,840 --> 00:49:27,040
Speaker 2: and technique to be ready to rock on stage. It

701
00:49:27,120 --> 00:49:31,319
Speaker 2: is all about preparing the songs for the show. Now,

702
00:49:31,360 --> 00:49:35,440
Speaker 2: we'll have circumstances if a kid's actually auditioning for Berkeley,

703
00:49:35,840 --> 00:49:37,919
Speaker 2: or if a kid wants to get into jazz band

704
00:49:37,920 --> 00:49:41,960
Speaker 2: at their school, will help the kid with any of

705
00:49:42,000 --> 00:49:46,480
Speaker 2: those tasks. But the lesson really is about reinforcing the

706
00:49:46,520 --> 00:49:50,840
Speaker 2: repertoire that they're working on for the show, and that

707
00:49:51,080 --> 00:49:54,600
Speaker 2: I really think that starts at lesson number two. Lesson

708
00:49:54,680 --> 00:49:56,560
Speaker 2: number one is just getting to know you session.

709
00:49:56,880 --> 00:50:00,279
Speaker 1: Will I end up knowing how to read music.

710
00:50:01,120 --> 00:50:05,000
Speaker 2: If you want to, we will, as I always qualify

711
00:50:05,080 --> 00:50:10,040
Speaker 2: that because there are some students who choose not to

712
00:50:10,120 --> 00:50:12,720
Speaker 2: learn that way. There are some students who can't learn

713
00:50:12,760 --> 00:50:17,480
Speaker 2: that way. But we are equipped and we are very

714
00:50:17,480 --> 00:50:21,359
Speaker 2: dedicated for all of our students not only knowing how

715
00:50:21,360 --> 00:50:23,960
Speaker 2: to read music, but we also want them to read

716
00:50:23,960 --> 00:50:28,120
Speaker 2: tablature where it applies. We want them, if they're vocalists,

717
00:50:28,120 --> 00:50:31,919
Speaker 2: to do be able to do solveggio. We want them

718
00:50:31,960 --> 00:50:37,240
Speaker 2: to know at least the basics of music theory. And

719
00:50:38,040 --> 00:50:42,120
Speaker 2: so I you know, I'm very passionate about this as

720
00:50:42,160 --> 00:50:45,880
Speaker 2: a trained musician. Most of our leadership team or trained musicians.

721
00:50:46,719 --> 00:50:55,240
Speaker 2: We don't want to be a casual educator of music.

722
00:50:55,600 --> 00:50:57,719
Speaker 2: We want to be accessible, but we don't want to

723
00:50:57,760 --> 00:51:03,360
Speaker 2: be casual to lower the friction increase retention, but we

724
00:51:03,360 --> 00:51:05,040
Speaker 2: don't want to do it at the expense of not

725
00:51:05,600 --> 00:51:10,759
Speaker 2: giving people nutrients musically. So our goal is for every

726
00:51:10,800 --> 00:51:12,960
Speaker 2: one of our students to be able to read notation

727
00:51:13,560 --> 00:51:16,040
Speaker 2: and do a lot more than that, and our curriculum

728
00:51:16,080 --> 00:51:20,880
Speaker 2: has that explicitly as part of the mechanics. We have

729
00:51:21,239 --> 00:51:24,200
Speaker 2: twenty five method books, we have hundreds and hundreds of

730
00:51:24,239 --> 00:51:31,400
Speaker 2: exercises in our app and they all build to musical literacy,

731
00:51:32,000 --> 00:51:34,920
Speaker 2: musical proficiency, technique, music theory.

732
00:51:35,440 --> 00:51:39,440
Speaker 1: Let's just say I walk in, I have a starter

733
00:51:39,719 --> 00:51:44,040
Speaker 1: Fender guitar. I can play all the basic chords A

734
00:51:44,200 --> 00:51:48,799
Speaker 1: through G, maybe A minor, E minor. What's going to

735
00:51:48,800 --> 00:51:51,960
Speaker 1: happen in the lesson? I realize we're building towards the show,

736
00:51:52,680 --> 00:51:54,960
Speaker 1: But is that is the teacher just going to say, well,

737
00:51:54,960 --> 00:51:56,480
Speaker 1: this is the lead, you have to play and teach

738
00:51:56,520 --> 00:51:58,400
Speaker 1: me how I mean, what's going to happen?

739
00:51:58,840 --> 00:52:02,600
Speaker 2: It's always a mix because and again let's let's uh,

740
00:52:02,760 --> 00:52:06,120
Speaker 2: let's use a scenario, which is that's actually an incredibly

741
00:52:06,200 --> 00:52:09,879
Speaker 2: appropriate scenario for me. You just described my guitar proficiency.

742
00:52:10,360 --> 00:52:14,320
Speaker 2: Sadly I don't have the same proficiency and guitars as keyboard.

743
00:52:15,080 --> 00:52:21,400
Speaker 2: So when when someone like me will go in hopefully

744
00:52:21,440 --> 00:52:25,840
Speaker 2: we'll join the adult band. And of course you'll be

745
00:52:25,880 --> 00:52:31,560
Speaker 2: working towards those dimensions, but in every circumstance you're stopping

746
00:52:31,640 --> 00:52:35,719
Speaker 2: on the theoretical component to linger on developing that, which

747
00:52:35,760 --> 00:52:39,720
Speaker 2: is that, Uh, you're going to be playing a song

748
00:52:39,760 --> 00:52:43,160
Speaker 2: with the pentatonic scale. That's the source of all blues scales,

749
00:52:43,239 --> 00:52:47,920
Speaker 2: all basically almost every blues, every guitar solo on the

750
00:52:47,960 --> 00:52:51,719
Speaker 2: planet in a popular song. So what the teacher will

751
00:52:51,719 --> 00:52:53,880
Speaker 2: do is linger on that and also give you an

752
00:52:53,920 --> 00:52:58,800
Speaker 2: exercise for the the different shapes of the pentatonic scale

753
00:52:58,840 --> 00:53:01,640
Speaker 2: on the fret board, and that may be the exercise

754
00:53:01,719 --> 00:53:05,279
Speaker 2: you're assigned for the next week as you're working on

755
00:53:05,520 --> 00:53:11,520
Speaker 2: honky Tonk women, So they'll be complementary, but it won't

756
00:53:11,560 --> 00:53:17,759
Speaker 2: necessarily be entirely enveloped or enveloped I should say by

757
00:53:17,840 --> 00:53:22,040
Speaker 2: the song. There's also about teaching the skill that the

758
00:53:22,080 --> 00:53:26,120
Speaker 2: song introduces, but not limiting the song's application to it.

759
00:53:26,760 --> 00:53:29,120
Speaker 2: So you may say, Okay, the first things that you're

760
00:53:29,120 --> 00:53:30,920
Speaker 2: going to work on for the next few weeks is

761
00:53:31,120 --> 00:53:34,879
Speaker 2: mastering being able to do the pentatonic scale without looking

762
00:53:34,920 --> 00:53:37,880
Speaker 2: at the fret board. Which is about as far as

763
00:53:37,920 --> 00:53:38,720
Speaker 2: I've gotten by.

764
00:53:38,800 --> 00:53:42,560
Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, every all of us who took lessons at

765
00:53:42,560 --> 00:53:47,520
Speaker 1: our younger age. There's the lesson and then there's practicing,

766
00:53:47,880 --> 00:53:51,879
Speaker 1: and many people don't practice. How do you deal with that?

767
00:53:53,080 --> 00:53:55,600
Speaker 2: Well, first and foremost, the one thing that's great about

768
00:53:55,640 --> 00:53:58,920
Speaker 2: the performance based program is they're going to have two

769
00:53:58,960 --> 00:54:01,960
Speaker 2: hours of practice every day week, which on average is

770
00:54:02,000 --> 00:54:05,640
Speaker 2: more than the average child practices. So if they're in

771
00:54:05,680 --> 00:54:10,160
Speaker 2: the rehearsal and they're playing their songs in the rehearsal

772
00:54:10,520 --> 00:54:13,040
Speaker 2: in preparation for the show, they're going to have practical

773
00:54:13,160 --> 00:54:17,480
Speaker 2: and and mentored practicing sessions because you're going to have

774
00:54:17,520 --> 00:54:21,959
Speaker 2: the show director saying, hey, listen, you know you really

775
00:54:22,000 --> 00:54:24,880
Speaker 2: need to hit the fret board here or on the keyboard.

776
00:54:25,480 --> 00:54:29,440
Speaker 2: You know you you're you're just naturally doubling the bass.

777
00:54:29,440 --> 00:54:33,000
Speaker 2: We don't need you to do that, or try this

778
00:54:33,360 --> 00:54:37,239
Speaker 2: finger construction, or watch the form on on your you're

779
00:54:37,280 --> 00:54:41,520
Speaker 2: playing a little more of a barado there, stand up straighter,

780
00:54:41,640 --> 00:54:45,319
Speaker 2: et cetera. But in addition to that, the only way

781
00:54:45,360 --> 00:54:48,480
Speaker 2: to accomplish a breakthrough in that job is to make

782
00:54:48,520 --> 00:54:51,719
Speaker 2: it more fun. It is as simple as that is

783
00:54:51,760 --> 00:54:57,040
Speaker 2: that We have variations of levels of commitment within our students.

784
00:54:57,520 --> 00:55:01,799
Speaker 2: That exists everywhere, but we love where the friction to

785
00:55:01,960 --> 00:55:06,959
Speaker 2: practicing so much by making it fun. One is you're

786
00:55:06,960 --> 00:55:10,279
Speaker 2: doing accessible music. You're doing music that you're going to

787
00:55:10,360 --> 00:55:12,719
Speaker 2: get the reinforcement of. It's not that I don't love

788
00:55:12,760 --> 00:55:16,120
Speaker 2: the Pathetique sonata. I do, and I can play it,

789
00:55:16,880 --> 00:55:19,680
Speaker 2: and it was fun to work to play it. But

790
00:55:20,000 --> 00:55:22,320
Speaker 2: it's not like I'm going to go to my friends

791
00:55:22,360 --> 00:55:24,960
Speaker 2: and say, oh, you wouldn't believe I know how to

792
00:55:24,960 --> 00:55:29,840
Speaker 2: play the Pathetique sonata. So I think a lot of

793
00:55:29,880 --> 00:55:34,520
Speaker 2: it is just the reinforcement of accessible, contemporary popular music,

794
00:55:35,239 --> 00:55:38,200
Speaker 2: but a lot of it's actually the functioning of our app.

795
00:55:38,680 --> 00:55:41,480
Speaker 2: So our app is game like. So when a kid

796
00:55:41,560 --> 00:55:45,160
Speaker 2: is working on either an exercise let's say that pentatonic scale,

797
00:55:45,680 --> 00:55:53,920
Speaker 2: or working on the base part to wagon wheel, both circumstances,

798
00:55:53,960 --> 00:55:57,000
Speaker 2: in our app, we have this interactive capability where the

799
00:55:57,040 --> 00:56:01,160
Speaker 2: app will tell you how you did on pitch rhythm,

800
00:56:01,440 --> 00:56:05,839
Speaker 2: It'll give you a grade or a score I should say.

801
00:56:06,440 --> 00:56:11,160
Speaker 2: And what that does is create this kind of fun

802
00:56:11,680 --> 00:56:16,280
Speaker 2: gamification of practicing. But it's low stakes, it's low risk,

803
00:56:16,800 --> 00:56:19,960
Speaker 2: it's not failing. In fact, you don't have to submit

804
00:56:20,040 --> 00:56:24,760
Speaker 2: your exercise until you're happy with it, and so kids

805
00:56:24,800 --> 00:56:28,840
Speaker 2: will try to perform. And so what we've tried to

806
00:56:28,880 --> 00:56:31,440
Speaker 2: do is really gather the best of what we see

807
00:56:31,960 --> 00:56:35,719
Speaker 2: in gaming, massive multiplayer gaming, and say how do we

808
00:56:35,840 --> 00:56:39,920
Speaker 2: create this energy to make practicing fun by design.

