Southern Gospel Music vs. Bizarro Southern Gospel Music
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Written: 07/02/2008 
Author: Nick Bruno
Category:
The Gospel Truth
Comments: 52 
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Do you like Superman? Anyone who is a fan of Superman knows about Bizarro World. It’s a cube-shaped planet called “Htrae” – “earth” spelled backwards. Bizarro World has many of the same characters that Earth has – Bizarro Superman, Bizarro Lois Lane, and Bizarro Perry White. The main difference is that in Bizarro World, everything is the exact opposite of things on Earth. It’s good to be bad in Bizarro World. For example, Superman is good, Bizarro Superman is not. Bizarro “society” is ruled by the Bizarro Code which states, “Us do opposite of all Earthly things! Us hate beauty! Us love ugliness! It is a big crime to make anything perfect on Bizarro World!”
BIZARRO SGM
And so, I am happy to announce that I have the solution to SGM being dead last in every category…Bizarro Southern Gospel is taking over the industry.
We have Bizarro record companies that feel it is a crime to make a great recording.
We have Bizarro radio promoters who never really promote a thing.
We have Bizarro artists who refuse to admit they cannot sing,
And, we have Bizarro charts which don’t bear the slightest reflection of what is popular and what is not.
REAL Southern Gospel is the greatest music this side of heaven…yet we keep trying to change it. We are allowing the Bizarro World infiltrators to make it progressive, or country, or contemporary, or heaven knows what next.
I love listening to Southern Gospel Music when it is performed well. I love quartets, trios, duos, male groups, mixed groups, family groups, and soloists. Whoever is singing Southern Gospel Music is singing my song. I love it.
THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH SOUTHERN GOSPEL MUSIC! LEAVE THE MUSIC ALONE!
The reason SGM is dead last in every category is not because of the music. The music has stood the test of time. When people hear SGM performed professionally, they love it too.
The real problem is that the Southern Gospel Music Industry is really two industries... PROFESSIONAL AND AMATEUR.
PROFESSIONAL SGM INDUSTRY
I suppose one could argue all day about the definition of a “PROFESSIONAL.” To me, a professional group is talented at every vocal position, is full time, draws people to their concerts, and has good sales at their table and also at retail. You all know exactly what I’m talking about so there is no reason to split hairs over this.
We’re talking about groups like The Booth Brothers, The Inspirations, Gold City, Greater Vision, The Talleys, The Perrys, The Hoppers, The Isaacs, Gaither Vocal Band, The Kingsmen, Ernie Haase and Signature Sound, The Dove Brothers and others. NOTICE, I said. “And others”. These are not the ONLY professional groups – I’m naming a few who come to mind. These groups are all different in style but they are professional. They are making money, serious money.
I’ve compiled a list of professional groups and I find that there are about 30 groups, and I had to relax my definition of “professional” a little to get to 30.
These are the groups that draw people to concerts, to the bookstores, and to the National Quartet Convention. They are sought after by songwriters, promoters, talent agencies, and record labels.
If the President wanted to have a Southern Gospel concert at the White House, you can be sure the artists appearing would come from this list.
These artists record great songs written by talented and anointed songwriters
Concert promoters book these groups mostly through talent agencies that are also professional, like The Beckie Simmons Agency and The Harper Agency.
These groups are recorded by professional record companies, Crossroads, Canaan, Homeland and Daywind, to name a few, that make recordings to the highest industry standards. Then the companies market and promote the recordings through the print medium and radio, and also distribute the artists’ recordings to the retail market.
The important thing about this side of Southern Gospel Music is that everything, EVERYTHING, songwriting, promoting, booking, recording, EVERYTHING…is driven by the artists’ ability to appeal to the consumer, spiritually and materially. Songwriters, promoters, talent agencies, and record companies need artists that can help them make a profit.
The professional side of SGM is driven by the artists’ ability to MAKE money.
BIZARRO SGM INDUSTRY – NON PROFESSIONALS
The amateur side of SGM is driven by the artists’ ability to PAY money.
There is NOTHING WRONG with being new, with being an amateur. Every professional listed above started out as an amateur and worked hard to become a professional.
To me, the word “amateur” has two meanings:
1.Someone who chooses to do something for pleasure rather than for financial benefit or professional reasons.
We have lots of artists in SGM who are “amateurs” by choice. They don’t have a competitive spirit; they just want to be a blessing. They love the music and want to get out there and get involved, but they don’t want to leave their jobs, so they go out and sing a couple of times a month and have a great time. Some of these groups are pretty good, and they desire to be the best they can be, but they have no illusions of grandeur. I work with many groups like this and I can tell you, I love it. It’s singing for the best of reasons…because you love it.
