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The Gospel Music Industry 101 Since I was a young boy growing up in Little Rock, Arkansas, I’ve had only one dream — break into the music industry. In January 2007, my dream was finally realized when my group CHRISTOPHER — consisting of Christopher McNeal, Christopher Reid and me — signed our first national recording deal with The Jordan Entertainment Group. To many on the outside, our journey to a recording contract seemed overnight and effortless. However, the truth is our fifteen-year journey to a recording deal — the first stage of success — has been filled with triumph and tragedy.In this column, The Gospel Music Industry 101, I will give you insight into the music industry. An honest straightforward approach to breaking into what some call the most underhanded industry in the world. Is it indeed the most dishonest industry? Well, the answer depends on you; your level of understanding of the music game and how well you discern that which is good to you versus that which is good for you. By sharing my experience and knowledge, my hope is that your journey will be a lot smoother than mine.I do not make a distinction between Gospel music and secular music as it relates to this column. Both genres are built around what I call the “Dollars and Sense Model” — “if it doesn’t make dollars, it doesn’t make sense.” This model has little to do with the quality of your voice, the number of vocal acrobatics you can do or how well you look or dance. The model is based on nothing less than how profitable an artist will be for a company. As with most companies, a budget is allotted for operations, marketing, promotions and development.The budget is predicated on how much revenue the product can generate. Once the budget is met, the excess is profit. To the record label, every artist is a product to be mass produced, packaged and sold to help a business become profitable. The key for the artist is to utilize the resources of the record label to advance their own agenda. If your objective is making money, gaining exposure for your ministry or everything in between, the record company can help facilitate this, but the artist must first understand and establish these goals. The intent of the record label is not to make you rich, although an artist can make a lot of money in this business. When the last note has chimed, the record label’s goal is to turn a profit for the record label. Several factors, which will be presented in later issues, impact the profitability of an artist. If these factors are not strategically aligned, then 95% of the time, the artist will suffer. For this reason, people tend to call this business “shady” and “cut throat.” This column will enlighten and equip you with the knowledge to move through your career with the least amount of hiccups as possible. Having said that, no career should be completely drama free; for in the drama a lesson is learned. God uses tragedy for the purpose of triumph, but the wise and diligent, who count up the cost, learn lessons on the front end, rather than on the back end where it hurts the most. In the next issue, we will look at efficient ways to record your demo — one of the most important steps to getting a “deal” — and effective ways to get an audience with record labels.Knowing who you are, Whose you are and where you’re going works in every facet of life. So open your ears to listen, open your mind to hear, open your eyes to look, but open your heart to see. Christopher, signing off! Christopher M. Surratt
The Christopher Entertainment Group LLC
Know You! Do You!
“Christopher”
The Journey CD in stores early 2008
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