How many groups are competing?

In the fall of 2010, The A Cappella Blog invited every collegiate a cappella group we could find to participate in a survey. Our objective was to develop a better understanding of current trends in a cappella—what groups are or are not doing and to what degree.

Over 300 groups from across the US and abroad responded to the survey. Throughout our 2010 publication season, we will review results from this survey and talk about what our findings mean. We welcome and encourage groups to look over the information to learn, to benchmark and to satisfy their own curiosity.

This edition’s question: How many times has your group competed in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella over the last four years?

Of the groups surveyed, more than half had not competed in the ICCAs in the last four years. There’s a pretty wide array of reasons why this may be the case. For one thing, the survey failed to distinguish between those groups that had applied to compete and didn’t make the cut, and those who did not compete solely based upon choice. There are only so many spots available for live competition, and so it’s reasonable to think that a percentage of these groups tried to compete and were not able to do so.

These numbers are also indicative of the number of new groups in collegiate a cappella. As they find their footing in the a cappella scene, intercollegiate competition will be the last thing on the minds of many groups—they haven’t thought of it, and perhaps haven’t even heard of Varsity Vocals in their nascent state. Moreover, tying to the groups that have tried to compete but not yet been accepted, there are new groups that are probably not yet at a level at which they feel comfortable competing.

I’ve talked with a number of collegiate a cappella performers who aren’t keen on competition because their groups have other foci. Successfully competing tends to mean whittling down a group’s catalog and focusing almost exclusively on three-to-five songs to bring to the ICCAs. This limits the new material a group will learn, opportunities to perform on campus, opportunities to tour, or developing enough content for a recording. Simply put, competition just isn’t some groups’ cups of tea.

Of the remaining almost 40 percent of groups that had participated in competition, less than six percent had competed in every one of the last four years. of the last four years. This suggests that some groups will compete, but don’t want to devote the time and effort to it every year. Otherwise, there are likely groups that do not have a positive experience in competition, and opt not to go back after the first time, or, conversely, that are so successful in one outing that they don’t feel a need to prove anything in future ICCAs.

This data indicates that, although the ICCAs remain one of the most exciting parts of the collegiate a cappella scene, fewer than half of today’s active groups are participating with any regularity.