Now folks, I want you to hear me loud and clear. There is absolutely nothing wrong with weekend warriors, “newbies”, making custom recordings and getting out there and singing their hearts out week after week. Please understand me here. This is not the problem. Just like there is nothing wrong with me playing my heart out at softball two nights a week. But… if I try to get my softball team into the eastern division of the American League to compete with The Yankees and The Red Sox…now that’s a problem!
What troubles me is that you can understand how ridiculous it would be for my softball team of pot bellied aging men to try to play in the Major Leagues but you can’t (or maybe won’t) understand how ridiculous it is for an inexperienced group to try and do the things the pro groups do.
FAST RIDE ON A SLOW TRAIN TO BIZARRO WORLD
Which brings me to the second meaning for “amateur”.
2. Someone who is inexperienced or unskilled as in, “Hunting lions is not for amateurs.”
We have many, many artists who are inexperienced and unskilled in the craft of singing. The sad thing is that they don’t know it.
What they need is TLC and guidance but what they are getting is a fast ride on a slow train to SGM Bizarro World where you will find:
Too many “amateur” artists who are “legends in their own mind.”
Amateur record companies pretending to be big shot companies when they are nothing more than custom recording companies.
Amateur radio promoters who will never admit that they cannot possibly track all the songs.
Amateur periodicals with top 80 charts, knowing that probably 40 of the slots will be taken by amateur artists who will also buy ads.
Amateur talent agencies trying to book amateur artists.
Amateur radio stations playing anything that comes down the pike.
CONSUMERS ARE CONFUSED BY THIS SGM BIZARRO WORLD
They go to a concert and hear a professional group do a wonderful performance. The next week an amateur group comes to their church and stinks up the platform.
They hear a great song on the radio by a professional group followed by a group that sounds like a bunch of cats with their tails caught in the door.
They see photos of our professional groups, but they also see photos of amateur groups in ill-fitting suits with coat sleeves that hang 6 inches past their fingers.
To the world it’s all the same...it’s the same industry…Southern Gospel Music. The reason it’s all the same to them is because we have allowed it to be the same.
Every single person reading this knows that it is true. Yet, we turn our head the other way and allow it to continue, as though it’s not happening.
It’s all about the money. It’s the little groups with stars in their eyes that are funding SGM Bizarro World. As long as they are willing to keep paying, there will be a magazine, a promoter, and a record company that will gladly take their money.
ESCAPE FROM BIZARRO WORLD
So…how do we fix this mess?
My friends, the answer is so simple that it is profound.
ADMIT IT!!!!
Yes, that’s right…admit it. The first step in fixing a problem is to admit that there IS a problem.
Let’s stop “pussyfooting” around and start telling the truth about all this nonsense.
We all know what’s rotten in SGM. We know who is doing it, and why they are doing it…to make money.
Yet we all just stand around like fools and act like it’s not happening.
We allow representatives of these companies to join our various organizations, sit on boards, attend meetings, and vote on matters of great importance to our industry.
What we should be doing is identifying these folks and calling their hand. “Hey you, yes you… your company, your magazine, your station, your group, your organization is doing things that are damaging to our industry. You and those like you are not welcome here. Please leave!”
It is not right for companies and individuals who damage our industry to receive recognition from the professionals. By turning the other cheek to their unscrupulous business practices we are allowing them access to our side of the fence, when what we should be doing is throwing the bums out.
Listen friends, I’m not saying we should eliminate amateur SGM. We need amateur artists. It is from this pool of talent that the professionals of tomorrow will come. But the key word here is “tomorrow.”
When they earn, EARN, their way into the professional ranks, they will be welcomed with open arms. Until that time we need to do all we can to train and nurture them, and teach them how to become professional.
Anyone who rips off one of these “newbies” should be “tarred and feathered” and hung from the giant screen TV at the National Quartet Convention.
OUR AMATEUR ARTISTS DESERVE BETTER.
I like this famous quote: “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”
Folks, let’s stop doing “NOTHING.” Let’s start taking names and kicking tails. It’s time we reclaimed our industry. If you agree with me I ask you to help me. You can forward this article to anyone you think can help, pro group owners, professional record label heads, industry leaders, and your friends.
Remember… “If it’s to be, it’s up to me.”
