If I Were King of Southern Gospel Music, Monthly ArticlesThe Gospel Trut

Mar

2005

If I Were King of Southern Gospel Music

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One beautiful day last week I was sitting on my deck with a cup of tea and began daydreaming about the New York Yankees. I was thinking about this coming year and how great it will be with the addition of Randy Johnson and a few other great pitchers. I was actually considering the possibility of an undefeated season when suddenly, the devil reminded me of last year's World Series and I snapped back to reality and broke out in a cold sweat.

So then I started daydreaming about Southern Gospel Music. As my mind wandered (not a difficult thing), I imagined myself as “King Of Southern Gospel Music”, with the power to change anything I wanted.

By now I know some of you are thinking “This guy has played too many bad chords on the piano and he's finally snapped.” Well, I'll confess to the part about the bad chords, but I don't think I've snapped…yet. I'm just fulfilling scripture…Acts 2:17 “…and your old men shall dream dreams.”

I love this industry…I love the music…and my heart is saddened when I see what's become of it. Even sadder, unless we make some changes RIGHT NOW , we'll soon be talking about Southern Gospel Music in the past tense.

Sadly, I see no solution in the near future, which is why I daydream about ways to fix the industry I love. In my most recent excursion into “La La” land I started talking to myself (this is not healthy, especially when you answer ). “You old windbag, all you do is bring up problems. How about a few answers? Okay, I said, if I were “King” of SGM, here's what I'd do”.

KING NICHOLAS THE FIRST

#1- First I would establish a committee of 12 men and women, astute business people that didn't earn a nickel from SGM, and had no personal agenda…other than mine. (Hey, I'm the King). Their first duty would be to develop and implement an advertising campaign for SGM, similar to the beef and dairy industries. I know you've seen the ads of famous people with milk on their lips.

#2- Secondly I would have them establish sub-committees of like-minded individuals to oversee Radio Stations and Radio Promoters, Record Companies, and the Print Media.

#3- I would begin a membership drive for a unified organization of true professionals that believe in our industry and exclude anyone who did not subscribe to our high standards.

#4- My first proclamation would be to make songwriters rulers of the land. Whenever a songwriter entered a room, everyone would have to bow. Every artist and record company that failed to pay songwriter royalties would be subject to a $5,000.00 fine, and have their name displayed for all to see.

$5- I'd establish the Official Southern Gospel Music Compilation Compliance Act. All compilations would be subject to review before being foisted on the public. Anyone sending a compilation disk to a radio station without approval would be sentenced to fifty years of hard labor in Siberia .

#6- I would demand that every radio station be set up on a computerized system to monitor airplay. Those that failed to comply would be removed from all lists, and anyone sending material to theses stations would be fined and put on a blacklist. Even if we only had 10 stations reporting accurately, we would be better off than we are now.

#7- I would also demand that our print media included a chart of retail sales along with the radio charts, and make them print a full-page retraction whenever a song reached a high chart position without a corresponding position on the sales chart. I would also insist that they printed all the news, good and bad…you know what I mean…fair and balanced.

#8- I would make the National Quartet Convention a thing to behold. First I'd change the name to “The National Southern Gospel Music Convention” The NSGMC…has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?

An unbiased group of people with actual musical knowledge would determine who would be on the programs. The only criteria would be talent, none of this “no soloists” stuff.

Each evening would be an event, a well-produced show with a theme, Patriotic Night, Awards Night, Old Timers Night, Convention Singing Night…the possibilities are endless. I would certainly have a grand and glorious talent show night, with the winner being crowned the new “SGM Star” or something. You could have choirs, comedians, dramas, and even invite artists from other genres to come and sing Gospel songs with us, Barbershop Quartets, Country Artists, Black Gospel Artists, Jazz Artists, etc.

This would be a huge improvement over an emcee saying “And now here's The Bobtail Quartet…make them welcome” A…L…L... N…I…G…H…T… L…O…N…G!!!!

