Introduction
Concerts evoke a magical feeling that leads fans of artists to see their favorite band over and over again. These experiences are not possible without the work of companies such as BSI Production, that organize and execute the preproduction of the event.
BSI Production is a private business headquartered in Ithaca, New York. Its clientele is composed primarily of upstate New York companies, such as Cornell University. BSI production has a variety of corporate clients outside upstate New York as well, from Budweiser to Watkins Glen (BSI Production, 2017), an international race track company (Watkins Glen International, 2017). It has also worked with artists and government officials, ranging from former president Bill Clinton to Rihanna (BSI Production, 2017).
BSI Production was founded in December of 1993. Once known as Branchini Sound (Darnell, 1994), named after founder Ron Branchini, the company provides numerous concert related services. It will set up the sound/staging, provide video resources, manage the event, and perform sales and services. It can provide complete vertical integration of the concert experience, should a client request it (BSI Production, 2017).
Assets
BSI Productions at Cornell
The company lists on its home website what assets they have available for sound, lighting, staging, and other equipment. In addition, it has founder Ron Branchini behind the business, who has worked as the president of the company for all twenty-four years of the company’s existence. Branchini’s consistent excellence has resulted in continued work for the company, such as its project with Cornell, pictured above, in 2015 (Branchini, 2017). Its relationships with its clients, and diverse pool of former clients, is a significant asset for the company, and is a driver of its business model.
Business Model
While the music industry is adapting to a heavily stream based world (Gerber, 2014), BSI’s business model remains true to its core strengths, but has evolved to include a diverse offering of services to clients. Branchini has noted the importance of being ahead technologically compared to his competitors since a year within the company’s founding, which was documented in the Sound Reinforcement magazine (Darnell, 1994). BSI Productions offers the capability not only to set up any concert, but to streamline and produce the entire production (BSI Production, 2017).
There is a competitive market in the Northeastern New York area for concert production work. Googling is a primary way to find companies for services that a potential customer is looking for, and BSI Production is listed fifth in a search for “Northeast New York Concert Production Companies” (Google, 2017). In addition, founder Ron Branchini explained that the word of mouth from prior work the company has done is also a big draw for the company’s business.
Branchini explained that when a potential client reaches out, BSI Productions will offer a bid, and notify the client to respond with a flat yes or no. They do not renegotiate with the client, as they open with the most competitive offer they have.
BSI Productions recognizes its competitive advantage to its competitors to the area, and hone in on its prior client history. The other four companies listed before them on the google search, National Audio (National Audio, 2017), Audio East (Audio East, 2017), ESP New York, and Northeastern Production (Northeastern Production, 2017), all do not list out its previous client experience on its home website. Its competitors elect to focus in on other segments of its business.
BSI highlights these prior relationships as to provide concrete examples to potential clients with the star power of its clientele and it work to those whom are looking for a production company.
Revenue Model
The company makes money based on the amount of services it provides to the client. The client and BSI productions will enter into an agreement on what services BSI Production will provide, negotiate a contract, and then execute the contract. Branchini explained that the company’s revenue is driven primarily by large client contacts.
The company collects revenue in two separate avenues. If the contract is under $30,000, BSI productions will collect the full amount the day of the event. If the contract is over $30,000, the company will collect a deposit beforehand. If the contract is above $300,000, the company will be paid at drop points, which will be negotiated with the client.
While competitors in the area will offer bundle discounts, BSI Productions does not. Branchini explained that in order to pay everyone’s salary, health care and benefits, that the company cannot afford to offer discounts to meet his company’s needs.
Future of the Business
The company has adapted to the market trend change of going to casinos for events, instead of local theaters. Branchini explained that once casinos opened, concert production turned to a corporate model.
In addition, BSI Productions has had to become more regionally focused, relative to its focus across the continental United States. Fuel costs, as well as casinos opening up, led the company to adapt this way.
Taking a macro view on the industry as a whole, North American concert industry tickets have risen year over year since 2011, with 2016 total revenue amounting to $7.3 billion dollars, per the chart above found on Variety (DiMartino, 2017).
This would lead one to believe that the demand for concerts would be up. However, the Syracuse area is the 29th poorest in America as of 2016 census data, with populous Rochester and Buffalo coming in 15th and 16th poorest cities in the country, respectively. The Upstate New York area is one of the poorest in the United States (Weiner, 2016), leaving the area with low disposable incomes for luxury goods such as concerts. This will put pressure on BSI Productions if the demand for concerts decreases with a potential increase in poverty rate.
Branchini explained that this economic trend does not harm the company’s large business clients. As those clients are companies and universities, they are not as affected by the poverty trend.
BSI Productions has shown an ability to adapt to a changing concert market, and they will continue to show its magic going forward.
Bibliography
Branchini, R. (n.d.). Ron Branchini LinkedIn Profile. Retrieved September 12, 2017 from https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-branchini-0935b916/
BSI Production. (n.d.). Retrieved September 12, 2017, from http://www.bsiproduction.com/
[BSI Production Example]. (n.d.) Retrieved September 12, 2017, from http://www.bsiproduction.com/index.html
Concert & Event Production Company | Audio Visual Services. (n.d.). Retrieved September 12, 2017, from http://audioeast.com
[Cornell University 2015]. (n.d.). Retrieved September 12, 2017, from https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-branchini-0935b916/
Darnell, R. (1994, March). Regional SRs Maintaining Edge Through Competitiveness & Flexibility. Sound Reinforcement, 75-75.
DiMartino, D. (2017, February 08). Live Nation Leads the Charge in Concert Business’ Booming Revenue. Retrieved September 12, 2017, from http://variety.com/2017/music/features/live-nation-concert-business-1201979571/
Eastern Stage Productions. (2015, September 25). Retrieved September 12, 2017, from http://www.espnewyork.com
Gerber, R. (2014, July 29). Making Money in the Music Industry. Retrieved September 12, 2017, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2014/07/29/making-money-in-the-music-industry/#6c00cd3a4b41
Google. (N.d.). Retrieved September 12, 2017, from https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=North+east+new+york+concert+production+companies&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
National Audio. (n.d.). Retreived September 12, 2017, from http://www.nationalaudio.us
North American Concert Industry Ticket Sales by Year [Chart from 1990-2016]. (2017, February 7). Retrieved September 12, 2017, from http://variety.com/2017/music/features/live-nation-concert-business-1201979571/
Northeastern Production Web Site. (n.d.). Retrieved September 12, 2017 from http://www.northeasternproduction.com
Watkins Glen International. (N.d.). Retrieved September 12, 2017, from http://www.theglen.com/?homepage=true
Weiner, M. (2016, September 15). Syracuse’s poverty rate remains among worst in nation, Census finds. Retreived September 12, 2017 from http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2016/09/syracuses_poverty_rate_remains_among_worst_in_nation_census_finds.html