As always, I welcome your comments,
God Bless You,
Nick Bruno
http://www.nickbruno.com
Reader Comments
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Lacy, I have to agree with songwriter. You seem to have a personal chip on your shoulder with Nick. These types of problems should first be handled privately, not on a public forum.
Most professional projects cost in the $50,000 range. I don't know, but I would bet that you and your group didn't spend that much money on your sessions. You spent four days on your last project. Was that four days on vocals, which would be 36 hours, or was it four days for the entire project. If it was four days on the vocals, did you pay the same price for this CD as you did the one Nick produced for you? You made mention that you haven't been singing Bass that long. Is it possible that you have actually improved on your Bass singing to the extent that it would have made a better project? I notice that you do not have any music on your webpage, except for a poor quality video, so it is very hard to determine if your sound is as good as you think it to be.
Did you hear how bad your first CD sounded before it went to press? Did you say something about it?
Even with the world of ProTools, only so much can be done to correct pitchiness and shaved tones.
You have made some bold accusations against Nick without evidence, like putting your CD on your website so others could be the judge as to if it was Nick's fault or just a disgruntled artist who isn't as good as they think they are. I'm not saying that you are a disgruntled artist, I'm saying that we can't tell because you have just made accusations with no evidence.
I must admit though that I get a little suspicious when someone tells me that they can't stop listening to their own CD. Most people have the same reaction to some extent of not liking how they or their CD sounds when they hear it. It's common nature not to like the way you sound. That's why, if you are going to make accusations like this, you need to give us something to hear so that we can tell in an unbiased way.Deon Unthank
SoGospelNews.com
My BlogSome 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 -
Thanks Deon,
You are 100% right. They should not blame their problem on Nick. It is and has been proven that Nick is a great producer. Go Nick.
You have my vote. -
Well..thanks Deon. Appreciate that.
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Unfortunely a lot of amateur artist will remain amateur artist because we do not have $50,000.00 to spend on a project. When I recorded my second cd, The budget that I had only allowed me to have 6 hours for the music and 6 hours for the vocals. When I did my vocals I ended up using only 4 hours. You are rushed through when you do not have the budget that will allow you to spend a great deal of money on a project. If you do it right, It can sound as good as the 50,000.00 cd. Even the most talented people have a hard time in the studio. That is why they spend hours on a song. A lot of people learn the song in the studio. Artist that do not have the budget to do this need to take the music home and practice it to death for at leat six weeks so the can get good quality with the six hours they have to record. I agree that there are companies that a ripping off people with no talent.
Without the funds an amateur with a lot of talent will never make it to the professional level. I have heard of people drawing out their retirement trying to get there. I also feel that there are some artist that are on the porfessional level that made it with money not necessary talent. Talent wise there are amatuers that are just as good as them. The music industry is money driven now, not talent driven. You use to have to earn your way. Now you can buy your way.
Saying all of that, I agree with Nick about the bad music. I really think the charts should be taken away. I love to play quality music on GSG Radio. I do not like bad talent music. A lot of Cds and compilations that I get, I do not even use one song off of. On the other hand my partner thinks that if a person pays to be on a compilation that it should get at least some air play. He may put a song on for a while that I would not have place on the station. We all have diffent opinions on what sounds good. -
As usual...Good article Nick! What you are explaining has been going on since the 80's. -
Great article, Nick!
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WHAT? Are you people nuts. Nick asked for people to be honest. Why is it the few loyal readers of Nicks mush are ticked it actually worked against him. you all should be ashamed for bashing Lacey for doing exactly what Nick asked of him to do. Nicks articles always bash folks for helping or taking the new artist down the road...But, its all working in his favor because thats all that he produces.Its a sales pitch guys. Nick writes as a savor of the little guy...and the little guy flocks him for help. I am not ignorant to his practices. And everyone should be ashamed for turning on Mr Lacey....if Mr Lacey had outed someone other than the writer of the article <Nick> everyone would have praised Nick for his pre tar and feather conventio....But it happened to bite him and now you all are angry. No artist in southern pays 50,000 for an album. Lacey stated he paid the same amount with David Staton and got a smooth deal-So it wasnt the money- it was Nick.
Simon -
Simon Clayton has twisted the story around. I will stick with Nick.
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Mr. Simon, I'm not sure who you think is nuts, but it's no one here. Seems you forget that there are two sides to every argument and only one side was given here. It was obvious that it was a personal attack on Nick, and not an addition to the article. As I stated, Mr. Lacy made his rant without any evidence. We were not privy to hearing what he thought was terrible as opposed to what he thought was perfect. I don't believe that anyone "bashed" Mr. Lacy, however we do have every right to question him about the situation.