809
00:56:40,920 --> 00:56:41,480
Speaker 1: Then I think the.

810
00:56:41,840 --> 00:56:44,799
Speaker 2: Third piece is listen, you're working towards a show with

811
00:56:44,960 --> 00:56:47,160
Speaker 2: other kids. You want to be ready. So I think

812
00:56:47,160 --> 00:56:51,040
Speaker 2: there is a little bit of additional motivation that is

813
00:56:51,320 --> 00:56:56,200
Speaker 2: much more powerful than tell your teachers or your parents

814
00:56:56,680 --> 00:56:58,080
Speaker 2: wagging their fingers.

815
00:56:57,680 --> 00:57:02,640
Speaker 1: At you, Okay, I have my lesson, I go home.

816
00:57:03,600 --> 00:57:06,760
Speaker 1: You're saying, it's not like the old days where I'm alone,

817
00:57:06,760 --> 00:57:10,760
Speaker 1: that all of my practice is engaged with an app

818
00:57:10,880 --> 00:57:11,680
Speaker 1: or something else.

819
00:57:12,160 --> 00:57:15,719
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, so our app is your We think of

820
00:57:15,760 --> 00:57:18,080
Speaker 2: the app as the sinew between the lesson and the

821
00:57:18,160 --> 00:57:21,280
Speaker 2: lesson and the lesson the reversal. It's a place where

822
00:57:21,360 --> 00:57:24,600
Speaker 2: you can get all the curriculum, and in fact, we

823
00:57:24,720 --> 00:57:28,120
Speaker 2: give every one of our students all twenty five of

824
00:57:28,160 --> 00:57:31,280
Speaker 2: our method books in the app. So if they're curious

825
00:57:31,320 --> 00:57:33,360
Speaker 2: and they want to try something on base or try

826
00:57:33,400 --> 00:57:38,520
Speaker 2: a more advanced skill, knock yourself out. But in addition

827
00:57:38,560 --> 00:57:42,200
Speaker 2: to that, they have got not just the exercises that

828
00:57:42,240 --> 00:57:45,600
Speaker 2: we have in the method books or the subset of

829
00:57:45,640 --> 00:57:49,320
Speaker 2: those that's been assigned to them, but we have thousands

830
00:57:49,400 --> 00:57:52,280
Speaker 2: and thousands of exercises that have been uploaded by our

831
00:57:52,320 --> 00:57:56,439
Speaker 2: instructors that they can tap into. So their instructor could

832
00:57:56,440 --> 00:58:00,720
Speaker 2: tap in, could upload an assignment for them to play,

833
00:58:00,840 --> 00:58:04,160
Speaker 2: and then they'll also have the tablature, the sheet music,

834
00:58:04,200 --> 00:58:09,920
Speaker 2: the notation, playback metronome, all the functionality to make a

835
00:58:09,960 --> 00:58:14,600
Speaker 2: practice session more substantial. It's as if you have a

836
00:58:14,680 --> 00:58:20,000
Speaker 2: digital teacher there with you giving you real time feedback

837
00:58:20,600 --> 00:58:23,080
Speaker 2: on your proficiency.

838
00:58:23,960 --> 00:58:26,800
Speaker 1: Okay, let's go back to I walk in the front door.

839
00:58:27,200 --> 00:58:33,240
Speaker 1: I have some basic skills. Okay, what is the season?

840
00:58:33,760 --> 00:58:36,480
Speaker 1: How many shows do you do in a season? And

841
00:58:36,600 --> 00:58:38,960
Speaker 1: I either have to sign up for that if it

842
00:58:38,960 --> 00:58:40,480
Speaker 1: doesn't appeal to me, I have to wait to the

843
00:58:40,480 --> 00:58:41,840
Speaker 1: next season. How does it work?

844
00:58:42,920 --> 00:58:48,120
Speaker 2: Yeah, so, you know, we always remind our schools that

845
00:58:48,160 --> 00:58:50,000
Speaker 2: the best time to sign up for School of Rock

846
00:58:50,080 --> 00:58:53,800
Speaker 2: is now. That whether you're a month into the season

847
00:58:53,920 --> 00:58:56,479
Speaker 2: or two months into the season of a three month

848
00:58:56,560 --> 00:59:02,840
Speaker 2: season or three plus month season, there's always the opportunity

849
00:59:02,880 --> 00:59:05,240
Speaker 2: to bring a new band member in because we phase

850
00:59:05,320 --> 00:59:09,160
Speaker 2: the casting. We release only portions of the curric or

851
00:59:09,240 --> 00:59:13,560
Speaker 2: the of the repertoire as the season goes on, so

852
00:59:13,600 --> 00:59:17,880
Speaker 2: that we can not overwhelm the kids or the adults,

853
00:59:18,000 --> 00:59:20,800
Speaker 2: but also so that we can bring in new people

854
00:59:20,840 --> 00:59:24,560
Speaker 2: to the band when those new people are ready and excited.

855
00:59:25,160 --> 00:59:30,320
Speaker 2: So you're going to come in and you'll match make

856
00:59:31,000 --> 00:59:34,200
Speaker 2: with a given show. And then the very first thing

857
00:59:34,240 --> 00:59:38,160
Speaker 2: that will happen is you're cast on songs. You'll be cast.

858
00:59:38,960 --> 00:59:41,480
Speaker 2: We want you to play bass or guitar and these

859
00:59:41,520 --> 00:59:44,800
Speaker 2: three songs, and I know you've never played bass before,

860
00:59:44,840 --> 00:59:48,360
Speaker 2: but you know for you know those four strings, the

861
00:59:48,480 --> 00:59:51,600
Speaker 2: first four strings the same thing, and we're going to

862
00:59:51,640 --> 00:59:55,400
Speaker 2: teach you bass technique so that you're increasing the likelihood

863
00:59:55,400 --> 00:59:57,960
Speaker 2: that you're going to have more playing time later in life.

864
00:59:59,040 --> 01:00:01,360
Speaker 2: And then we want you on back ground percussion, background

865
01:00:01,440 --> 01:00:06,040
Speaker 2: vocals on these pieces. And that becomes the heart of

866
01:00:06,160 --> 01:00:08,160
Speaker 2: your study topic, if you will.

867
01:00:09,280 --> 01:00:11,480
Speaker 1: What is the cost in the commitment.

868
01:00:13,160 --> 01:00:15,840
Speaker 2: Where it's monthly tuitions, so we don't sign up for

869
01:00:15,880 --> 01:00:23,200
Speaker 2: the whole semester, but we want to have continuity to

870
01:00:23,280 --> 01:00:27,160
Speaker 2: make sure that there is you know, folks don't drop

871
01:00:27,200 --> 01:00:31,080
Speaker 2: in and drop out, so it's a monthly commitment and

872
01:00:31,400 --> 01:00:34,840
Speaker 2: the cost depends on the territory, the area in which

873
01:00:34,880 --> 01:00:39,160
Speaker 2: we're operating with the market. But for our performance program,

874
01:00:39,200 --> 01:00:42,600
Speaker 2: typically we're in the high three hundreds, low four hundred

875
01:00:42,640 --> 01:00:49,520
Speaker 2: dollars per month. Naturally in Manhattan or Palo Alto, it's

876
01:00:49,560 --> 01:00:51,920
Speaker 2: going to be more expensive because our rent is so

877
01:00:52,000 --> 01:00:56,040
Speaker 2: much more expensive, our labor costs are so much more expensive.

878
01:00:57,040 --> 01:01:00,800
Speaker 2: And for that, you'll have a two plus hours each

879
01:01:00,840 --> 01:01:05,640
Speaker 2: week and depending on the school, thirty to forty five

880
01:01:05,720 --> 01:01:09,920
Speaker 2: minute lesson each week, and then all the access to

881
01:01:10,040 --> 01:01:16,720
Speaker 2: other community activities like we do webinars and touring opportunities,

882
01:01:18,160 --> 01:01:22,360
Speaker 2: which you've probably seen some of our propaganda in terms

883
01:01:22,400 --> 01:01:27,480
Speaker 2: of Summerfest and Lolla Baloo's Rock and Real Lisbon, et cetera.

884
01:01:28,120 --> 01:01:32,440
Speaker 2: But that's the general economics, pretty simple pricing model.

885
01:01:33,680 --> 01:01:36,880
Speaker 1: Okay, And you have my credit card on file and

886
01:01:36,920 --> 01:01:42,920
Speaker 1: you're going to build me unless I cancel. Correct, Okay,

887
01:01:43,120 --> 01:01:46,720
Speaker 1: So how many shows are there a semester? And how

888
01:01:46,720 --> 01:01:48,080
Speaker 1: do you pick what the shows are?

889
01:01:49,600 --> 01:01:55,280
Speaker 2: So we have sixty core shows that we have that

890
01:01:55,400 --> 01:02:02,080
Speaker 2: are combinations, well, permutations of the twelve hundred songs in

891
01:02:02,120 --> 01:02:07,200
Speaker 2: our core curriculum. So we've spent several years kind of

892
01:02:07,240 --> 01:02:11,080
Speaker 2: honing what we think are pedagogically appropriate shows, the ones

893
01:02:11,120 --> 01:02:16,360
Speaker 2: that deliver the most technique and theory quietly to our students,

894
01:02:16,760 --> 01:02:20,080
Speaker 2: but have the most diversity too in regards to genre.

895
01:02:20,600 --> 01:02:25,360
Speaker 2: So we want metal, we want Prague, we want British Invasion,

896
01:02:25,720 --> 01:02:29,320
Speaker 2: we want the twenty tens, you know, which some of

897
01:02:29,360 --> 01:02:33,840
Speaker 2: the kids call classic rock, which is jarring, but we

898
01:02:33,920 --> 01:02:40,720
Speaker 2: also want early blues. So what we do is, then,

899
01:02:41,200 --> 01:02:45,080
Speaker 2: depending on the age of the school, the experience of

900
01:02:45,120 --> 01:02:48,440
Speaker 2: the school, depending on the nature of the student body

901
01:02:48,600 --> 01:02:52,120
Speaker 2: and who they know are enrolling, the music staff will

902
01:02:52,120 --> 01:02:55,280
Speaker 2: get together a few months before the next season and say,

903
01:02:55,840 --> 01:02:58,880
Speaker 2: here's what the roster looks like of our core kids.