#9- Every custom recording company would have to adhere to a strict guideline of disclosure to each artist. Any company caught ripping off an artist using the current method of recording and radio promotion would be banned from SGM.

#10- I would apply rigid standards to all Radio Promoters. Any promoter whose compilation failed to pass muster 3 times would be forced to go back to their day job.

#11- Every artist would be required to complete 90 days of training before entering the field of SGM, and would be required to pass a test before being allowed to record.

#12- Every artist, record company, promoter, producer, magazine, would have to agree to become accountable to one another and the public for our actions and decisions

Because……

IN THE REAL WORLD OF SOUTHERN GOSPEL MUSIC THERE IS NO ACCOUNTABILITY .

This is our Achilles' heel. No one has to answer for their actions and thus you have an industry with no rules or guidelines.

Our periodicals refuse to print anything that doesn't come with a lollipop and so there is a continual flow of “fairy tale” news.

No one ever makes a bad CD, according to the reviews I've read.

Our radio stations fill out their chart reports while eating lunch, and our charts are grossly inaccurate. This is proven by the fact that you can have a high charting song without the corresponding retail sales.

Many artists don't pay songwriter royalties because there are no repercussions if they don't.

Our biggest event of the year, The National Quartet Convention, is little more than a Southern Gospel concert in a big building.

Any artist can enter our industry and no one seems to care whether or not they have any talent.

We have recording companies that are ripping off our artists and yet, we refuse to name them or even warn the artists.

And the biggest problem of all, which I addressed in an earlier article… WE ARE AN INDUSTRY THAT IS FEEDING ON ITSELF!

Radio Promoters, Record Companies, Trade Magazines, NQC, Talent Agencies, all make the bulk of their money from the artists. Very little effort is expended on reaching the retail market, or even expanding the market to broaden the demographics. Why should we? As long as there is money to be made from exploiting our artists, who needs the public?

The reality is that whenever you have an entity that is feeding on itself, the one thing you can count on is that the food supply will soon end.

Now I'm aware that there are those of you that refuse to believe any of this. To you the SGM industry is a utopia, a place where the sun always shines and there are gingerbread houses and pretty flowers. If we continue to live in this fairy tale and refuse to address the problems facing us, we will soon be forced to eat those gingerbread houses.

I know how astute you readers are. You have your own ideas about improving our industry…maybe you even daydream about them. Let me know what they are. I'm quite sure I've omitted some that are important to you and I want to hear from you.

As always, I welcome your comments

God Bless You,

Nick Bruno

Reader Comments

Great article, Nick. Your comments are straightforward and sincere. I know that you care about this industry and I appreciate your efforts to keep it on its feet. You mentioned a couple of times "record companies ripping off their artists". Could you please explain what you mean and give an example? Thanks.

Commented by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) On 03/01/2005

Great article King Nicholas. You've always been painfully honest at times. Keep it coming. If you need a good court jester, I could probably recommend a couple of people. LOL!!

Commented by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) On 03/01/2005

Nick,
Great article!!! You hit the the bulls eye on this one. Keep it coming.
Jonathan White

Commented by Jonathan White On 03/01/2005

King Nick,

I just read that the NQC Board may be making some positive changes, with the new blood in the mix. Amen to the accountability portion, especially. Keep preaching it until some changes are made in the industry, brother! If enough people want to make it happen, including the key players who make the decisions, these positive changes CAN happen! The real question is, "Do we want it bad enough to do what it takes?"

Commented by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) On 03/01/2005

I agree with about 90% of your article Nick. However, I do have one problem with it. Radio hits have never equaled sales success, and sales successes have never equaled radio hits. There have always and will always be songs and artists who top the charts and never sell an album in every genre of music. Granted, there SHOULD be a lot of the same names on the sales chart and radio airplay chart, but the two have never and will never be mutually exclusive. Looking at the current Christian AC chart on R&R, I see 6 songs that don't match with album sales.

