Before we get started I feel the need to qualify what I'm about to say. I have studied the music business for years, even before I went back to college in 2008. Many of our textbooks were already in my personal library before I began classes at Cedar Valley College. Many don't me beyond articles or a radio show/station but I'm going to be a lot more vocal in the very near future. This is the first of many pieces in this style, enjoy and please share with others!

 I'm not selling you anything or starting a sign up to another conference call or mailing list. What I want to do is encourage you! Yep, that's all. The music industry has experienced a seismic shift as of late and gospel music was situated squarely on a fault line. As the industry as a whole shifted, gospel music sort of well...sunk...is sinking...something like that. But you love gospel music and so do I so what's there to do? 

Many of you have recorded music because you felt as if you were called to do so. Some of you do it full time and some of you don't. Either way is cool and whatever keeps the lights on, gas in the car and food on the table, right? AMEN!!! Until then, pray for release AND provisions. I have observed many of you on Facebook and over the past six months, I've seen your posts about your music diminish. Why though? If it's old to you, surely it's old to people, right? Not necessarily. 

How many new friends have you made within the past six months? How many of them know that you have a project for sale? What about your latest single? See, we've fallen for the market trap but Facebook isn't the market. It's your life, compiled on a single web space. Don't believe me, fast from Facebook for a day. Some of you didn't even think about it! The reason many of you have chosen not to make people aware of your project may be that you're living a comparative life on Facebook. Comparing yourself to everyone else and trying to make the moves their making. Any truth to that? 

Artists...why have you put a shelf date on your music? Consider this: You have a product that is collecting dust and for no good reason. It's just sitting there, waiting on you to compel somebody to come buy it. How many NEW friends have you made on Facebook within the last six months? Do they know you have product and where to get it?
Change that, you may have prematurely ended your career when you shelved your viable product...

A few weeks ago, Anita Wilson (yes that Anita Wilson) put up a song from her first album and you know what? It still jams! It was a cover but it's great music. If you follow her on Facebook, you'll see posts about "Keep Doing What You're Doing" here lately. Music doesn't die! This is proven when artists literally die, there's a spike in sales the moment their death is announced. 

What I'm saying to you is this...as an indie artist, you drive your music sales. It goes way beyond flooding your timeline and posting in every gospel music/artist group on the site. Honestly, don't you know how annoying that is to other people? I'm in many groups and there are some artists that do nothing but post ads (singing engagements and where to download their music). But think about it, if you have music and I have music, what makes you think I'm going to blindly support yours with no guarantee of you supporting me? It's the same with radio announcers that spam these groups with announcements of their shows...you want me to do what exactly...turn my station/show off and tune into yours? 

Be very cautious with groups, you could very well be wasting time, unless you create an interest group of your own and  post to your bonafide fan base. Do you have a like page? If so, how is your engagement there? Do you have promo material/giveaways? Consider that. Do a giveaway, create some fresh, new engagement! I'm on the way to my PO Box today to pick up some promo material from an artist and I can't wait to give them all away! Of course, the end game here is drive CD SALES!!!  Never stop marketing yourself, EVER! 

CD sales are dipping everywhere, even the Grammy's made a move to include streaming music in their consideration for awards. The industry has adjusted to consumer behavior! Do you even know what that means? YES...! Take a minute, let that sink in...the industry has adjusted to consumer behavior! Have you?

So here's the deal, you've got a song or project...what are you doing with it? If your base audience has yielded little to no results, create a new audience and drive new engagement. You've gotta do what works and not what's comfortable. READERS ARE LEADERS! Take some time and discover how to successfully market yourself and your product. There is a plethora of educational material online for the independent artist. 

PROMO MATERIALS
That includes spending some money, not always a lot but at least some! Check Vistaprint for promo materials like postcards and other paper products. You even have the option to design pens, clothing, cups and more. For what it's worth, wristbands are a great idea! Do you have business cards? What do they say? Are they two sided, is your picture on it? If you have a business card, it should literally be your calling card. People should be able to tell what you do by looking at the card. They should also be able to contact you using your card. Current numbers, address and electronic contact info should be prominently displayed on the card.  

Also, freshen up your social media space. Also, print up some promo materials and send them to churches. Let the churches know you're available for bookings. Let local businesses know the same, get yourself out there but don't be drab! To get noticed, you must be noticeable! Also, you should consider a graphic designer to spruce up a new promo picture for summer. Think about it...It's summer, do you have a summer look? Nothing's wrong with changing with the seasons! It lets people know you're still around! (LOL) 

HASHTAGS
What about hashtags? How are you identifying your brand online? Recording artist and musician Tony Bush uses: #BushBrand and you could do something similar. You know Everette Drake, his catch phrase is: "Amen Goes Right There" and he's known as "Mr. Amen Goes Right There" which is his debut single. His album contains numerous gospel gems, but it's the #AGRT branding that has traveled with him to bookings all over the country. 