904
01:02:59,160 --> 01:03:02,280
Speaker 2: Here's what we've done season. Here's some things we really

905
01:03:02,320 --> 01:03:05,480
Speaker 2: need to pump up. Here are some things we've heard

906
01:03:05,520 --> 01:03:10,080
Speaker 2: demands for. You know, we've got this whole core of

907
01:03:10,280 --> 01:03:13,600
Speaker 2: kids who've gotten into my chemical romance. Well, let's scratch

908
01:03:13,680 --> 01:03:18,080
Speaker 2: that itch. We can do that. So I think that

909
01:03:18,200 --> 01:03:21,080
Speaker 2: it's a it's a little bit of an art combined

910
01:03:21,280 --> 01:03:24,080
Speaker 2: by tools that have science to them, where we can

911
01:03:24,160 --> 01:03:27,320
Speaker 2: actually go through our what we call our method engine

912
01:03:27,760 --> 01:03:31,280
Speaker 2: and say, okay, we have these levels of these players,

913
01:03:31,880 --> 01:03:37,000
Speaker 2: what shows can best equip or best serve the needs

914
01:03:37,040 --> 01:03:41,440
Speaker 2: of those players, and then they announce the shows kids

915
01:03:41,440 --> 01:03:44,120
Speaker 2: can put their first second choice in. We do not

916
01:03:45,120 --> 01:03:49,120
Speaker 2: guarantee you're going to get your first choice. And one

917
01:03:49,120 --> 01:03:52,640
Speaker 2: of the best pedagogical outcomes we have had as a

918
01:03:52,680 --> 01:03:55,840
Speaker 2: general rule over twenty five years is how many kids,

919
01:03:55,880 --> 01:03:59,840
Speaker 2: after they've gotten their third choice, are that becomes their

920
01:03:59,840 --> 01:04:03,160
Speaker 2: favorite musician of all time. That's just the nature of youth.

921
01:04:03,920 --> 01:04:06,400
Speaker 2: So that's how the mechanics of it work. And as

922
01:04:06,440 --> 01:04:09,040
Speaker 2: in terms of how many that can be, anywhere from

923
01:04:09,360 --> 01:04:15,720
Speaker 2: three to twelve shows. You know, a school like Perth

924
01:04:16,440 --> 01:04:20,200
Speaker 2: which has got nearly five hundred students they'll be doing

925
01:04:20,280 --> 01:04:23,520
Speaker 2: They may take a whole weekend at a venue and

926
01:04:23,640 --> 01:04:28,040
Speaker 2: do twelve end of season shows, whereas a newer school

927
01:04:28,080 --> 01:04:31,200
Speaker 2: with just one hundred and forty students they may be

928
01:04:31,320 --> 01:04:32,160
Speaker 2: doing three shows.

929
01:04:32,720 --> 01:04:37,720
Speaker 1: Okay, so it's all signed up. How many songs are

930
01:04:37,760 --> 01:04:39,680
Speaker 1: going to be in the show in the genre that

931
01:04:39,760 --> 01:04:41,840
Speaker 1: I pick or the era that I pick it? How

932
01:04:41,880 --> 01:04:43,240
Speaker 1: much am I going to play on them?

933
01:04:44,480 --> 01:04:50,560
Speaker 2: Yeah? So the typically the shows will be a wide

934
01:04:50,640 --> 01:04:57,520
Speaker 2: variation kind of eighteen to twenty one tunes, and you

935
01:04:57,520 --> 01:05:01,880
Speaker 2: will typically play your core instrument on a handful of

936
01:05:01,880 --> 01:05:05,960
Speaker 2: those songs, not most, but then you'll be tasked to

937
01:05:06,040 --> 01:05:11,880
Speaker 2: play additional instrumentation on the rest of the songs. So

938
01:05:12,600 --> 01:05:16,360
Speaker 2: much like in a recital when I was learning piano,

939
01:05:16,800 --> 01:05:22,520
Speaker 2: you're the delivered product might be one sonata, one a tude,

940
01:05:23,280 --> 01:05:27,000
Speaker 2: and you know, one Bach invention. We want to make

941
01:05:27,040 --> 01:05:29,800
Speaker 2: sure that there's enough substance that that kid is getting

942
01:05:29,800 --> 01:05:35,320
Speaker 2: a handful of challenging songs and getting exposure that they're

943
01:05:35,360 --> 01:05:40,760
Speaker 2: part of the band in more secondary ways. So depending

944
01:05:40,800 --> 01:05:44,000
Speaker 2: on the number of students, that number will change, and

945
01:05:44,080 --> 01:05:46,760
Speaker 2: depending on the nature of the songs, the number changes.

946
01:05:46,800 --> 01:05:51,160
Speaker 2: Bohemian Rhapsody has a much higher student count for orchestration

947
01:05:51,880 --> 01:05:55,600
Speaker 2: than say Green Day, Like you know, Oh Love on

948
01:05:55,680 --> 01:06:00,120
Speaker 2: Green Day.

949
01:06:03,360 --> 01:06:05,760
Speaker 1: Okay, so I practiced for three months. Tell me about

950
01:06:05,760 --> 01:06:06,600
Speaker 1: the actual show.

951
01:06:07,600 --> 01:06:12,080
Speaker 2: The shows are epic, So we'll we'll take you know will.

952
01:06:14,680 --> 01:06:16,520
Speaker 2: If you're out in la you might see a School

953
01:06:16,560 --> 01:06:20,360
Speaker 2: of Rock end of season show at the Troubadour, or

954
01:06:20,400 --> 01:06:22,600
Speaker 2: you might see it at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn.

955
01:06:23,880 --> 01:06:29,480
Speaker 2: Reggie's in Chicago, and it is a full rock and

956
01:06:29,560 --> 01:06:36,480
Speaker 2: roll show, Tier one back line, lights, sound, and the

957
01:06:36,560 --> 01:06:40,400
Speaker 2: venues love us because we'll typically go into the venue

958
01:06:40,880 --> 01:06:45,520
Speaker 2: at a time when they don't have other activities, and

959
01:06:45,560 --> 01:06:49,720
Speaker 2: the food and beverage is terrific for them. So what

960
01:06:49,760 --> 01:06:52,480
Speaker 2: you'll find is each student will bring their loved ones,

961
01:06:52,520 --> 01:06:56,800
Speaker 2: their friends. The ones that bring the most audience members

962
01:06:56,800 --> 01:07:00,920
Speaker 2: are our littlest kids. So when you have a seven

963
01:07:01,000 --> 01:07:06,480
Speaker 2: year old doing seven Nation Army, they'll have and it's

964
01:07:06,600 --> 01:07:09,520
Speaker 2: it's epic, Bob, Honestly, it's the cutest thing you've ever seen,

965
01:07:11,320 --> 01:07:15,040
Speaker 2: and they'll have fifteen fans in the audience, and of

966
01:07:15,080 --> 01:07:18,200
Speaker 2: course that kid sounds like Hendrix as far as every

967
01:07:18,200 --> 01:07:21,720
Speaker 2: one of those fans is concerned. But that's the reinforcement

968
01:07:21,760 --> 01:07:23,920
Speaker 2: we want to create. We want to create at seven,

969
01:07:24,320 --> 01:07:27,240
Speaker 2: you hit your first gig, you played the Troubadour at seven.

970
01:07:27,960 --> 01:07:28,760
Speaker 2: That's what we want.

971
01:07:28,920 --> 01:07:34,400
Speaker 1: Okay, So is it like, let's just assume your store

972
01:07:34,600 --> 01:07:37,760
Speaker 1: has five different tracks they're all going to play together

973
01:07:37,840 --> 01:07:38,400
Speaker 1: on one night.

974
01:07:39,440 --> 01:07:44,480
Speaker 2: It depends. Sometimes it's absolutely impossible, but typically the season

975
01:07:44,520 --> 01:07:48,320
Speaker 2: shows will either happen same weekend or two consecutive weekends.

976
01:07:48,880 --> 01:07:53,480
Speaker 1: So let's just say I'm there for a night and

977
01:07:53,560 --> 01:07:57,520
Speaker 1: I'm showing up for somebody in the band. How long

978
01:07:57,680 --> 01:07:59,640
Speaker 1: is the show and how many bands are going to

979
01:07:59,720 --> 01:08:02,440
Speaker 1: be there that night? Is the audience gonna cycle in

980
01:08:02,440 --> 01:08:05,080
Speaker 1: it out it's like an eight hour marathon, or it's

981
01:08:05,160 --> 01:08:08,880
Speaker 1: like four hours, two bands that's it, or three bands, whatever.

982
01:08:09,640 --> 01:08:13,160
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think typically what you'll find in most cases,

983
01:08:13,280 --> 01:08:20,000
Speaker 2: they make it a reasonable evening where the the you know,

984
01:08:20,080 --> 01:08:23,040
Speaker 2: it'll be a tolerable amount for everyone to stay around

985
01:08:23,040 --> 01:08:26,559
Speaker 2: for most of the show, and it's encouraged. It's really

986
01:08:26,680 --> 01:08:30,439
Speaker 2: encouraged from a teamwork standpoint to do that. And what

987
01:08:30,479 --> 01:08:32,880
Speaker 2: we do we have is a really really good habit

988
01:08:32,960 --> 01:08:36,880
Speaker 2: as least students stay around for the rest of the shows,

989
01:08:37,120 --> 01:08:41,479
Speaker 2: so there's always this core audience in the stage cheering

990
01:08:41,520 --> 01:08:45,960
Speaker 2: on every every band. So that might be a four

991
01:08:46,120 --> 01:08:51,800
Speaker 2: six hour kind of thing. There are some weekends and

992
01:08:51,960 --> 01:08:54,519
Speaker 2: some of our busier schools that almost feel more like

993
01:08:54,520 --> 01:08:58,880
Speaker 2: a music festival where it's morning till night with maybe

994
01:08:58,920 --> 01:09:02,760
Speaker 2: an afternoon break and people are slotted in and you're

995
01:09:02,840 --> 01:09:08,800
Speaker 2: kind of you're cast to a certain hour or set

996
01:09:08,800 --> 01:09:12,120
Speaker 2: of hours, and that's really just a function of the number,

997
01:09:12,240 --> 01:09:14,800
Speaker 2: the size of the school, the number of students, the

998
01:09:14,840 --> 01:09:19,400
Speaker 2: size of the band as well. We'll sometimes have adults

999
01:09:19,439 --> 01:09:23,200
Speaker 2: play in the same show as kids. I personally think

1000
01:09:23,200 --> 01:09:26,040
Speaker 2: it's sometimes cooler to let the adults kind of do

1001
01:09:26,080 --> 01:09:31,280
Speaker 2: their own thing. And then we'll also try to get

1002
01:09:31,280 --> 01:09:36,439
Speaker 2: our littlest kids to play one or two or three songs.

1003
01:09:37,160 --> 01:09:42,080
Speaker 2: And it's absolutely beautiful to watch because no one's more

1004
01:09:42,120 --> 01:09:45,280
Speaker 2: excited about that. So you got all these little ones

1005
01:09:45,360 --> 01:09:48,120
Speaker 2: on stage, it's the first time they've ever been on stage,

1006
01:09:48,600 --> 01:09:52,720
Speaker 2: these super supportive big brothers and big sisters, the big

1007
01:09:52,840 --> 01:09:56,120
Speaker 2: kids in the band, and who are really showing them

1008
01:09:56,200 --> 01:09:59,439
Speaker 2: love and affection and attention. And then they go out

1009
01:09:59,439 --> 01:10:01,680
Speaker 2: there and they're you know, they're doing you Shook Me

1010
01:10:01,720 --> 01:10:05,240
Speaker 2: all night long. It's really fantastic.

1011
01:10:05,439 --> 01:10:08,000
Speaker 1: Yeah, I can visualize it, and I'm laughing and smiling

1012
01:10:08,080 --> 01:10:13,440
Speaker 1: at the same time. Obvious question here it is called

1013
01:10:13,520 --> 01:10:18,519
Speaker 1: the school of rock. If you really want to get deep,

1014
01:10:19,439 --> 01:10:23,200
Speaker 1: Rock's penetration and consumption actually went up a little bit

1015
01:10:23,479 --> 01:10:28,240
Speaker 1: in this last period of time, but still consumption is

1016
01:10:28,320 --> 01:10:33,360
Speaker 1: dominated by hip hop. Is it very clear that this

1017
01:10:34,040 --> 01:10:38,479
Speaker 1: is rock, It's not pop, it's not Mariah Carey, it's

1018
01:10:38,560 --> 01:10:41,360
Speaker 1: not Jay Z And if you want that, you go

1019
01:10:41,479 --> 01:10:44,160
Speaker 1: somewhere else. Tell me what's your response.

