The Millennia Collection of Glorious Christmas Music
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Ronald M. Clancy    

Background

       Ronald M. Clancy is a 59-year-old publisher and former executive recruiter/business consultant to high tech companies. A graduate of George Washington University (1967) with a BA in Journalism, he is married and resides in southern New Jersey.

       Clancy has had a keen interest in Christmas music since his early days when he sang in a boys' choir at a Catholic orphanage in Philadelphia. Since the early 1980s he has collected a fairly extensive library of Christmas music, and by the mid-1980s he was giving it away in the form of holiday gifts. A few years later these gifts swelled to a package of three or four cassettes to which he added a small directory of the audio selections. That directory had bits of information about each selection, e.g., "Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly" would read . . . "Anonymous 16th century Welsh carol."

       The recipients of these gifts liked the diversity of the music, suggesting to Clancy that he might have the elements of a Christmas product. Clancy was already aware of a number of existing Christmas music collections and books about Christmas music, but he felt the product he wanted to develop would be considerably different from any existing Christmas music collection.

       Thus, the process of developing THE MILLENNIA COLLECTION: Glorious Christmas Music, Songs, and Carols began in 1989. A review of the Acknowledgments and Bibliography sections of the each volume of the collection provides solid evidence of the extensive research that went into the work. The amount of time and personal resources Clancy invested in THE MILLENNIA COLLECTION: Glorious Christmas Music, Songs, and Carols were enormous. The work has been granted six copyrights. The research was thorough to ensure the integrity of the facts. The text has been fine tuned and in consultation with Prof. William E. Studwell, one of the foremost authorities on Christmas carols in the United States.

       Getting accurate information, at times, was a problem. In some cases information from one source might be refuted by another, such as in the case of "Carol of the Bells" and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." Computer formatting of the text was a serious headache. These efforts were made with one major objective in mind: to create one of the finest Christmas music collections ever.

       This objective has held despite what some traditionalists have said with respect to the marketing of Christmas music. They believe the average consumer will only buy basic traditional Christmas music. So they offer the consumer the standard fare of popular songs and carols every Christmas season. Go to any large music chain store and you will find hundreds of CDs or cassettes on the shelves. By and large these audio items, cassettes or compact discs, carry ten to fifteen songs or carols on the average. It is the specialty record companies, or classical music clubs, which sell other interesting and beautiful Christmas music, although their music products are targeted for small niche markets.

       To package THE MILLENNIA COLLECTION as a superb combination of Christmas Art, History, Song Lyrics, and Music CD collection, Clancy felt the average consumer must be reached. To accomplish this goal Clancy included traditional and popular holiday music in the same collection as classical, centuries old Christmas music. In other words, he constructed the product to be as comprehensive as possible, one that provides the consumer with Christmas music of all varieties. However, the music was segmented into a variety of categories so that the consumer would have purchasing options.

       Part of the rationale for developing the product in its unique format was somewhat similar to one voiced by Walt Disney when he created the movie Fantasia . Disney wanted children to take an interest in classical music, and he thought he might be able to achieve his objective through a medium he was best known for - cartoon animation. However, he felt his effort was a total failure. We know better, in retrospect, because of the commercial success Fantasia has gained over the years via a number of theater re-releases and its eventual sale as a home video product.

       THE MILLENNIA COLLECTION has all the elements to replicate Disney's success formula in the world of Christmas music products. The average consumer could find interest in classical and liturgical works even if they were incorporated as part of the same product with better known traditional Christmas music. The key to success will be the marketing strategy employed to produce and market the entire series of nine titles.

       Despite the positive appeal of the product to those who have seen it, what could not be diminished was the serious issue of obtaining the necessary copyright permissions. This process was most difficult, and the major reason why large publishers had been reluctant to get involved with the product. Sensitive to this publisher reluctance, Clancy did all the necessary leg work to facilitate getting the necessary copyright permissions. The results of his efforts are as follows:

1) identified all of the copyright owners of the print lyrics, art/illustrations, and audio recordings
2) obtained assurances from SONY Music Special Products (formerly Columbia Records) that it can get the audio rights and master recordings to all requested recordings
3) obtained in principle, either in writing or verbally, 100% of the permissions needed to publish lyrics, translations, etc.
4) researched, identified, and corresponded with all owners of the fine art and illustrations (approximately 700 images) to ease the way to publish all editions of the collection.

       There are elements of THE MILLENNIA COLLECTION that possess some of the same appeal as the successful audio CD Chant by the Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo De Silos of Spain, which to date have sold over 6,000,000 copies. Also highly successful was an audio CD of Pope John Paul II saying the rosary in Latin. The development of Christmas music included Gregorian chant that at one time was the Christmas music of its day. Such classical pieces as "Anima Nostra" and the carol hymn, "Veni, Emmanuel" (O Come, O Come Emmanuel), may have had their genesis with chant. The German motets "Hort zu lieben Leute" and "Gelobet und Gepreiset" may trace their roots to a form of polyphonic chant. The Spanish villancico, "Riu, Riu, Chiu" also has distinctive plainsong qualities.

       These works are just a few of those included in THE MILLENNIA COLLECTION . They were Christmas compositions and part of a two thousand year history of music that many consumers know little or nothing about. Yet they are just as appealing and beautiful as traditional and popular compositions. Because of the success of the above mentioned audio CDs, plus the repeated success of Christmas music collections, Ron Clancy believes the market is there for his unique Christmas products.

       That market is international in scope, comprising the major markets of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France. Lesser markets would be Italy, Spain, and other European countries.THE MILLENNIA COLLECTION includes at least one selection from twenty-two (22) countries.

       The product line of Christmas Classics Ltd. lends itself to be sold to the rapidly expanding consumer and home educational market. Clancy is not oblivious to the enormity and considerable costs associated with launching his family of products. Knocking heads with corporate giants and titans of direct marketing, especially those that have been successful selling recycled Christmas music collections for the past 15 to 25 years, presented a distinct challenge for Clancy to distinguish his highly acclaimed THE MILLENNIA COLLECTION from it's offerings.

       As a stand-alone text, THE MILLENNIA COLLECTION could be rated as one of the top five ever authored on the topic of Christmas music. It is uniquely packaged as a series of nine distinct products, each with highly appealing Christmas Fine Art/Illustrations, fascinating Christmas Music History, Song Lyrics, and sensational Music CDs.

       To realize his vision of producing highly imaginative and beautiful Christmas music products, Clancy decided to incorporate in 1999 and to proceed with the publishing and marketing of THE MILLENNIA COLLECTION as Christmas Classics Ltd., a Sub-chapter S corporation. As a result, Best-Loved Christmas Carols, American Christmas Classics and Children's Christmas Classics are available to Christmas music aficionados around the world.



 

Author as choir boy (top row left)