Fast 55..

Fast 55: Ready to roll

Saving rock 'n roll one franchise at a time

By Nancy Weingartner
As published in: Franchise Times - March 2009

The Paul Green School of Rock prepares kids for a life of rock 'n roll - either on the stage or in their garage.

Raise your hand if this was you: Your mom nagged you about practicing the piano; your parents bought you a drum set, but it didn't have a high-hat; the only songs your music teacher taught were classical and not anything you'd be caught actually listening to.

No wonder none of us grew up to be rock stars. But there is hope for future generations, thanks to a fast-growing franchise based in Philadelphia aptly named the Paul Green School of Rock.

Matt Ross played a little guitar himself before becoming president of The School of Rock.

"We're changing the paradigm," says Matt Ross, president of the School of Rock. Not only are kids playing music they like, but they live the rock star dream - performing live to a large audience. After they take a private lesson, students return a second time each week to practice with their fellow band members for an upcoming show. "With a concert date on the calendar, they work harder, learn quicker," Ross says.

And they look forward to it.

"How many 14-year-olds get together and say, 'Let's go to my house and practice Mozart together," he asks. Point well taken.

Students play loud music by the likes of The Who and Led Zepplin, "with an electric guitar in hand."

Paul Green, founder of the Paul Green School of Rock Music, gives kids music they actually want to play.

Paul Green - think of the Jack Black movie of the same name, "School of Rock" - came up with the idea in 1998, after deciding he was a better teacher than rock star. The school became a franchise once Green understood the business was replicable. When parents of his students started approaching him to open schools in the suburbs, he had his pool of franchisee candidates.

The model employs "real working musicians" as teachers, and the instruments taught include everything you'd find in a rock band, including vocals.

The student ratio is 60/40 boys to girls and the core group is ages 8 to 18, Ross says.

For the rehearsal groups, kids are grouped by skill level and instrument - how they do it is part of their proprietary system.

What takes the school out of traditional, in-home music lessons is that students have an opportunity to play live music in rock-style venues. The All Stars - handpicked by Green - tour the country, playing music festivals. "They play hundreds of shows to audiences of 50 to 20,000," Ross says. "A lot of kids go on to college, still playing in bands and writing music."

At a glance Franchise Fee: $67,500 Ad fund: 1 percent Royalty: 7 percent Tagline: "Saving rock 'n roll one kid at a time."

One of Green's success stories is brother and sister duo, Eric and Julie Slick, who went on to be part of The Adrian Belew Power Trio. Julie learned to play bass at the school and her younger brother was brought in to play drums. Eric went on to teach drums at the Philadelphia school.

"For me success is that kids learn to play and play forever," Ross says. Being a creative kid who may not be good at sports can play havoc on a child's self-esteem, Ross points out. Music can be the outlet that lets the kid "hit it out of the park."

The franchise fee is $67,500 and the royalty is 8 percent, with 1 percent going into the brand fund. The target franchisee is a career musician, but Ross says that "more often than not, it's a successful business person with a love for music." Most either have kids who play or they played when they were kids.

But that doesn't mean they'll take anyone who has ever held a guitar. "We're discriminating," he says. "My goal is to have a 100 percent success rate."

Currently there are 29 schools open, with another 50 units in development agreements. And while, they don't want a School of Rock on every corner, they play equally well in suburbs and cities. And even overseas. "When you're singing The Beatles, it's a universal language," Ross says.

Check out the Web site. Each school has a Web page with locally inspired graphics that rocks.

Download the 2009 Franchise Times Fast 55 PDF* by clicking here. (* PDF file size is 5.4MB. Opens in a new window)

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Franchise Times - March 2009