1020
01:10:43,760 --> 01:10:47,639
Speaker 2: To that one. As of now, we really only have

1021
01:10:48,080 --> 01:10:52,439
Speaker 2: one strict genre philosophy, which is that we want an

1022
01:10:52,560 --> 01:10:56,960
Speaker 2: ensemble based music program. So we over the years have

1023
01:10:57,080 --> 01:11:04,280
Speaker 2: gotten far more imaginative about what we consider rock. School

1024
01:11:04,320 --> 01:11:07,400
Speaker 2: of rock is a noemonic. It's a little bit like

1025
01:11:07,479 --> 01:11:10,720
Speaker 2: Amazon used to be a you know, a bookseller, and

1026
01:11:10,760 --> 01:11:13,240
Speaker 2: that was their original identity and then it became a

1027
01:11:13,280 --> 01:11:18,200
Speaker 2: mnemonic for the endless isle of everything. We feel that

1028
01:11:18,240 --> 01:11:22,000
Speaker 2: way about ensemble music. Now there's natural limitations to that.

1029
01:11:22,080 --> 01:11:25,360
Speaker 2: If we were to do that orchestrally, or do jazz ensembles,

1030
01:11:25,439 --> 01:11:28,280
Speaker 2: or to do chamber orchestras we need have to, we

1031
01:11:28,680 --> 01:11:32,280
Speaker 2: have to make some more radical changes. But from my perspective,

1032
01:11:32,960 --> 01:11:39,520
Speaker 2: any genre in the contemporary music canon that is ensemble

1033
01:11:39,600 --> 01:11:44,040
Speaker 2: based is fair game. And you will see our schools

1034
01:11:44,360 --> 01:11:47,559
Speaker 2: take advantage of that. And where that becomes very relevant

1035
01:11:47,680 --> 01:11:51,800
Speaker 2: is in our schools outside the US. You know, there's

1036
01:11:51,840 --> 01:11:55,519
Speaker 2: an amazing as you know, there's an amazing Andian rock

1037
01:11:55,640 --> 01:12:02,120
Speaker 2: scene like Andyan prog rock, and and we want to

1038
01:12:02,160 --> 01:12:05,040
Speaker 2: make sure that that comes to life. So you're going

1039
01:12:05,120 --> 01:12:14,759
Speaker 2: to have all together different orchestrations in Chile and Peru, Paraguay, Colombia, Brazil.

1040
01:12:16,400 --> 01:12:22,160
Speaker 2: You know, you'll have sertanejos songs in samba in Brazil

1041
01:12:22,680 --> 01:12:26,600
Speaker 2: and we're very comfortable with that both domestically and internationally.

1042
01:12:27,560 --> 01:12:30,599
Speaker 2: What that actually means in practical terms, though, is our

1043
01:12:31,120 --> 01:12:35,800
Speaker 2: genre really starts with the early blues and ends kind

1044
01:12:35,800 --> 01:12:39,040
Speaker 2: of in the twenty tens. But to keep it fresh,

1045
01:12:39,080 --> 01:12:43,960
Speaker 2: we will have even more contemporary music. But we've done

1046
01:12:44,080 --> 01:12:47,479
Speaker 2: rock rap shows. There's plenty of rap shows with with

1047
01:12:48,439 --> 01:12:53,439
Speaker 2: you know, full back line, you know, and as you know,

1048
01:12:53,560 --> 01:12:56,800
Speaker 2: you know, you go to Laala, you watch Childish Gambino,

1049
01:12:57,479 --> 01:13:01,520
Speaker 2: he's got a full back line. That's not true for everyone,

1050
01:13:01,720 --> 01:13:06,000
Speaker 2: you know, Kendrick Lamar doesn't in his current iteration. But

1051
01:13:06,920 --> 01:13:10,639
Speaker 2: if he comes out with tunes that have a full

1052
01:13:10,760 --> 01:13:15,719
Speaker 2: ensemble orchestration, we'll weave that into our curriculum, ready, ready, quick,

1053
01:13:16,200 --> 01:13:18,120
Speaker 2: because we believe that's appropriate.

1054
01:13:18,640 --> 01:13:21,639
Speaker 1: But it's a practical matter. Let's just talk to us

1055
01:13:22,240 --> 01:13:27,200
Speaker 1: where we're familiar with the repertoire. Yeah, what percentage is

1056
01:13:27,320 --> 01:13:28,160
Speaker 1: essentially rock?

1057
01:13:29,800 --> 01:13:33,920
Speaker 2: I would say seventy percent of our curriculum today, You

1058
01:13:34,000 --> 01:13:37,839
Speaker 2: and I would agree it falls within the rock genre,

1059
01:13:38,920 --> 01:13:43,680
Speaker 2: and then the remainder would be, you know, adjacent genres

1060
01:13:44,320 --> 01:13:47,759
Speaker 2: that could accidentally be called rock by somebody who isn't

1061
01:13:48,040 --> 01:13:54,040
Speaker 2: familiar with the nomenclature. So it may be more pop, indie, progue, metal, punk,

1062
01:13:54,600 --> 01:13:59,640
Speaker 2: et cetera. But it's it's still centered. But that is

1063
01:13:59,680 --> 01:14:00,800
Speaker 2: of all over time.

1064
01:14:01,439 --> 01:14:05,679
Speaker 1: Okay, so let's go back to the categorizations. You have rookies,

1065
01:14:05,720 --> 01:14:08,759
Speaker 1: you have little wing, you have adults. How many different

1066
01:14:08,840 --> 01:14:09,840
Speaker 1: categories do you have?

1067
01:14:11,400 --> 01:14:15,760
Speaker 2: Well, that plus our performance program is the heart of

1068
01:14:15,800 --> 01:14:18,800
Speaker 2: what we do. But there's this interesting migration that we're

1069
01:14:18,840 --> 01:14:21,439
Speaker 2: going through that I think is going to be very

1070
01:14:21,720 --> 01:14:27,400
Speaker 2: very transformational for the company, which is that we've had

1071
01:14:27,439 --> 01:14:30,720
Speaker 2: this massive growth and success by being the place to

1072
01:14:30,920 --> 01:14:36,400
Speaker 2: learn to be proficient musicians through cover music, but with

1073
01:14:36,479 --> 01:14:42,280
Speaker 2: the effective, endless opportunities to self distribute and also the

1074
01:14:42,320 --> 01:14:47,360
Speaker 2: psychological and the educational benefits of creating for something from scratch.

1075
01:14:47,760 --> 01:14:52,519
Speaker 2: We're adding additional things beyond those core programs. So we

1076
01:14:52,600 --> 01:14:56,799
Speaker 2: have now a songwriting program. We do that all season long,

1077
01:14:56,920 --> 01:15:00,200
Speaker 2: or we'll do that during camps. We just introduce used

1078
01:15:00,200 --> 01:15:03,479
Speaker 2: to recording and production program that we'll be rolling out

1079
01:15:03,520 --> 01:15:08,680
Speaker 2: system wide. And so I actually see the scope of

1080
01:15:08,720 --> 01:15:13,040
Speaker 2: our offerings changing pretty dramatically. One I'm excited about is

1081
01:15:13,080 --> 01:15:15,519
Speaker 2: live sound. I'd like to do a season long live

1082
01:15:15,600 --> 01:15:18,880
Speaker 2: sound program. I'd like to do a season long business

1083
01:15:18,880 --> 01:15:22,439
Speaker 2: affairs program where you know, we get Bob as a

1084
01:15:22,479 --> 01:15:31,559
Speaker 2: guest professor, as a culminating a culminating guest, and we

1085
01:15:31,560 --> 01:15:38,639
Speaker 2: we do the basics to music distribution, et cetera. Self promotion.

1086
01:15:39,360 --> 01:15:41,760
Speaker 2: So I think we're at a point where we've got

1087
01:15:41,800 --> 01:15:45,760
Speaker 2: a very, very stout and defined set of menu offerings,

1088
01:15:46,400 --> 01:15:49,639
Speaker 2: but we are changing that because we think that there's

1089
01:15:49,680 --> 01:15:54,120
Speaker 2: a lot more value to be added. I would also

1090
01:15:54,160 --> 01:15:58,639
Speaker 2: say that we accidentally have become a pretty important player

1091
01:15:59,600 --> 01:16:05,000
Speaker 2: in remote lessons. When COVID hit. You know, you can

1092
01:16:05,080 --> 01:16:09,559
Speaker 2: imagine a CEO's experience when they're saying themselves, we're in

1093
01:16:09,560 --> 01:16:14,200
Speaker 2: the business of throwing together like a dozen or two

1094
01:16:14,200 --> 01:16:18,960
Speaker 2: dozen kids into a small room, having them breathe and

1095
01:16:19,120 --> 01:16:26,679
Speaker 2: excel vigorously, and then COVID comes. We had to move

1096
01:16:26,880 --> 01:16:33,240
Speaker 2: to a global remote teaching capability within a week, and

1097
01:16:33,280 --> 01:16:35,840
Speaker 2: we had that up and running in the second week

1098
01:16:35,880 --> 01:16:40,040
Speaker 2: of March, which to a large extent, saved the company.

1099
01:16:41,000 --> 01:16:44,120
Speaker 2: But what's lingered from their is we're doing still doing

1100
01:16:44,160 --> 01:16:48,120
Speaker 2: thousands of remote lessons a month because instead of COVID,

1101
01:16:48,120 --> 01:16:52,880
Speaker 2: it's tummy aches, or it's vacations, or it's my car

1102
01:16:52,960 --> 01:16:57,000
Speaker 2: broke down, or there's an it's just more convenient, or

1103
01:16:57,200 --> 01:16:59,840
Speaker 2: I live in Vietnam and you don't have a school

1104
01:16:59,840 --> 01:17:04,160
Speaker 2: in Vietnam yet. So I also see coming a really,

1105
01:17:04,240 --> 01:17:10,959
Speaker 2: really really big commitment to addressing the entire addressable market

1106
01:17:11,439 --> 01:17:14,280
Speaker 2: of music education. And I know there's a lot of

1107
01:17:14,320 --> 01:17:16,960
Speaker 2: players out there, but the beauty is we've got a

1108
01:17:17,040 --> 01:17:23,240
Speaker 2: very famous brand and we've got a really really unusual curriculum.

1109
01:17:24,120 --> 01:17:26,200
Speaker 2: One thing I didn't mention in that regard is that

1110
01:17:26,240 --> 01:17:30,760
Speaker 2: our teaching methods patented. We actually secured a patent a

1111
01:17:30,800 --> 01:17:33,200
Speaker 2: couple of years ago, so we actually feel we have

1112
01:17:33,240 --> 01:17:36,160
Speaker 2: a moat around our teaching method that'll let us bring

1113
01:17:36,200 --> 01:17:39,880
Speaker 2: that to an omni channel world in a bigger way.

1114
01:17:41,000 --> 01:17:46,360
Speaker 2: But that's the current menu of services, excluding all the

1115
01:17:46,439 --> 01:17:49,599
Speaker 2: really hair brained stuff that we have in mind.

1116
01:17:50,080 --> 01:17:53,839
Speaker 1: Okay, there's twelve months in a year. I would assume

1117
01:17:53,920 --> 01:17:59,040
Speaker 1: that if the performance cycle is three months, there A

1118
01:17:59,040 --> 01:18:03,760
Speaker 1: are there force Michaels a year? B Do people drop in?