DO THE MATH
Alright, got it? Some of you had NO sales this week and some of you no sales all month! Do you want to change that? You should want to change it, even if you're currently in studio working on new music! The grind never stops and neither should the marketing of your music. What if you decided to personally sell 5 cd's a day? That's 150 units from you. Of those 150, how many people would tell somebody about the cd they got from you and get them to buy their own copy? At least check you out online? 

I know you want to sell more than 150 units each month, but what have you sold so far? If you're doing better than that, great-this is exactly what we want! Get great music in the hands of listeners! 

The top CCM album last week sold somewhere around 6,359 copies. The top gospel album sold somewhere around 2,291 copies. Hmm...that already seems dismal and these are major, national artists. Can you imagine selling a copy of your cd to at least half of the people on your friends list? Maybe not everyone is a gospel music lover so, let's be realistic and say maybe 30%. What's that number looking like? Some of you reading this are already at 5K friends and some of them have NO interest in buying your product. 

NETWORKING YOUR NET WORTH
Earlier this year, I posted the inaugural blog: "Here's What's Got My Ear". Of all the artists, there were only about five of the artists named in the blog that engaged or responded. I know we're all busy but what if that blog post came from a more well known entity and they ignored it? You can never afford to ignore free, positive publicity! Some of you reading this post will be named in my next installment or one to follow. When you see it, share it! Make people aware of what's being said about your project...your ministry! Not doing so is costing you sales, whether you believe it or not! 

Make connections! I can't spend all day on my computer or phone but there are times during the day that social media interaction is my MO. The same goes for other station owners, PD, publicists, journalists, bloggers and artists. NETWORKING STILL WORKS! Bishop Hezekiah Walker said when asked about the timing of pitching a product to your contemporaries: "It's all about relationship!" He further stated that you need to get to know people before dropping the weight of product on them. This applies to industry contacts and not potential customers. Some of you are struggling with the repercussions of 'too much too soon' when dealing with industry people. "Hi, I'm Fred. Please listen to SoulProsper Radio!" is NOT the way you want things to go! 

You need to find out who is who and what they do inside the industry. Are they an actual outsider? Can they help you? Have they tried to help somebody else and what were the results? Are they just somebody good to know (with no expectations)? Know this when you deal with industry people on social media or meet them face to face.

There are way too many fractured relationships within the industry based on social media suppositions. Think about it, I don't actually know Don Jackson from the Stellar Awards, even though he's my  friend on social media or personally approves my post in the Stellar Gospel Music Group on Facebook. When I see Mr. Jackson at the Stellar Awards, I greet him and introduce myself, even if I have to do it each time. 

Furthermore, I don't actually know Phil Thornton, even if I regularly comment on his success at eOne on Facebook or LinkedIn and even write articles about him. Not until I have personally exchanged information with an understanding can I count someone an actual associate or even friend. I did see him at the Virtue listening party at the Stellars but he left before I could speak to him, still doesn't count! 

I have met some Facebook friends and artists who I didn't recognize in person! LOL It happens but be gracious either way! I love meeting people so yes, I'm actually looking forward to meeting ALL OF YOU VERY SOON!

This is why you must take great care and concern of those you're connected to on social media. There is a fine line between social media contact and professional contact. Many of us do our business on Facebook but it is merely an extension of our business dealings. Handle real business outside of Facebook (what's your email address, where can I send you a copy, may I call you to discuss...?)

Your friends list is exclusive to you. Your taste in music, fashion, comedy, religion, regional interests and much more. You have an opportunity to introduce your music to those different markets within your friends list. Some have bought it already (YAY). But, some haven't because they haven't been compelled to. You have good music, don't you? Well stop depriving your most remote audience of it! You wouldn't imagine outselling a top national artist, now would you? It's quite possible, when you take care of business!

To reach beyond Facebook, Mr. Henry Harris posted this just this morning and I had to add it, you can read it below.

It's been said that your attitude determines your altitude and that's very true! As an indie artist you will be working to prove yourself on a number of levels. DO NOT BE INTIMIDATED BY THIS!!! Instead, be gracious and embrace each opportunity to introduce yourself to more people, new promoters (with integrity), new stations, DJ's, writers and more. I worked with an artist recently who took every opportunity to rehearse their resume whenever things seemed to dip below their expectation. Handling people wrong as an indie artists very may well be the thing that keeps you an indie artist and creates an invisible ceiling for your career. Here's a rule for you...BE NICE! To tell the truth, we're pulling for the nice people! We really are! Be nice and let God do all the heavy lifting! Smile in the meantime! :)

The whole world is currently mourning Prince and rightfully so. Last Sunday, churches offered tribute in the most puzzling ways...E. Dewey Smith even offered his explanation for the brief tribute that took place at his church...not sure everybody gets it, though. That's the enigma of Prince Rogers Nelson, though...he was a lot to everybody. Whether you were wild, crazy sex driven Prince fan or the overall creative, innovative brilliant minded Prince fan, you like me were a fan nonetheless. 

Prince was the definition of an artist. There will never be another like Prince, all the rest are imitations. He was weird and made us ok with it! As enigmatic as he was, death was the only one who had him figured out. The bible says there'd come a time when we'd be glad to see 'em go and sad to see 'em born...if these aren't those days, I just don't know!

