Christian, gospel labels pray for strong new acts

[Michael]

http://www.metronews.ca/reuters_enterta ... ?id=119246

"We don't have a clue who wants to buy music," Word Label Group senior VP of marketing Rod Riley says. "We don't know a good act when it slaps us in the face, so we just alienate and then fire the ones we do have and then hope for a cash cow."

Ummmmm... hmm. Guess I paraphrased a bit. hehe

[SamScales]

Yeah, have them go to http://www.Indieheaven.com and they'll find plenty to choose from......
IndieHeaven is creating quite a buzz already.....

[brent]

Please forward the correct link to me pretty, pretty please, with a cherry on top.

The reason that EVERYONE is guessing is because labels no longer develop artists. In the old days, a band would build success, with one good song on the first record, then two on the second, then a big hit third record. Now, everything is a formula out of the shoot. If the band doesn't sell on their first whack, then it is "out you go".

If these moronic penny pinching know-nothings knew their customer base, they could help develop artists to meet those needs. They have built a wall around themselves, and have chosen the wrong markets to beta test, just as Hollyweird has done. Test middle America and you will have longevity, because there is more of us, and we aren't as fickle. Disney finally got it figured out.

Sam is right. Who knows the public? The people on street level. The skills are often there. They just need development. So, they really should be more open to accepting CDs, etc. A friend of mine is buds and business partners with Eddie Van Halen. He told me that he is convinced that there are kids just as talented, playing on a farm someplace. They just need the luck of exposure.

Then again, most Christians still do not listen to Christian music as their primary music. So, if they want to get a big piece of the pie, they should relax, and let their owners, the seculars, make the money selling to them, and get back to ministry. That will never happen I hate to say. Things ALWAYS get worse from generation to generation.

[Michael]

The link actually was correct when I posted it... the article was apparently deleted or moved (likely they just cycle their stories periodically). Try reading it from the Google Cache.

[SamScales]

Brent,

Oh, I agree with you. I'm sure there are lots of kids out there playing on a farm or in a garage with some awesome talent. There are also a lot of artists doing their own thing, releasing albums and doing well in their ministries as they have established a fanbase.

And I'm gonna speak up for us "old" folks....there's a lot of spiritual mature Christians out there who are very talented, very gifted, very much into ministry, have awesome music and - are overlooked - just cos we are deemed "old".

Neither of these people will even be given a look at - just because we are "Indies". Well, I tell ya, I think that's fixing to change as CCM is watching the "Indie Scene" grow. IndieHeaven alone has had 4.5 million hits on the website in December alone!

That tells me that the public is interested and hungry for something different than what they've been forcefed from Salem Network, CCM, Family Radio and and and....

All we want is people who are real to sing to us.

[yamasaaaki har har]

I'm surprised CCM cares so much about image, when they sport photos of artists with ugly chicken-hairdo's and weird comb-overs. Plus, have you noticed that on most promo photos of rock bands, the members don't smile? To me, that leaves a negative impression of the band.

And closing the door on artists who are too "old?" That's like segregation! I think age segregation is equally as bad as racial prejudice.

[RediscoveredPetra]

I think there are several things that caused the decline in CCM Music sales.

1. The industry has gone overboard with the "worship album" How many version of "Lord I Lift Your Name on High" do we need. According to Rhapsody, there are 105 different albums with Lord I Lift Your Name On High" on it. They have over saturated the market.

2. Christian Radio is missing what I think is a large segment. In my area there are several Christian Radio Station that I can pick up depending on what direction I travel. They all break down into 3 main types.

A. The largest group is the "Family Friendly Soccer Mom" Christian Radio Station. There are at least 5 of these stations at I can pick up during my normal drive.

B. We still have at least 1 or 2 "Old Time" Heavy preaching, Hymn Singing, stations.

C. We have 1 Hard Rock, Mostly Metal, Christian Station.

While I think all of these formats are important, I feel "out of the mix" of all of these stations. Petra, for example, doesn't fit well into any of these formats. "Lord I Lift your Name on High" is the ONLY Petra song I ever hear the "Family Friendly" stations play. Petra isn't Hard Enough for the Hard Rock Station, and doesn't fit into the "Old Time" station. I would like a station that was in between A and C. That would play the hard stuff from the "family Friendly" Station and some of the lighter stuff from the Hard Rock station and the missing ground inbetween.

3. To get radio play, most bands need to produce "radio mixes" that lighten their sound. And frequently even the CD has a lighter sound than they do live. A good example of this that I heard this year was "Building 429". Our local stations will occationally "Space In Between us" and "Glory Defined (Alt. Version)". So, based on the radio you get one perception of the band. The CD contain the "origional" harder versions of the songs. I also had a chance to hear them live and it was even a little harder yet still. There may be a lot of people who may like the harder tracks on the Bulding 429 CD but based on radio play don't know they exitst. Coversely, you have people who enjoy the sound of the "radio mix". They checkout the CD and find out it a harder sound they don't like and skip on the CD.

4. I think the music companies reaction to the preceived piracy problem is hurting even the christian artists. We are in a fundamental shift in how people get there music and what they want to do with it with the popularity of Ipod and other MP3 Players. A lot of people on moral reason don't like copy protected CD's. Treating your entire customer base as potential criminals can't be good for business. The industry did they same whining and moaning when cassette tapes came out. People were making copies of their cassettes and giving them to their friends. Once the music industry embrased the cassette tape it because an equal revenue stream to the LP.

I hope this wasn't too long.

Jeremy