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:
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.
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.
Author: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Written: 09/30/2004
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Category: Monthly ArticlesVideo and More
Comments: 15
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Whatever happened to http://www.worldofgospelmusic.com ???
My question would be where's the infrastructure for getting SG video out to the masses? True, the radio process is difficult (and corrupt) enough, but how many national religious cable TV channels currently program Southern Gospel videos?
David,
David,..
Chuck,
Scott,
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
Deon, point taken, but the words "book the cheapest studio and musicians," "rush thru vocals," and "budget driven graphics" were used. That suggests to me he's targeting artists who don't have an adequate amount of money to invest in initial CD production quality, much less promotion.
David, You are right about Gospel Music doesn't have the same access to do Videos, as Country Music does, I've been TRYING to Get GMT and SKY ANGEL on Our Cable Line-up for FIVE years! City Hall has Control in Arkansas over WHAT We can get on Cable, SO I JUST HAD MY CABLE Un-hooked in March of this Year! Amen. (I, also agree with Deon and Scott to in some things too?)AND CHUCK TOO?
First, I'm simply a SGM fan and not one of the people who shape the direction of SGM. On the other hand, I'm part of the group that artists and their handlers seek to support all their trendy, cutting edge efforts. From that position, my question is, how will I be impacted by a "concept video"? I'll admint, I have no clue what such a video is, nor can I say I've ever seen one on CMT or any other cable outlet. I don't spend much time perusing the websites of up and coming groups nor even the established groups. What I find there are the ideas of someone who thinks the group is the greatest thing since someone thought to slice a loaf of bread. I love SGM and like it in the background during my day's activities. I'm not prone to sit at a screen (TV or computer) and watch a lot of videos. I have a life, and work to do. Am I not more representative of the typical SGM fan as opposed to those who can watch videos for hours upon end? Again, how does the concept video, whatever that really is, impact me?
John,
Unfortunately, Dale may not have made it crystal clear when he spoke of "cheapest musicians & studio", etc. We have dicussed this in seminars enough times that I am sure he was speaking about the fact that some groups nickel and dime their projects to death and then are either disappointed with the outcome or wonder why they are no more successful than they are. There are many "mom and pop" recording operations in existence today that cater to independent artists and in most cases the final product they put out is directly proportional to the amount they charge for the recording. On the label side, there are those who will "make deals" with studios and musicians (paying less than union scale and working "off the card") which is totally unethical and illegitimate. Naturally, these practices keep the costs down for the label.
John,
There are many other uses for Concept Videos other than just putting them on the screen. First they are great to have in your promotional pack that is sent to Pastors and promoters. Seeing you sing is better then just hearing.
Many television stations use evideos for "fillins" on Sunday mornings or late night programming. These three or four minute videos work prefectly for that.
They work great on a group or artist's web page, again it's the seeing rather than just hearing.
The cost is not nearly as prohibitive as one might think and if a group is creative they can find a whole slew of ways to use it.
Since you are part of an organization supporting artists, a concept video would give you a muych better idea of what you might want to do for that individual artist.
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
There are lots of tools artists can use to get their music out there. I believe that all the tools we have available to us, music education, quality production techiques, radio marketing, concept videos, the internet, etc., are most effective if we remember one thing: that the kingdom of God is like a grain of mustard seed, it starts small and slowly to be dominant. I believe many try to reach for the stars too quickly. After all, if you are not a success in your local church or hometown, how can you expect to be successful nationwide? But, more importantly, anything of quality and value takes time to grow. No one is going to know everything they need to know about music and the music industry the first day they are involved. We have to take the time to develop musically. We have to take the time to build a fan base. We have to take the time to learn marketing. Both radio promotion and concept videos can be successful if done with the right maturity and understanding. If it takes a lot of money, so be it. The time it takes to save the money from local performances, or the sale of custom albums sold locally, is a good time to develop the skills needed to be successful.
If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit
- Galatians 5:25.
WOW! There's been a lot of info shared here on this subject. I really would like to see sgm artists do as much as they can economically toward putting their ministry "out there", then simply PRAY for God to use their ministry. I've read a lot through the previous messages, and all of it makes good sense, but, we need to subit/commit our talents to God and let Him take it from there without us falling apart over what "seems" to us as a failed ministry. Just because Bill Gaither doesn't give us an invitation to be one of his regulars does not mean we have no talent and God cannot use us. I've stated earlier and I'll say it again, though you may be a "weekend warrior" sgm artist that Gaither has not "discovered" yet, does NOT mean God is not using you. Do the best you can with what you have to work with in your ministry, and let God do the rest!
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