Just an observation. I think too many times we think they have to match up. Sometimes it just happens that a great song won't sell.

Commented by Chris D. Unthank On 03/01/2005

I agree with you Nick. The only problem with "fair and balanced" reporting is that it sometimes becomes a gossip session..... I get folks all the time asking, "What have you heard about (add name here)? Let me tell you what I heard". No thanks.

Commented by John Snodgrass On 03/02/2005

I worked for a long time in a retail CD/DVD/VHS/etc. company and for a retail Christian store. The Christian music section in the secular store was filled with Contemporary music artists (like Steven Curtis Chapman, FFH, Point of Grace), black gospel artists (Mahalia Jackson, the Winans, Yolanda Adams), Rap/Heavy Metal Christian versions (prominent, but not a lot per artist), and Praise & Worship (Shout to the Lord series, Hillsongs, etc). Each of these had their own genre category (CRCO, CRGO, CRRK, CRPW).
However, the only Southern Gospel in the whole section of the store (which only comprised 1/8 of the space of Rap or Pop) was Gaither Series CDs, which were described randomly as either CRGO or CRCO; FYE had no concept of "Southern Gospel" as a distinct genre. Now, this is a corporation that sells novelty "Happy Tree Friends" t-shirts and stickers, and Playboy DVDs and pillows. Every once in a while, one CD would come in of a different SG group (I recall Drive by the Crabb Family and Power by the Hoppers, among others). In every other genre (even international music and new age) we would get at least 5 of a new release; in SG, we would get 1, and that would be several weeks after its grand release.
In the Christian store, SG rapidly became smaller and smaller, till it reached the about the same proportionate capacity as in the secular store. My point is, these stores are in southern WV, a place where most of the churches (that I know of) listen to and promote SG music. Even here, the SG trend is evaporating.
In my whole time at these stores, I saw all kinds of big promotions for new CD's, new artists, etc. in Rap, Heavy Metal, even Classical (another small section in the store); not once did I even see a small ad in our promotional magazines for anything SG-esque. That's just my perspective.

Commented by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) On 03/02/2005

I do agree about accountability. Also. Southern Gospel Quartets are so different from all the trios and family groups etc, I think we need to establish what soouthern "Gospel" means. Some of the country gospel have not a clue!! We need to so aomething foe sure. Christian Bookstores are in complete ignorance of Quartet music.

Commented by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) On 03/03/2005

I agree with the article. Is there anyone out there interested in doing it the right way? (But even the secular music world allows more than the average number of crooks to flourish.)

If I have some talent, but have very little money, how can I get involved to improve things? How can I get help with demos or get mentoring or training? Is there anyone in the Southern Gospel world even qualified to give such training?

Is there anyone out there willing to help someone who has ability but no money? Is there anyone out there willing to work to develop a quality product? I hear a lot of talk, but I do not see much action. Is there anyone out there willing to start from scratch to actively seek talent, develop it and get it on the market? Is there anyone out there who is scouring the churches for undiscovered talent and are willing to invest in it? Again, I hear alot of talk....

Commented by Keith Prater On 03/03/2005

Yes, there are people willing to help someone with talent and little money. The music schools that are held in the summer (I'm most familiar with Ben Speer's Stamps-Baxter School) is set up for exactly this reason. They have professional staff members who will help you develop your talent and the networking opportunities are fantastic. I live in an area devoid of SG music/knowledge and, before attending the school, I "knew no one" and was writing on an island. You would be amazed how much you can learn and how broad an area is covered. You will also be amazed at the talent from around the country that is there and how your friendships last a lifetime and become useful as you develop. By the way, there are scholarships available each year for those who could not afford to attend otherwise. There is no reason to NOT attend unless you can't get away for the time period it is held. (Last week of July/first week of August in Nashville at Trevecca University)

Commented by Susan Jones On 03/03/2005

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