1119
01:18:04,080 --> 01:18:07,360
Speaker 1: Drop out? Are they dedicated. You know, what does the

1120
01:18:07,400 --> 01:18:08,680
Speaker 1: student ultimately do?

1121
01:18:09,760 --> 01:18:17,120
Speaker 2: Yeah, So we typically have four cycles. But in addition

1122
01:18:17,240 --> 01:18:20,479
Speaker 2: to that, we have this pushed me, pull me during

1123
01:18:20,479 --> 01:18:25,639
Speaker 2: the summertime. During the summertime, we'll lose students, some students

1124
01:18:25,640 --> 01:18:29,000
Speaker 2: because they'll be doing other summer activities in the Northeast.

1125
01:18:29,080 --> 01:18:30,880
Speaker 2: You know, a lot of the kids go to sleep

1126
01:18:30,880 --> 01:18:33,920
Speaker 2: away camp, or we have kids going to the shore

1127
01:18:34,160 --> 01:18:41,439
Speaker 2: or going on family vacations, college prep, etc. So that's

1128
01:18:41,479 --> 01:18:44,120
Speaker 2: a headwind. A tailwind we have though, is that we've

1129
01:18:44,600 --> 01:18:48,960
Speaker 2: have a massive business in camps, day camps, So we'll

1130
01:18:49,000 --> 01:18:54,120
Speaker 2: do I'm going to just estimate here, but I would

1131
01:18:54,120 --> 01:18:59,000
Speaker 2: guess we'll do over twenty five thousand, maybe thirty thousand

1132
01:18:59,120 --> 01:19:04,360
Speaker 2: units of camp over the summer, which is an amazing

1133
01:19:04,520 --> 01:19:08,880
Speaker 2: way for us to actually garner new leads for the

1134
01:19:08,920 --> 01:19:12,519
Speaker 2: fall season. So the only time that's peculiar for us

1135
01:19:14,479 --> 01:19:17,519
Speaker 2: is where at whatever country in which we're operating, when

1136
01:19:17,560 --> 01:19:22,200
Speaker 2: folks are on school vacations. Now there's countercyxicality because we

1137
01:19:22,240 --> 01:19:26,280
Speaker 2: operate our biggest markets in Brazil outside the US, So

1138
01:19:26,439 --> 01:19:28,280
Speaker 2: there it's the opposite.

1139
01:19:27,840 --> 01:19:31,599
Speaker 1: Schedule, right. Okay, when you say you run day camps,

1140
01:19:32,040 --> 01:19:34,400
Speaker 1: that's a nine to five camp.

1141
01:19:34,680 --> 01:19:40,679
Speaker 2: Typically nine to three, so they'll do and this tends

1142
01:19:40,720 --> 01:19:44,559
Speaker 2: to be younger students, and it's based on a lot

1143
01:19:44,560 --> 01:19:47,280
Speaker 2: of the principles that we have in our performance program,

1144
01:19:47,760 --> 01:19:49,839
Speaker 2: and the only thing that's different is have a slightly

1145
01:19:50,160 --> 01:19:53,800
Speaker 2: less ambitious show on that Friday. They don't have three

1146
01:19:53,840 --> 01:19:56,760
Speaker 2: months to prepare, so it may be three songs or

1147
01:19:56,800 --> 01:20:00,880
Speaker 2: five songs. But we'll do Beatles themed camp, Green Day

1148
01:20:00,960 --> 01:20:04,080
Speaker 2: and pop punk and the nineties, and will also do

1149
01:20:04,160 --> 01:20:08,120
Speaker 2: songwriting and recording camps. But yes, those are day camps,

1150
01:20:08,680 --> 01:20:14,959
Speaker 2: typically with some kind of culminating experience on Friday, usually

1151
01:20:15,040 --> 01:20:16,160
Speaker 2: at the school itself.

1152
01:20:17,200 --> 01:20:20,599
Speaker 1: Okay, let's write off the summer for the reasons you mentioned.

1153
01:20:21,360 --> 01:20:24,960
Speaker 1: Let's just assume I'm in during what we'll call the

1154
01:20:25,000 --> 01:20:30,040
Speaker 1: conventional school year. To what degreeedy kids continue during the

1155
01:20:30,160 --> 01:20:33,280
Speaker 1: year year after year? To what degree do they drop

1156
01:20:33,320 --> 01:20:35,760
Speaker 1: out completely come back? What's it like?

1157
01:20:36,880 --> 01:20:40,639
Speaker 2: Yeah, so we've actually looked at that in a pretty

1158
01:20:40,680 --> 01:20:44,360
Speaker 2: detailed way, and there's a staggering statistic that we found

1159
01:20:44,479 --> 01:20:51,439
Speaker 2: is that after forty eight months, seventeen percent of the

1160
01:20:51,479 --> 01:20:54,679
Speaker 2: students who started forty eight months prior are still with us,

1161
01:20:55,320 --> 01:21:00,280
Speaker 2: which is an incredibly high retention for child music education actually,

1162
01:21:00,320 --> 01:21:04,479
Speaker 2: given the fact that includes students who graduate out, that

1163
01:21:04,520 --> 01:21:08,040
Speaker 2: includes students who have moved on to other areas of passion.

1164
01:21:09,600 --> 01:21:15,360
Speaker 2: So you know, the thing that creates that greater stickiness

1165
01:21:16,520 --> 01:21:19,919
Speaker 2: is the performance. Because we also looked at the cohort

1166
01:21:19,960 --> 01:21:24,840
Speaker 2: of students who just take individual lessons from us, and

1167
01:21:24,880 --> 01:21:28,839
Speaker 2: what we found is a very small single digit number

1168
01:21:29,560 --> 01:21:32,920
Speaker 2: is still with us after forty eight months. And in

1169
01:21:32,960 --> 01:21:35,840
Speaker 2: a strange way, it's a natural experiment on our source

1170
01:21:35,880 --> 01:21:41,160
Speaker 2: of differentiation versus traditional music. That's a clue about actually

1171
01:21:41,160 --> 01:21:46,200
Speaker 2: what's happening in most traditional music is forty eight months later,

1172
01:21:47,000 --> 01:21:50,160
Speaker 2: they've moved on to something else. But in our curriculum,

1173
01:21:50,520 --> 01:21:54,040
Speaker 2: they stay a meaningful number of stays for a really

1174
01:21:54,080 --> 01:21:57,800
Speaker 2: really long period of time. And that's part of our

1175
01:21:57,840 --> 01:22:00,640
Speaker 2: growth is we're getting all these new students as we're

1176
01:22:00,680 --> 01:22:03,920
Speaker 2: getting better and better and better at retaining students by

1177
01:22:03,960 --> 01:22:07,040
Speaker 2: having more and more of them in this really differentiated

1178
01:22:07,040 --> 01:22:08,120
Speaker 2: performance program.

1179
01:22:08,880 --> 01:22:13,920
Speaker 1: Okay, so forget the adults for a second. Who are

1180
01:22:14,040 --> 01:22:16,080
Speaker 1: the students? You know, when I grew up in the

1181
01:22:16,160 --> 01:22:20,920
Speaker 1: old era, you did a smortgage board of activities. Today

1182
01:22:21,040 --> 01:22:26,120
Speaker 1: people tend to specialize. But in addition, conventionally, the people

1183
01:22:26,200 --> 01:22:29,240
Speaker 1: participating in music and arts, we're not necessarily the same

1184
01:22:29,280 --> 01:22:33,960
Speaker 1: people participating in sports. So who are these kids?

1185
01:22:35,040 --> 01:22:37,760
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that you know that most of these

1186
01:22:37,880 --> 01:22:42,439
Speaker 2: kids are folks who are either in the sampling stage

1187
01:22:42,920 --> 01:22:46,680
Speaker 2: of discovering whether music is their thing, or in the

1188
01:22:46,720 --> 01:22:51,200
Speaker 2: conclusion stage of determining it is by trying other things.

1189
01:22:51,720 --> 01:22:55,320
Speaker 2: So we'll always get browsers, will always get people who

1190
01:22:55,400 --> 01:22:59,200
Speaker 2: are doing both. And I would say the vast majority

1191
01:22:59,240 --> 01:23:03,400
Speaker 2: of our students are doing something in addition to music

1192
01:23:04,000 --> 01:23:07,080
Speaker 2: that is different than music. It might be debate, it

1193
01:23:07,160 --> 01:23:14,120
Speaker 2: might be musical theater, it might be it may be art.

1194
01:23:14,280 --> 01:23:19,439
Speaker 2: There's a very small overlap between sports and music. But

1195
01:23:19,640 --> 01:23:22,840
Speaker 2: what's interesting about that, what intrigues me about it is

1196
01:23:22,880 --> 01:23:28,600
Speaker 2: the principles are identical, and so we happen to be

1197
01:23:28,720 --> 01:23:33,520
Speaker 2: real fans of the fact that there is this assortment

1198
01:23:33,600 --> 01:23:37,280
Speaker 2: of different child enrichment activities that we can be part of.

1199
01:23:37,720 --> 01:23:41,559
Speaker 2: We don't lament when a kid migrates out to sports

1200
01:23:43,439 --> 01:23:47,240
Speaker 2: because we think if they're finding their place, that's the

1201
01:23:47,280 --> 01:23:50,840
Speaker 2: source of their civics lesson, that's the source of their

1202
01:23:50,880 --> 01:23:55,920
Speaker 2: ability to negotiate compromise the source of their psychological wellness.

1203
01:23:56,560 --> 01:24:00,800
Speaker 2: That's okay with us. But yeah, I think that we

1204
01:24:01,000 --> 01:24:03,599
Speaker 2: tend to the vast majority of our students are people

1205
01:24:03,720 --> 01:24:06,000
Speaker 2: on the journey to discover if music is their thing

1206
01:24:06,400 --> 01:24:09,000
Speaker 2: or they've discovered it. You know, a kid like me

1207
01:24:09,200 --> 01:24:13,439
Speaker 2: who you know, notionally played varsity tennis, but that was

1208
01:24:13,479 --> 01:24:18,600
Speaker 2: only because they needed one more kid on tennis. But

1209
01:24:18,840 --> 01:24:20,880
Speaker 2: I was a music kid. I was the band kid.

1210
01:24:21,320 --> 01:24:22,639
Speaker 2: We get most of those kids.

1211
01:24:29,680 --> 01:24:34,960
Speaker 1: Okay, So what do Greedy have a sense of, Miss Spooka.

1212
01:24:35,040 --> 01:24:36,840
Speaker 1: I mean, do the kids show up on Tuesday for

1213
01:24:36,840 --> 01:24:40,120
Speaker 1: a lesson, in Friday for rehearsal. Where does this actually

1214
01:24:40,200 --> 01:24:43,200
Speaker 1: create bonds, especially in this communicative world where kids can

1215
01:24:43,200 --> 01:24:46,439
Speaker 1: communicate in a DULs community of the device the people

1216
01:24:46,479 --> 01:24:47,280
Speaker 1: around the world.