So, no one should be ashamed and many groups DO pay $50,000 for CDs in SGM.Deon Unthank
SoGospelNews.com
My BlogSome 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 -
First of all, I have nothing against Mr. Pittman. I don't know him, but he seems sincere enough. He is my brother in the Lord.
Secondly,I'm genuinely sorry for him that he didn't like his first recording project. I can only imagine how excited he was to get in the studio, and I am, honestly sorry for him and his disappointment. Futhermore, he is entitled to believe that Nick didn't do a good job as a producer. No one hits a home run every time they're at bat. Maybe (and we don't know the whole story) Nick didn't produce a good album for his group. I wonder if Nick will tell us HIS side?
My ONE and ONLY point is that he should have resolved it with Nick privately. Period. Not on a public forum. This is why I posted my post. I don't care about the quality of the singing.. whatever the disagreement -it should have be handled in private.
AND the fact that HE chose to PUBLICLY BASH Nick is the ONLY reason HE is having people disagree with him. He shouldn't have used a public forum to vent a private disagreement. And that's why I posted the post.
THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO CONNECTION BETWEEN WHAT NICK WAS ADVOCATING - to identify industry leaders who are DECEIVING new artists - AND A DISGRUNTLED PERSON AIRING A PERSONAL GRIEVANCE IN PUBLIC.
BUT..I've got some questions for Simon. Let's review some things you said in your post. OK?
YOU SAID: "You all should be ashamed for bashing Lacey for doing exactly what Nick asked of him to do" -
Why should we be ashamed? Why should we be ashamed to point out that Mr. Lacy had an OBVIOUS chip on his shoulder toward Nick? I'm not ashamed. I think he didn't follow Scriptural mandates which teach us what to do when we have a personal grievance against a brother in the Lord. "GO TO HIM PRIVATELY" - the Gospels say. That's the first step. We don't know what Nick may have done to try and resolve the situation. Do we? Nope... we don't. We don't know if the group got the BEST product they could have given the money they paid and the talent they have? Nope, we don't. And that's why Jesus told us to do these kinds of things PRIVATELY. There is ALWAYS two sides to EVERY story.
YOU SAID: "Nicks articles always bash folks for helping or taking the new artist down the road."
ARE YOU CRAZY? What articles? Where? When does he BASH new artists? When he says, -"Folks, get a line item budget!" - this is bashing folks??? When he tells us,"Don't buy a bus too soon..it will destroy your future in SGM!' THIS IS BASHING? You've got to do a lot of word twisting to take a column that is trying to PROTECT new artists and call it bashing them. It seems there's a pattern here to who you're calling a basher. YOU can BASH Nick but when someone disagrees with YOU then they're the bashers? What a great planet you live on - you've got the right to destroy someone with your words, but if someone tries to say "That wasn't kind" then THEY are bashing? Please.
YOU SAID: "But, its all working in his favor because thats all that he produces.Its a sales pitch guys. Nick writes as a savor of the little guy...and the little guy flocks him for help. I am not ignorant to his practices"
I don't recall Nick calling himself SavIor of anything? Can you point out which month, in which article he describes himself that way? He doesn't. Nor does he hide the fact that he produces a great deal of custom albums for the little guy. So what's your point? Are you annoyed that he's getting business? It is OBVIOUS that you have some kind of personal history with Nick that continues to bug you.
YOU SAID: "Lacey stated he paid the same amount with David Staton and got a smooth deal-So it wasnt the money- it was Nick."
I just re-read both of his Lacy's posts and I don't see anywhere that he says he paid the same amount of money for both projects. So where are you getting your information? Again, it is EVIDENT that you are biased against Nick.. for some reason. What is the REAL reason?
And what is the deal with always mentioning David Staton? I mean, seriously, WHY is that the main point all the time? OK. So he took over when Nick and Song Garden parted ways. OK. You like him better. OK. So? What? What's the point?
IN my first post, I was simply stating that I thought it wasn't nice to post his personal comments on a public forum. But NOW... I believe that there is more to this NICK BASHING than meets the eye.
I think that someone, somewhere in this particular circle of people is getting great delight in BASHING a really nice man.
And if you can work it out with Jesus, maybe you can twist the words of the Gospels the same way you've twisted the words of Nick's articles and convince yourself that you can have such OBVIOUS UNFORGIVENESS toward another Christian and use a public forum to attack him.
Let's pray this bad blood can be covered by The Blood. And I have to applaud Nick for not coming to his own defense, but being a gentleman and taking the high road.
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