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

Nick,

This article was a masterpiece!!! Especially the section regarding the NQC board. I am still sickened by the rediculous decision to ban the GVB from NQC last year because of their appearance and long hair!!! NQC board members grow up and get off your high horses. Who are you all to make these decisions based on bogus criteria? And then I go to Nqc and see some of the no-talent groups on the mainstage and wander "what are you thinking". I'm also in vote for some of the NQC members to take a good dose of humble pie. I tried to talk to one of them at NQC this past year and they were about as rude as they come. If a group was losing airplay or attendance at concerts, or if product sales were down I could understand removing them from the mainstage. But to remove the largest selling SGM group from convention is UNACCEPTABLE!!!!! Maybe one of the ideas King Nick should be for our industry leaders to have group bible study so they actually have a clue about what SGM, ministering, and the gospel is SUPPOSED to be about!!! I do think there is a problem with these crooked record companies. Someone above asked what was meant. Well what it means is people with a studio seeking out young artists to take advantage of. My group experienced this many years ago. Luckily we declined the offer. These companies will "sign" you to a record deal and have most of the creative control over the group and the recording. Then you, as an artist, are expected to finance your own recording for the promise that these people will "plug you in" to the industry with radio airplay and distribution. Many times these people also get a percentage of the recording that you paid for!! It is a system that targets naive artists and really gives no bang for a lot of buck!! Some may disagree with me but the truth is that if a "record label" really believes in you, then they will back you with their own financial resources. If I'm going to pay for a recording myself then my own group is going to have the creative control of the product and I'm going to be the one to reep the benefits. These are just two things that Nick mentioned that I am passionate about. Keep it up Nick, You'd be my vote for King!!!!!

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

One more additional thought King Nicholas. I would like to see the NQC move around and actually market into an area where they haven't already flooded the market (i.e. Dallas, San Antonio, Denver). Why NQC officials insist on having their product only on their "home turf" is beyond me and goes against every principal of expanding a business.
Furthermore, a brand new station in the DFW area comes on and plays my kind of music but you cannot contact anybody there because it is all piped in from Nashville. Then as my boys, who love what I have introduced to them as SGM, are listening we get the worst of the so called best on and they beg me to change it. Until the powers that be take a serious look at themselves and what they play, they need to quit asking the question of "what is wrong with Southern Gospel Music?" If they would look in the mirror they would see the answer. Our group has actually had to change the name of what we do so we can get in the door of most churches. We now call it Southern Inspirational (Southern Gospel without the twang).

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

Nick, my man! Or should I say King Nick. Your "say-it-as-it-is" attitude is refreshing! Let me give you a couple more kingly commands, being one of those folks that hasn't earned a dime from the industry but has spent the last few years working with your friends, Ronnie, Michael, and Jim, trying to apply some of my past corporate business experience.

First, establish a committee of "wise guys" (women included and welcome) who are able to develop a vision for SGM. I'm really talking about folks who have the capability to look around outside of SGM and describe the impact that changes in our society will have on SGM. What's the ultimate impact of the internet going forward, technology in the studio, habits of people (old and young), economic dynamics, etc. I think, King Nick, that these folks HAVE to be somewhat detached from SGM. Right now, there are lots of opinions and demographic information that are anecdotal, but not much good market intelligence.

Second, make every artist group at least think about a budget and their retirement. Lets face facts - its not easy financially being a gospel singing group. Part of that stems from poor planning both for the near term and long term. The other part is fear of the unknown, thus let's just keep doing it the old fashion way?. Throw in a month of the flu with any group, and there are going to be hurting!

Third, get people to think outside the box. Why is it that practically no promoter welcomes the idea of teaming up with a group to sell a concert and split the profits? Why do record companies not care about what a group makes in their fees? Why do promoters not care what a group makes at their table? I have lots of ideas - just not enough space here to put them down. Don't knock the Gaither business model. It has some pretty interesting ingredients that will be critical to SGM going forward.

Fourth, have marketing studies performed by all stakeholders in SGM so that they KNOW THEIR CUSTOMER! How many groups and record companies know the real buying habits of their fans or the trend of their listening desires? Let's do some studies and focus groups, and then share the information with each other (for the record, we've done some with the Booths and the results are very interesting and truthfully a bit scary).

Fifth, eliminate award programs or at least take them out of the hands of folks that use them to drive advertising programs or perceived success. Let ALL the fans vote, not just those that meet a certain criteria. There's a lot of hurt feelings out there and fans scratching their heads trying to rationalize the outcomes. That's why I'd say nix them! What are we REALLY trying to accomplish that God would call honoring.

Enough said, kindly king. Please don't take this as bashing your faithful servants. I'm only giving comments aimed at helping us all use the talents God has given us more effectively.

Commented by Bob Crichton On 03/06/2005

Great article Nick. NEVER EVER lose the passion or let anyone silence your voice. The Southern Gospel industry needs more people like you with the fortitude to be honest.

Commented by Jim On 03/06/2005

You forgot some:

Recognition of part-timers as a viable part of the MINISTRY that is Southern Gospel. (In some places, if it wasn't for us PT-ers, SG would still be an unknown art.) "They" ought to say, "Thank You" sometime - that would encourage us.

Contract w/ all ministries, that anyone perceived as thinking they are the "star" of the show, should resign immediately, and not allowed to sing/play another note. JESUS CHRIST IS THE STAR!

Forsake the "competative" urge. WE ARE ON THE SAME TEAM, PEOPLE!

Commented by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) On 03/07/2005

Great ideas! Just one comment to Andy - On 03/01/2005 Andy Haynes wrote:

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?"

My response - new blood??? Sorry Andy but for new blood you need this type of thinking, not someone who just agrees with the same old thinking 'because that's the way it has always been'.

A positive move would have been to get some real honest and indepentant thinkers on the board, not cut-outs of the previous members.

Commented by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) On 03/08/2005

I tip my hat to you "King Nick". Don't ever stop saying what is on your mind. I also agree with Bob in his statement above concerning awards shows. If it can't be kept honest, why bother.

Commented by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) On 03/12/2005

When industries are troubled by poor quality or dishonest people, they develop certification processes to convince customers of their value. It appears that this is what is being said here. Perhaps the Southern Gospel Music industry should develop a certification process, without which certification artists, radio stations, record companies and promoters could not participate in the industry. Of course, the problem here is getting everyone to agree on a standard or relinquish their position of authority. It would seem that the Southern Gospel Music Guild would be good for this. But is seems that for the $500 fee they charge for participating memberships, they do very little.

Commented by Keith Prater On 03/14/2005

dear nick
I gree with you on some of theses things and i do think the reviewers shouldn't let out some of the music as "Southren Gospel" more like rock or some other stuff but you do make a point and we can make a change in this world if we tried hard enough.

Commented by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) On 03/15/2005

Great article Your heart and mind are in the right place. Keep me informed when you prsent this to whatever Government Body will listen.jd

Commented by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) On 03/17/2005

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