1217
01:24:48,560 --> 01:24:50,519
Speaker 2: All right, well, if you know, if we're gonna if

1218
01:24:50,560 --> 01:24:54,120
Speaker 2: we're gonna start speaking full on Yiddish, then then that

1219
01:24:54,120 --> 01:24:56,519
Speaker 2: we're instead. I grew up in a house where my

1220
01:24:56,600 --> 01:24:59,639
Speaker 2: parents spoke Yiddish. Didn't think I was understanding it. So

1221
01:25:00,120 --> 01:25:02,960
Speaker 2: you know how much Muschbeche is there in our in

1222
01:25:03,040 --> 01:25:08,679
Speaker 2: our community. It's a really important part. We We actually

1223
01:25:08,680 --> 01:25:11,760
Speaker 2: never refer to the company as a company or the

1224
01:25:11,800 --> 01:25:14,680
Speaker 2: brand as a brand. We refer to it as a

1225
01:25:14,720 --> 01:25:19,240
Speaker 2: community or a family. And it's really important when you're

1226
01:25:19,280 --> 01:25:24,040
Speaker 2: starting from a point of view that that unit of analysis,

1227
01:25:24,080 --> 01:25:27,040
Speaker 2: which is the ensemble, the band, is the pre eminent

1228
01:25:29,280 --> 01:25:33,960
Speaker 2: goal is a great performance working together. It is central.

1229
01:25:34,479 --> 01:25:41,200
Speaker 2: And the stories we hear Bob are they they'd they'd

1230
01:25:41,200 --> 01:25:44,960
Speaker 2: both uplift you and break your heart. You know, before

1231
01:25:46,680 --> 01:25:52,120
Speaker 2: everyone asked how we survived COVID, and the answer is

1232
01:25:52,160 --> 01:25:56,680
Speaker 2: that for School of Rock, that wasn't our first pandemic.

1233
01:25:57,520 --> 01:25:59,800
Speaker 2: We had a we were dealing with a pandemic well,

1234
01:25:59,760 --> 01:26:07,280
Speaker 2: but before COVID came, which is childhood anxiety, depression, suicidal,

1235
01:26:07,320 --> 01:26:17,000
Speaker 2: ideation and sadly suicide and far greater mortality in the

1236
01:26:17,040 --> 01:26:21,280
Speaker 2: age range we serve than COVID. And if we didn't

1237
01:26:21,320 --> 01:26:23,719
Speaker 2: know it before COVID, we know it even more now.

1238
01:26:24,360 --> 01:26:28,040
Speaker 2: Is that the non musical elements of what we do

1239
01:26:28,479 --> 01:26:33,120
Speaker 2: are the principal sources of differentiation. That is the highest

1240
01:26:33,240 --> 01:26:36,400
Speaker 2: value thing we do. I used to work as a

1241
01:26:36,479 --> 01:26:40,160
Speaker 2: chief marketing officer for CBS Pharmacy for seven and a

1242
01:26:40,200 --> 01:26:45,120
Speaker 2: half years, and having done that, I think of our

1243
01:26:45,200 --> 01:26:50,520
Speaker 2: business as a therapeutic business. All about adherence and compliance,

1244
01:26:51,200 --> 01:26:54,920
Speaker 2: which is that the medication of music and the medication

1245
01:26:55,120 --> 01:26:58,600
Speaker 2: of the experience of you know, just feeling in control

1246
01:26:58,640 --> 01:27:02,280
Speaker 2: and I'm getting up on stage and I'm important and

1247
01:27:02,439 --> 01:27:09,719
Speaker 2: without the band the song doesn't sound right. And knowing

1248
01:27:09,800 --> 01:27:14,880
Speaker 2: what an impact we're having on those students is really gratifying.

1249
01:27:14,960 --> 01:27:18,200
Speaker 2: But the tangible manifestations of it. When you walk into

1250
01:27:18,200 --> 01:27:22,439
Speaker 2: a school of rock, you will see smiles and eye

1251
01:27:22,439 --> 01:27:26,360
Speaker 2: contact and disengagement with phones in a way you won't

1252
01:27:26,400 --> 01:27:30,800
Speaker 2: see almost in any other activity. So if more people

1253
01:27:30,920 --> 01:27:34,640
Speaker 2: understood what mushburrah meant, I would make it part of

1254
01:27:34,680 --> 01:27:40,400
Speaker 2: our tagline because it really defines as in most cases Yiddish,

1255
01:27:40,520 --> 01:27:43,080
Speaker 2: it means something, but it means it even more in Yiddish.

1256
01:27:44,160 --> 01:27:46,720
Speaker 2: School of rock is a mushburrah, It.

1257
01:27:46,720 --> 01:27:51,360
Speaker 1: Is a family. Let's talk about the adults. Who are

1258
01:27:51,439 --> 01:27:55,679
Speaker 1: the adults who come? And on the same theme, there's

1259
01:27:55,760 --> 01:27:59,479
Speaker 1: all this talk about loneliness, especially amongst men, and some

1260
01:27:59,560 --> 01:28:03,120
Speaker 1: men don't don't have any friends. So who are the

1261
01:28:03,479 --> 01:28:08,160
Speaker 1: adult participants? Will it be something like I show up

1262
01:28:08,280 --> 01:28:11,719
Speaker 1: or will I end up creating relationships to translate outside

1263
01:28:11,760 --> 01:28:12,439
Speaker 1: of the program.

1264
01:28:13,400 --> 01:28:18,320
Speaker 2: We often see the latter, but sometimes it's the former.

1265
01:28:18,479 --> 01:28:18,680
Speaker 1: You know.

1266
01:28:18,800 --> 01:28:23,479
Speaker 2: The reality is that because of my travel schedule, I'm

1267
01:28:23,479 --> 01:28:26,920
Speaker 2: a really bad School of Rock adult band member. So

1268
01:28:27,000 --> 01:28:31,680
Speaker 2: I'm not a responsible person, responsible member of the band.

1269
01:28:32,280 --> 01:28:37,200
Speaker 2: I'm hoping my schedule can stabilize to some extent so

1270
01:28:37,280 --> 01:28:39,600
Speaker 2: that I can be a more active member. So I

1271
01:28:39,720 --> 01:28:42,320
Speaker 2: might not be one that's using it for a social outlet.

1272
01:28:42,880 --> 01:28:47,000
Speaker 2: But we have a lot of our schools where this

1273
01:28:47,240 --> 01:28:53,760
Speaker 2: becomes their you know, I think about the Freemasons, you know,

1274
01:28:53,880 --> 01:28:59,880
Speaker 2: a few centuries ago. There is this need for adult

1275
01:29:00,160 --> 01:29:06,320
Speaker 2: to have communal work, to have socialization, and there's such

1276
01:29:06,439 --> 01:29:11,479
Speaker 2: so much jarring research about the disassociation at the adult level.

1277
01:29:11,960 --> 01:29:15,320
Speaker 2: So yes, I think we do serve that purpose, but

1278
01:29:15,439 --> 01:29:18,839
Speaker 2: not exclusively for some folks. There's people who have their friends,

1279
01:29:18,920 --> 01:29:22,400
Speaker 2: they have their hobbies, but this is the place for

1280
01:29:22,439 --> 01:29:26,479
Speaker 2: them to get their musical outlet. But those people can

1281
01:29:26,479 --> 01:29:27,519
Speaker 2: coexist in a band.

1282
01:29:28,840 --> 01:29:34,680
Speaker 1: Okay. So talk to John Anderson, famous for Yes, he

1283
01:29:34,760 --> 01:29:37,559
Speaker 1: goes on the road with a School of Rock band.

1284
01:29:38,560 --> 01:29:42,240
Speaker 1: So we talked all about the education. A is there

1285
01:29:42,240 --> 01:29:46,160
Speaker 1: anybody who's been through the School of Rock program who

1286
01:29:46,240 --> 01:29:50,080
Speaker 1: has established a successful career as a professional musician that

1287
01:29:50,400 --> 01:29:53,160
Speaker 1: people might know the name of and what are the

1288
01:29:53,200 --> 01:29:56,280
Speaker 1: opportunities once you reach that level of proficiency.

1289
01:29:57,360 --> 01:30:00,040
Speaker 2: Yeah, we're excited that we're now sort of at the

1290
01:30:00,080 --> 01:30:02,840
Speaker 2: age and stage where those our kids are starting to

1291
01:30:02,880 --> 01:30:07,200
Speaker 2: break and ad middly, I'm a proud I'll answer your

1292
01:30:07,240 --> 01:30:12,400
Speaker 2: question sounding like a proud papa. We've got band submerging

1293
01:30:12,439 --> 01:30:20,439
Speaker 2: bands like Lifeguard and Hippocampus, Horse Girl, The Regrets, Geese.

1294
01:30:21,120 --> 01:30:24,479
Speaker 2: These are all bands that are largely or entirely School

1295
01:30:24,479 --> 01:30:28,960
Speaker 2: of Rock kids. And then you know, we're finding I

1296
01:30:29,000 --> 01:30:34,200
Speaker 2: think of the guitarists in Dominic Fike's band that we

1297
01:30:34,240 --> 01:30:36,080
Speaker 2: have a guitarist from a school of Rock who's in

1298
01:30:36,120 --> 01:30:39,320
Speaker 2: the Saturday Night Live band. So we're starting to see

1299
01:30:39,360 --> 01:30:46,200
Speaker 2: this very steady stream of folks who are now aging

1300
01:30:46,200 --> 01:30:50,720
Speaker 2: out of the program and stepping in to the profession.

1301
01:30:51,320 --> 01:30:53,960
Speaker 2: One of the things that's going to be a big

1302
01:30:54,040 --> 01:30:57,640
Speaker 2: area for growth for us going forward is, you know,

1303
01:30:57,720 --> 01:31:01,519
Speaker 2: we see about one hundred plus one thousand, maybe even

1304
01:31:01,520 --> 01:31:05,280
Speaker 2: one hundred and fifty thousand students in the next twelve

1305
01:31:05,280 --> 01:31:09,120
Speaker 2: months as part of our program, and over time that's

1306
01:31:09,160 --> 01:31:14,880
Speaker 2: going to build to millions of alumni. And the law

1307
01:31:14,920 --> 01:31:17,800
Speaker 2: of large numbers suggest that more and more and more

1308
01:31:17,840 --> 01:31:21,439
Speaker 2: of those kids soon to be adults are going to

1309
01:31:21,479 --> 01:31:26,479
Speaker 2: be at the centerpiece of the next generation of performing artists.

1310
01:31:27,040 --> 01:31:30,320
Speaker 2: We're looking to organize that in a much much more

1311
01:31:30,640 --> 01:31:35,479
Speaker 2: methodical way. You know, our offices are in Boston and

1312
01:31:35,560 --> 01:31:39,760
Speaker 2: Chicago and LA but I live in Nashville, and I

1313
01:31:39,880 --> 01:31:44,960
Speaker 2: moved to Nashville in part because as an environment for OSMOSIS,

1314
01:31:45,280 --> 01:31:48,000
Speaker 2: it's a great place for me to start connecting us

1315
01:31:48,439 --> 01:31:51,880
Speaker 2: in a bigger way to the broader value chain, because

1316
01:31:51,920 --> 01:31:58,040
Speaker 2: we should be the biggest producer of new talent in

1317
01:31:58,120 --> 01:32:01,639
Speaker 2: the musical field in the world, just because the sheer

1318
01:32:01,680 --> 01:32:04,599
Speaker 2: scale that we have and will get as we're growing

1319
01:32:04,760 --> 01:32:07,759
Speaker 2: at such a fast pace. So the answer is, yes,

1320
01:32:08,320 --> 01:32:10,920
Speaker 2: there are many more I don't even know about because

1321
01:32:10,960 --> 01:32:15,360
Speaker 2: we've done a perfectly terrible job on alumni relations. But

1322
01:32:15,479 --> 01:32:18,559
Speaker 2: coming over to the next twelve eighteen, twenty four months,

1323
01:32:18,680 --> 01:32:20,840
Speaker 2: it's going to be a very central part of what

1324
01:32:20,920 --> 01:32:24,840
Speaker 2: we do is being much more deliberate and much more

1325
01:32:24,920 --> 01:32:32,440
Speaker 2: disciplined around that supply chain and monetizing it and most importantly,

1326
01:32:32,520 --> 01:32:36,439
Speaker 2: helping amazing people get out into the space.

