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Let’s face it; image is as important as talent to any Gospel Music Artist.

Established artists' videos in other genres are constantly in our face on MTV, GAC, CMT, not to mention avenues within gospel music, such as, GMT, INSP and countless local/regional broadcast outlets.

Even if a song is somewhat average, the video can sometimes give the artist a further promotional up-swing by letting the video become a work of art in its own right. A video does not require the blessing of a chart position in order to be a huge success. A video can be a driving force for an entire career. Ever wonder why Country Music releases a video on new and established artists prior to the single? A couple of simple words can answer that…”to build a fan-base”.

Now let’s re-visit the world of Southern Gospel Music for a moment. Most labels/artists follow the age-old method when it comes to recording and marketing. OK, I’ll get this out of the way and be done with it. Most spend all their time and MONEY chasing one of eighty numbers on a couple of pages that ultimately don’t give them the success they thought. There, enough said…

Here’s that process list:

• Sign a contract
• Get money (all upfront if possible)
• Book the cheapest studio and musicians
• Show up for tracking (no pre-production arranging) and very little during the tracking sessions
• Rush thru Vocals (again not much on production/arranging)
• Let some budget-driven graphics person create (bad word) out-put a design
• Go to Manufacturing
• Artist gets product
• Maybe a month or so discussions begin on a single
• STOP …STOP I could go on and on.

Hope you’re still with me because I will land this plane soon; quickly let’s look at a chart-chasing budget. These numbers are only an average in real life, most will be higher.

1. Single release with a “tracking/compilation company” $750.00 one-time fee.
2. A minimum of three months tracking/promotion, $400.00 per month X 3 = $1,200.00
3. A print Ad (that helps the Radio Promotion Company) more than the artist - $400.00
4. Total amount spent - $2,350.00 if you’re one of the lucky ones

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to launch your career/ministry and reach hundreds of thousands, not tens of thousands or just hundreds! You can if you would only choose to utilize the powerful market concepts that are proven to work…VIDEO! For nearly the same cost an artist spends chasing a chart, you could be filling up a date-book, selling CDs, building a loyal fan base, all at the same time, adding a firm foundation to your career.

One example of a recent video success story goes like this…A female Southern Gospel artist who has never had a chart song, never been featured in any of the Southern Gospel print outlets, and has never appeared at the NQC filmed a concept video entitled “Prayer List”. This one song was distributed to 1200 Military Bases worldwide, gained airplay on various local/regional television outlets, and finally getting played on the 700 Club. From the 700 Club airing, organizers of a Memorial event at the Pentagon on September 11, 2003 viewed it. The organizers contacted the artist and secured her for a live appearance along with Andrea Crouch. From here the artist received a personal invite to the Governor’s Prayer Breakfast. Once there, even more attention and appearances were secured. To date, the success just keeps coming in from this one video. This one artist continues to create concept videos as a support to her albums. With four concept videos to her credit and more in the planning stage, it looks like this is only the beginning of a long success story.

In closing, honestly evaluate your career. How much have you spent chasing just a chart? What has been the success of your efforts? When are you going to start running your own career?

Next month I’ll give you a look inside the video pre-production process. Til next month I’ll keep the light on and the camera rolling.

Reader Comments

David,

Dale was not talking about producing a cheap CD or a cheap Video, he was referring to the money spent on Radio Promotions, so the discussion would be, is it more productive to spend 2,000 to 3,000 on radio productions, or invest it in a video which would give you completely different options.
I think that is a better comparison.

Deon Unthank
SoGospelNews.com
My Blog

Some people are like Slinkys… Not really good for anything, but they
still bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs - Author Unknown

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