However, as all the tributes have poured in, I've silently sat back waiting for someone to steal my story! To my fortune, they have not. So let me share with you Prince's biggest influences on myself. This of course follows after the very obvious musical legacy. 

As a twenty something, it hit me early that I needed to study Prince's music. I got hold of my late uncle's 8-track collection as a pre-teen and was hip to most of what Motown had to offer before the age of 13. So when I began to study Prince, I really studied Prince. College was my first real Prince experience...the Gold Experience album. Of course the single was "Diamonds and Pearls" but there was a song one club in particular always seemed to be playing when we walked in..."P-Control". I laughed and never really danced to it thinking it was some EDM track from overseas or something! Yep, that's Prince, too! LOL

I studied his albums, I have a few LP's as well. Of all the albums he recorded, I loved his creativity and the album title: "Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic".  I was always kind of leary of Prince as a believer because of the obvious reasons. But when my friend Charles basically challenged me to check out his album "The Rainbow Children" I debated but finally ​acquiesced. It was actually one of the best musical decisions I've ever made. The reason it's not talked about much is because it's actually a biblical album. Prince was a devout Jehovah's Witness and while I don't know what the doctrine is currently, for years they didn't recognize Jesus as the son of God as "Christians" do. Listening to the album, I had a feeling that he'd tapped in to some deep truth that not many believers cared to discuss. "Who are the rainbow children"? Are those the Hebrews scattered, slaves? Who are they? It takes listening to the entire album to really begin to discover any remote possibilities to what that answer may be. The  album is a huge part of my development as a musician and for that I will always appreciate Prince. 

One of my favorite DJ's of all time is Rudy Vee. He was at 105.7 KRNB in Dallas for years on the Quiet Storm and he introduced me to Prince's track "Muse 2 The Pharoah". I loved it and then I knew that Charles was onto something, so I went out to get it. 

I love that album and it's my favorite Prince album. John Blackwell on drums just spoke the clearest drummer language I'd heard anybody speak and I'll never forget that summer! I was also really trying my darndest to woo this young lady named Angela and we spent many nights riding in my Volkswagen Passat (with the Rabbit engine) listening to tracks from the album with the moonroof open...the Angela thing didn't work out but the album stayed in my cd changer! ;) One thing as a producer I learned from Prince was the untitled/hidden track idea. I'd be riding in the car and a song would just start playing. I thought my cd changer was messing up until I realized that the cd was made that way! How genius an idea it was...I've done the same on albums I've engineered and mastered. 

"She Loves Me 4 Me" was the song I used to look for a wife. I heard the lyrics and I was like: "Where is she?" LOL I can definitely say that my wife Rhonda comes the closest to that, so yeah, Prince helped me pick a wife, too! 

Sign O' The Times
The summer of 2002 in what would be my last days at Weatherford College I went on a vintage music feast..."a smorgasbord at least" (from "Wedding Feast") I'd located a turntable and proceeded to spin every '33 I could find. One of the greatest treasures from that summer was finding Carole King's "Tapestry" LP. I loved it and played til I thought it would die right there on my turntable. I had also started my journey into adulthood...I finally had a video rental card in my name! I found the movie "Sign O' the Times". To this day, I don't remember what it was about, more like a concert video. I remember seeing Sheila E (I was in love) and hearing "Little Red Corvette" and a few other amazing tunes...the most vivid memory from watching that movie was watching Prince go around the bandstand and play each instrument like a virtuoso. You may remember Tonex doing the same thing on his "Out the Box" video. 

That solidified Prince's legacy as one of the world's greatest musicians, for me. I didn't think he'd know his way around a Hammond B-3...but he did, he absolutely did! I was a Prince fan, at that moment! 

As a fan I was disheartened that I didn't see or hear from him as much as I did earlier so I did a little research and discovered the NPG site. The site is no longer but it was more than a fan club...It was actually the hub for all things Prince! If he released new music, he released it there! If he was in concert, the only way to buy tickets was there! I hit the Prince jackpot..."so how much does all this cost, anyway?" Well, let's say that as a young college musician, I couldn't pay it! LOL

I remember seeing word of Prince concerts here and there and hearing people talk about music that wasn't for sale...but then it hit me, this guy is a real genius! He reinvented the whole music industry! This is the same guy who handed out cd's with ticket purchases...WOW! But he's Prince so this doesn't work for everybody. But could it? 

Since I've been working with and for indie artists, I want to share this with you what I learned from Prince:
1) Be Yourself, no matter how uncomfortable it makes others 
2) Find your audience
3) Engage them
4) Reward them
5) Use your platform the right way

The last point really speaks volumes in regard to who Prince was. He denied people the right to idolize him, declining a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame twice! He made his faith known, well known! He is quoted as saying: "Jesus is King" a number of times over the years. We spend a great deal of time in faith wars in our world and on social media, but when you're firm in your faith, nobody can war with that! 

So that's it, that's what Prince taught me! Not some musical epiphany, but those five things are solid Prince "things". So when I remember him and celebrate him, that's my Prince story and I'm sticking to it!