1327
01:32:37,000 --> 01:32:40,960
Speaker 1: Let's be specific. You mentioned School of Rock kids at Lollapalooza.

1328
01:32:42,000 --> 01:32:44,679
Speaker 1: How many kids do you have at this elite level

1329
01:32:45,600 --> 01:32:48,799
Speaker 1: and it's like the people going out with Johnny Anderson,

1330
01:32:48,840 --> 01:32:52,720
Speaker 1: which he testifies about. How many opportunities are there like

1331
01:32:52,800 --> 01:32:54,360
Speaker 1: that and what do the actually look like.

1332
01:32:56,120 --> 01:32:59,320
Speaker 2: Yeah, so we have a range of different opportunities that

1333
01:32:59,400 --> 01:33:03,040
Speaker 2: have a different level of threshold. So I'll give you

1334
01:33:03,080 --> 01:33:07,880
Speaker 2: three scenarios and the last is specifically what you're asking about.

1335
01:33:08,360 --> 01:33:13,520
Speaker 2: We have an opportunity each year we're you know Summerfest

1336
01:33:13,560 --> 01:33:18,320
Speaker 2: of course in Milwaukee. Well, Summerfest is during the daytime

1337
01:33:20,120 --> 01:33:23,760
Speaker 2: but basically becomes School of Rock. So we take over

1338
01:33:24,680 --> 01:33:28,400
Speaker 2: all the main stages at Summerfest and we'll have eighty

1339
01:33:28,479 --> 01:33:33,759
Speaker 2: two bands there from all around the world, Peru and Chile,

1340
01:33:34,000 --> 01:33:39,840
Speaker 2: and those will typically be the house bands from the

1341
01:33:39,880 --> 01:33:42,679
Speaker 2: individual schools. So think of those as the best players.

1342
01:33:42,880 --> 01:33:45,640
Speaker 2: Think of it like travel basketball. It's the best players

1343
01:33:45,840 --> 01:33:50,680
Speaker 2: typically of that school. Then we'll have a more selective

1344
01:33:50,720 --> 01:33:54,879
Speaker 2: program like we had schools having to audition their bands

1345
01:33:54,920 --> 01:33:57,880
Speaker 2: to get selected to play at Rock and Rio and Lisbon,

1346
01:33:59,280 --> 01:34:03,080
Speaker 2: and that was say, much more involved, logistics, much more complexity,

1347
01:34:03,640 --> 01:34:08,559
Speaker 2: higher profile, bigger, bigger attendance at some of the venue

1348
01:34:09,080 --> 01:34:13,280
Speaker 2: et cetera. And then the most selective we have is

1349
01:34:13,320 --> 01:34:18,040
Speaker 2: our All Stars program. And what we do is audition

1350
01:34:18,960 --> 01:34:22,160
Speaker 2: hundreds and hundreds of kids who are recommended by the schools.

1351
01:34:22,520 --> 01:34:24,759
Speaker 2: We zero it down to about one hundred and sixty

1352
01:34:24,760 --> 01:34:28,080
Speaker 2: one hundred and seventy of those kids put them into teams.

1353
01:34:28,560 --> 01:34:31,679
Speaker 2: We just completed our All Star tours. So the kids

1354
01:34:31,680 --> 01:34:36,720
Speaker 2: that play at Lalla or at Red Rocks, or you know,

1355
01:34:37,040 --> 01:34:39,519
Speaker 2: or do our recordings for us, those will be those

1356
01:34:39,560 --> 01:34:42,640
Speaker 2: all Star levels. And you and I would close our

1357
01:34:42,680 --> 01:34:46,080
Speaker 2: eyes at those performances and you would say, this is

1358
01:34:46,800 --> 01:34:49,519
Speaker 2: as good a rock and roll performance as you've ever heard,

1359
01:34:50,120 --> 01:34:54,720
Speaker 2: sometimes better. And what those kids will also do is

1360
01:34:54,800 --> 01:34:58,720
Speaker 2: do build our collateral. So we've secured sixty or so

1361
01:34:59,320 --> 01:35:03,000
Speaker 2: sync writes to some of the best songs that are

1362
01:35:03,040 --> 01:35:05,960
Speaker 2: out there. And so we'll have our all Stars go

1363
01:35:06,040 --> 01:35:14,320
Speaker 2: into Sunset Studios or go into another Tier one studio

1364
01:35:14,560 --> 01:35:20,920
Speaker 2: and record high production value. So you look at our

1365
01:35:21,040 --> 01:35:25,839
Speaker 2: rendition of California Dreaming. It's got over ten million organic

1366
01:35:25,960 --> 01:35:30,320
Speaker 2: views because it's just so damn good. And Lauren Fryhouf,

1367
01:35:30,320 --> 01:35:32,160
Speaker 2: who was the lead singer on it, ended up being

1368
01:35:32,240 --> 01:35:37,519
Speaker 2: number two on the Voice so I would say we

1369
01:35:37,680 --> 01:35:46,160
Speaker 2: have hundreds of kids who, if luck and access were right,

1370
01:35:47,120 --> 01:35:50,200
Speaker 2: would be as competitive in the professional market as anything

1371
01:35:50,200 --> 01:35:53,240
Speaker 2: that's out there, and that's going to grow to thousands. Now,

1372
01:35:53,240 --> 01:35:57,920
Speaker 2: of course, the markets mean it's difficult, it's limited, so

1373
01:35:58,320 --> 01:36:00,200
Speaker 2: there's not going to be the opportunity for all of

1374
01:36:00,200 --> 01:36:04,120
Speaker 2: those kids to become professionals, and not all of them

1375
01:36:04,160 --> 01:36:05,720
Speaker 2: want to. We have a lot of kids who are

1376
01:36:06,280 --> 01:36:09,400
Speaker 2: professional level musicians, but they also want to be professional

1377
01:36:09,439 --> 01:36:15,720
Speaker 2: level doctor. So but it's in the hundreds growing to

1378
01:36:15,800 --> 01:36:19,560
Speaker 2: the thousands of kids that I think would be signable.

1379
01:36:20,880 --> 01:36:23,439
Speaker 1: Why you why do you run the house a school

1380
01:36:23,439 --> 01:36:23,800
Speaker 1: of rock?

1381
01:36:25,960 --> 01:36:34,280
Speaker 2: Well, you know, I'm a musician from early childhood, maybe

1382
01:36:34,320 --> 01:36:40,839
Speaker 2: more importantly, you know, for me, music was my therapeutic outlet.

1383
01:36:41,520 --> 01:36:44,840
Speaker 2: So you know, I wasn't that athletic kid. I wasn't

1384
01:36:44,840 --> 01:36:52,639
Speaker 2: the tall kid, wasn't the richest kid, and notwithstanding my charm,

1385
01:36:52,680 --> 01:36:56,439
Speaker 2: I wasn't the most charming kid. And what I found

1386
01:36:56,560 --> 01:37:01,360
Speaker 2: with music is that the embrace and the support structure

1387
01:37:01,600 --> 01:37:10,000
Speaker 2: and the the the the opportunity to make friends without

1388
01:37:10,000 --> 01:37:14,360
Speaker 2: even speaking a word was so powerful that it always

1389
01:37:14,760 --> 01:37:16,400
Speaker 2: was in the back of my head, how can I

1390
01:37:16,600 --> 01:37:18,639
Speaker 2: play a bigger role. But then I had a very

1391
01:37:18,680 --> 01:37:24,520
Speaker 2: conventional career, you know, consulting, getting an MBA, going into retail,

1392
01:37:25,400 --> 01:37:32,880
Speaker 2: going going into other franchising environment and then, you know,

1393
01:37:33,320 --> 01:37:36,320
Speaker 2: maybe the most important factor was for me was in

1394
01:37:36,360 --> 01:37:40,000
Speaker 2: the role. Immediately before this role, I worked for another

1395
01:37:40,439 --> 01:37:45,800
Speaker 2: very large franchise company called Edible Arrangements. So if you

1396
01:37:45,840 --> 01:37:50,040
Speaker 2: ever have questions on how to cut pineapple just right

1397
01:37:50,400 --> 01:37:53,240
Speaker 2: and make bouquets out of fruit, I am your guy.

1398
01:37:54,080 --> 01:37:58,519
Speaker 2: But while I was in that role, my brother got

1399
01:37:58,680 --> 01:38:06,800
Speaker 2: very ill with pancreatic cancer. And as I think everyone

1400
01:38:06,920 --> 01:38:10,639
Speaker 2: listening can identify, you have those moments where you say,

1401
01:38:12,760 --> 01:38:15,720
Speaker 2: what am I on this planet to do? What am

1402
01:38:15,720 --> 01:38:18,040
Speaker 2: I here to do? What matters to me? What will

1403
01:38:18,080 --> 01:38:21,280
Speaker 2: give me joy? And it's almost as if the universe

1404
01:38:21,360 --> 01:38:23,800
Speaker 2: was answering the question back. I got a call from

1405
01:38:23,880 --> 01:38:26,160
Speaker 2: School of Rock. They said, okay, well you've got a

1406
01:38:26,200 --> 01:38:33,960
Speaker 2: background in marketing and branding and organizational transformation and CRM

1407
01:38:34,080 --> 01:38:36,320
Speaker 2: and all in these franchise skills. You seem like a

1408
01:38:36,320 --> 01:38:39,160
Speaker 2: good guy to talk to. They had no idea that

1409
01:38:39,280 --> 01:38:42,680
Speaker 2: music was my most important thing. We even had a

1410
01:38:42,680 --> 01:38:45,840
Speaker 2: family band with my kids, and my poor wife was

1411
01:38:45,880 --> 01:38:53,000
Speaker 2: conscripted as the bass player, and I so regret not

1412
01:38:53,200 --> 01:38:57,759
Speaker 2: finding my purpose earlier. Although none of the stops along

1413
01:38:57,800 --> 01:39:02,120
Speaker 2: the way, I wouldn't be in the role without the

1414
01:39:02,160 --> 01:39:05,000
Speaker 2: stops along the way. But that's why I'm running School

1415
01:39:05,000 --> 01:39:10,320
Speaker 2: of Rock. I feel like fate has dealt me the

1416
01:39:10,720 --> 01:39:13,840
Speaker 2: kindest hand by giving me this at a time in

1417
01:39:13,880 --> 01:39:17,840
Speaker 2: my life when I can appreciate it. It's incredibly fulfilling.

1418
01:39:19,479 --> 01:39:23,800
Speaker 1: Okay, so what are the challenges you presently face in

1419
01:39:23,880 --> 01:39:27,360
Speaker 1: the business and what are the goals. We've covered some

1420
01:39:27,439 --> 01:39:29,720
Speaker 1: of the goals, but what are the challenges.

