"The Greater Cause" - John's New CD

[Preacherman777]

I haven't donated yet and I probably won't until it gets down to the wire. I want to see how much he will still need toward the end. I can't afford to make a giant donation by any means, but how much he needs at the end may very influence how much I will donate.

[sue d.]

You can always pledge now, and increase your pledge later.

Yes, everything in this economy is down. I wouldn't say it's exclusive to the music industry by no means. I have a feeling it's just how it is, and the downtrends are being felt by pretty much all of America.... and most of the world, for that matter.

[Tutor23]

up to 21.5k
...

[Shell]

I can't imagine someone being cruel enough to pledge that much and then removing it--I hope it was a mistake too. You can only do your best and trust God for the outcome. I am sorry that happened though.

[BForm]

Sue, I don't think what Brent is talking about is solely due to the economy. I think changes in the music industry as a whole as well as loss of appetite for Christian music is more of an influence than the economy. I have been a Christian since 1980 and never before have I seen more evangelicals, especially teenagers, spending their money on entertainment that is dishonoring to God. I only know a few teenagers that seem to care about Christian music anymore. They're either listening to the worst in rap music, or their listening to country.

When artists like John are getting a smaller percentage of a smaller pie, it's gonna be tough.

[brent]

The people that buy WOW discs and all of that stuff are older, more mature, and are not avid listeners. The people that listen to rock listen to secular for the most part. It is how it is. When you have Christian bands just playing clean music that sounds no different than what is heard on secular radio, why bother with it? Why not just listen to what is popular, be in and be good with that?

Getting people who need to hear the Christian message to spend money to be preached at is hard. Getting Christians to pay for their local churches is hard. Getting Christian men to Hooters for lunch and to a secular movie with all kinds of cussin' is a piece of cake.

[sue d.]

I hear ya both, but I still can't believe that of all the thousands of Petra fans throughout John's 20 years of ministry - only 237 have pledged SOMETHING? Look at it as a pre-buy - $10 gets you the digital edition. You can't tell me that out of all the fans across the world, people can't afford ten bucks?

Bform - look at this that a fan had sent to me:

Actor James Franco has a Kickstarter drive going for his "Museum of Non-Visible Art." People are buying NOTHING!! They have raisedMORE than their goal of $5000 - they're up to $13,000!! I would put the word out there that we can't let these guys show up Christians. Unbelievable! People are more willing to buy NOTHING than invest in a Christian album!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/739 ... mes-franco

and if you read what this guy is 'doing' -- it really is NOTHING! "non-visible art" = nothing!

Insane - and people are donating to it, over and above! how ridiculous!

[Timbo]

Do I hear doubt? I bet twice as many people donate in these last 20 whatever days than have so far. Hurry up! And wait upon the Lord.

[sue d.]

I'm SO bad at waiting!

No, I'm not doubting - I'm just not understanding how people can donate to NOTHING. Someone has too much money laying around, methinks!

[brent]

I try not to over spiritualize things. We are talking about selling a product here by a Christian manufacturer.

If there is demand, people will buy the product. Remember Sue, that Petra was doing good to sell 40k records themselves. Classic Petra is not burning it up just yet. II Guys didn't sell 40k AFAIK and neither did The Grafting.

You cannot count fans like that from over a period of 20 years. Few bands can. I think you have a good cross section of the fan base, based on the limited amount of exposure Kickstart has been given.

Successful businesses with tell you, it is all about exposure and maintaining customers day to day, week to week, month to month. Artists have to be in the camera's eye and in the listener's ears consistently.

[calicowriter]

Has John asked Jay Seculow to mention it on his radio show? Maybe send an email to Focus on the Family? I don't listen to much radio so I don't know what else is out there.

How about emailing churches that have had John perform and see if they will put something in their bulletins or make some handouts?

[Jan]

Jay Sekulow did a good job of promoting it when he had John on his program, and it's still in the ACLJ archives. Don't know about Focus...

[brent]

The talk shows might help, but then again, the music listeners are listening to music for the most part and not talk radio. One of J's kids has a hip show for young people....maybe that is the avenue?

Press releases may work for mom and pop stations, but the larger networks are not going to do much. Although, there are a few stations in smaller markets that do both teaching and music content.

It would be great if there was a tracking mechanism to accumulate data about where people heard about the project and what they normally listen to, when, how, etc.

Someone needs to be working 24/7 on the phones, going to see people, working the web, etc. Heck, why not just have bob tack on an extra dollar to the ticket prices of all Classic Petra shows and send that to John.

I made a record for less than 20k that got a band signed, on MTV and sittin so pretty they don't have to work anymore. It can be done for that. John could take the remaining 20k and spend that on a radio rep and an opening spot in front of someone playing large halls.

[Jan]

brent wrote:
Heck, why not just have bob tack on an extra dollar to the ticket prices of all Classic Petra shows and send that to John.

Great idea!! Seriously! Sue? How about it?


I made a record for less than 20k that got a band signed, on MTV and sittin so pretty they don't have to work anymore.


What band?

[LivingRock]

Hey Sue! There's a TV show here in Canada called Ufonic, that are always looking for different artists to promote. They had Lecrae, Flame, and S.O.C.O.M. on during a "rap episode" and I know they'd LOVE to hear the Grafting! They'd probably play it, and I bet the could get the word out about Kickstarter too!