1421
01:39:30,920 --> 01:39:34,000
Speaker 2: I think the biggest challenge of an organization that's so

1422
01:39:34,160 --> 01:39:40,640
Speaker 2: purpose driven, that's so anchored in creativity and community, is

1423
01:39:41,120 --> 01:39:45,600
Speaker 2: preservation of the culture. You know, we're growing so fast

1424
01:39:46,400 --> 01:39:49,439
Speaker 2: in so many places in there. You know, We've got

1425
01:39:51,000 --> 01:39:56,559
Speaker 2: you know, Australia and Taiwan, Philippines, South Africa, And on

1426
01:39:56,600 --> 01:39:59,120
Speaker 2: the one hand, when I visit these locations, it feels

1427
01:39:59,200 --> 01:40:02,639
Speaker 2: like I'm an old friend. But on the other hand,

1428
01:40:02,680 --> 01:40:07,439
Speaker 2: I'm mindful that as you increase your scale, increase your scope,

1429
01:40:08,120 --> 01:40:14,840
Speaker 2: how do you preserve that delicate balance of not just

1430
01:40:14,920 --> 01:40:18,040
Speaker 2: doing this for the money, but also not doing it

1431
01:40:18,040 --> 01:40:20,439
Speaker 2: for the money, making sure that there's a sufficient profit

1432
01:40:20,520 --> 01:40:25,640
Speaker 2: motive to drive growth and reinvestment. And you know, I

1433
01:40:25,680 --> 01:40:30,720
Speaker 2: think that every CEO if that's not their number one thing,

1434
01:40:30,760 --> 01:40:35,840
Speaker 2: if they're a growth company, then they're kidding themselves. So

1435
01:40:36,080 --> 01:40:38,400
Speaker 2: we do a lot of work on succession planning. We

1436
01:40:38,479 --> 01:40:42,880
Speaker 2: do an enormous amount of work on culture building values,

1437
01:40:43,520 --> 01:40:47,040
Speaker 2: you know, really conveying the why of what we do.

1438
01:40:47,760 --> 01:40:52,719
Speaker 2: But that's what keeps me sleepless is at what point

1439
01:40:52,840 --> 01:40:58,080
Speaker 2: does it start feeling as if we're losing something in

1440
01:40:58,160 --> 01:41:01,760
Speaker 2: the translation. We have hit that point yet, I'm not

1441
01:41:01,800 --> 01:41:04,720
Speaker 2: worried about it in the next six months or eighteen months.

1442
01:41:05,200 --> 01:41:08,040
Speaker 2: But as we grow from being three hundred and forty

1443
01:41:08,080 --> 01:41:12,120
Speaker 2: schools to being fifteen hundred or two thousand, we have

1444
01:41:12,160 --> 01:41:16,080
Speaker 2: to work hardest at that because if we lose it

1445
01:41:16,120 --> 01:41:19,120
Speaker 2: at the corporate level, we'll lose it in the rehearsal room.

1446
01:41:19,800 --> 01:41:25,440
Speaker 1: Okay, and relatively quickly. Because most people are confused, explain

1447
01:41:26,400 --> 01:41:30,759
Speaker 1: what the School of Rock is relative to the movie,

1448
01:41:31,320 --> 01:41:36,879
Speaker 1: the musical, and other operations that have used a similar moniker.

1449
01:41:37,720 --> 01:41:41,439
Speaker 2: Yeah, so School of Rock predated the movie and by

1450
01:41:41,640 --> 01:41:46,240
Speaker 2: definition predated the musical, and it was a relatively small

1451
01:41:46,400 --> 01:41:51,040
Speaker 2: organization at that time when the movie came out, and

1452
01:41:51,520 --> 01:41:55,360
Speaker 2: soon after that great movie came out, School of Rock

1453
01:41:55,439 --> 01:42:01,000
Speaker 2: was acquired by private equity. Management was professionalized, it was infrastructure.

1454
01:42:01,080 --> 01:42:05,200
Speaker 2: There were more lawyers about and financed people about. And

1455
01:42:05,240 --> 01:42:07,559
Speaker 2: the question came up, which is, this is a little

1456
01:42:07,600 --> 01:42:11,000
Speaker 2: bit of a strange situation, which is we pre existed

1457
01:42:11,640 --> 01:42:17,439
Speaker 2: this amazing movie. And it was right about the time

1458
01:42:17,560 --> 01:42:22,320
Speaker 2: when the movie was being over, the brand was being

1459
01:42:22,400 --> 01:42:25,960
Speaker 2: licensed to Andrew Lloyd Webber for the musical which came

1460
01:42:26,240 --> 01:42:30,120
Speaker 2: several years later, and it was at that time we

1461
01:42:30,360 --> 01:42:35,320
Speaker 2: reached a really really constructive coexistence agreement with the good

1462
01:42:35,320 --> 01:42:42,519
Speaker 2: people of Paramount that effectively organizes the where we can

1463
01:42:42,640 --> 01:42:45,559
Speaker 2: operate and where the movie can operate. And for us

1464
01:42:45,600 --> 01:42:48,240
Speaker 2: it's terrific because we're going to be in the business

1465
01:42:48,240 --> 01:42:52,559
Speaker 2: of children's music education. We can do reality TV shows,

1466
01:42:52,640 --> 01:42:57,519
Speaker 2: we can do tours of School of Rock musicians under

1467
01:42:57,520 --> 01:43:00,799
Speaker 2: the School of Rock name. We have our own logo types,

1468
01:43:00,880 --> 01:43:04,880
Speaker 2: our own identities, we have massive land banking all around

1469
01:43:04,920 --> 01:43:11,280
Speaker 2: the world in terms of domains and trade dress, and

1470
01:43:11,800 --> 01:43:15,240
Speaker 2: really the only thing we can't do is make comedy

1471
01:43:15,280 --> 01:43:20,720
Speaker 2: movies or do fictional Broadway shows, and thankfully we're very

1472
01:43:20,760 --> 01:43:24,920
Speaker 2: friendly with both parties. We're big fans of really useful

1473
01:43:24,920 --> 01:43:28,240
Speaker 2: group because they're doing such a great job of sustaining

1474
01:43:28,640 --> 01:43:32,360
Speaker 2: the brand the stage show, which we think is really special.

1475
01:43:32,479 --> 01:43:37,080
Speaker 2: So the way to think about it is just we're cousins,

1476
01:43:38,160 --> 01:43:42,080
Speaker 2: but we don't really operate in any direct way, and

1477
01:43:42,120 --> 01:43:48,559
Speaker 2: we really didn't grow out of one another as as

1478
01:43:49,320 --> 01:43:52,720
Speaker 2: specifically as one might thought might think most people think

1479
01:43:52,760 --> 01:43:54,559
Speaker 2: we came after the movie, but we did not.

1480
01:43:55,720 --> 01:43:58,719
Speaker 1: And any plans to go public.

1481
01:44:00,520 --> 01:44:04,160
Speaker 2: Boy, you know, that's one of those are you running

1482
01:44:04,160 --> 01:44:07,519
Speaker 2: for president questions, which is I can say for sure

1483
01:44:07,960 --> 01:44:12,439
Speaker 2: that there are no plans afoot to go public at

1484
01:44:12,439 --> 01:44:17,519
Speaker 2: this time. I think that frankly, we're a small business,

1485
01:44:17,640 --> 01:44:25,280
Speaker 2: a relatively small business. We've got really favorable economics, so

1486
01:44:25,320 --> 01:44:29,680
Speaker 2: we can self fund to a large extent, and so

1487
01:44:29,800 --> 01:44:32,880
Speaker 2: while I don't see going public in the future, I

1488
01:44:33,040 --> 01:44:36,519
Speaker 2: definitely see that there are lots of transformational ways that

1489
01:44:36,560 --> 01:44:40,280
Speaker 2: we could work with partners and kind of build on

1490
01:44:40,439 --> 01:44:42,479
Speaker 2: what we do and do it in a bigger way.

1491
01:44:43,040 --> 01:44:46,320
Speaker 2: Because if you really think what business we're in, it

1492
01:44:46,360 --> 01:44:49,960
Speaker 2: would be myopic to say we're in the music education business.

1493
01:44:51,280 --> 01:44:54,520
Speaker 2: We've talked about, well beyond that, we're in this the

1494
01:44:54,560 --> 01:44:58,439
Speaker 2: talent production business, but we haven't fully capitalized upon it.

1495
01:44:58,720 --> 01:45:03,040
Speaker 2: But more broadly, we're in the child enrichment business. So

1496
01:45:03,280 --> 01:45:07,840
Speaker 2: is there a way for us to integrate in a

1497
01:45:07,920 --> 01:45:13,720
Speaker 2: bigger environment with other related areas, more tangential areas, and

1498
01:45:13,800 --> 01:45:17,200
Speaker 2: take all the things we know about child enrichment and

1499
01:45:17,280 --> 01:45:21,000
Speaker 2: blow that out. I'm excited about that, but I don't

1500
01:45:21,000 --> 01:45:23,160
Speaker 2: see us going public in the near term. I don't

1501
01:45:23,200 --> 01:45:30,280
Speaker 2: We really don't need to do that for investment, and

1502
01:45:30,400 --> 01:45:34,120
Speaker 2: I'm not sure that right now would help our That

1503
01:45:34,320 --> 01:45:37,439
Speaker 2: number one MORI I have, which is cultural, is that

1504
01:45:37,520 --> 01:45:40,120
Speaker 2: I really think our Armish book is going to be

1505
01:45:40,120 --> 01:45:44,559
Speaker 2: better off all around the dinner, the dinner table, enjoying

1506
01:45:44,600 --> 01:45:49,120
Speaker 2: one another's company. And notwithstanding the fact I know a

1507
01:45:49,120 --> 01:45:52,559
Speaker 2: lot of people who are on Wall Street, I'm not

1508
01:45:52,600 --> 01:45:55,680
Speaker 2: sure they need to be at the table for this

1509
01:45:55,720 --> 01:45:57,800
Speaker 2: particular dinner at this particular time.

1510
01:45:58,360 --> 01:46:00,600
Speaker 1: Well, Rob, I want to thank you for taking the

1511
01:46:00,680 --> 01:46:04,400
Speaker 1: time to speak to me and my audience. I have people,

1512
01:46:04,439 --> 01:46:08,519
Speaker 1: whether it be parents or an adult close friend, they

1513
01:46:08,560 --> 01:46:11,160
Speaker 1: can't stop talking about the School of Rock. You know,

1514
01:46:11,240 --> 01:46:13,759
Speaker 1: most people say, oh, yeah, my kid's in competitive swimming

1515
01:46:13,760 --> 01:46:16,320
Speaker 1: woods they go on, I got one, Frienci, Well, this

1516
01:46:16,360 --> 01:46:20,160
Speaker 1: is what we're doing this term. You know, these are

1517
01:46:20,160 --> 01:46:22,960
Speaker 1: the solos I'm playing, These are the songs, and I'll

1518
01:46:22,960 --> 01:46:27,920
Speaker 1: discuss whatever. And it probably is that your students are

1519
01:46:27,960 --> 01:46:29,759
Speaker 1: your best marketing device.

1520
01:46:30,920 --> 01:46:33,439
Speaker 2: They are, and you know, it just comes down to

1521
01:46:33,479 --> 01:46:37,800
Speaker 2: this principles. Somebody asked me the other day, is like,

1522
01:46:37,840 --> 01:46:40,880
Speaker 2: how in one sentence can you define what's special about this?

1523
01:46:41,040 --> 01:46:45,200
Speaker 2: And I always say, you know, what's more fun than

1524
01:46:45,439 --> 01:46:51,800
Speaker 2: seeing Mick Jagger is being And when we can hear

1525
01:46:51,880 --> 01:46:54,840
Speaker 2: those raves from the kids and those parents, that's a

1526
01:46:54,880 --> 01:46:57,320
Speaker 2: great joy. And I'm so glad to hear that, and

1527
01:46:57,320 --> 01:46:59,880
Speaker 2: I'm so pleased that you gave me the opportunity to

1528
01:47:00,040 --> 01:47:01,000
Speaker 2: talk about it with you today.

1529
01:47:02,120 --> 01:47:06,120
Speaker 1: Thank you, Rob. Till next time. This is Bob left

1530
01:47:06,160 --> 01:47:28,400
Speaker 1: sticks sh