If you good people happen to get a copy of the May/June issue of Gospel Today magazine, you might find a little article called “The NEW Gospel Music Industry” in it, written by a young man named EJ Gaines. 
My article focuses on the state of the changing music industry economy– explaining where we were 10 years ago, where are are today, and what changed during that time to affect the industry as it has.
The magazine, published by Dr. Teresa Hairston, is the leading magazine in the urban faith-based community, reaching over a quarter of a million people.
Click here for a preview of the editorial… let me know what you think!
"Gospel music was always purposed to carry God’s message to the masses; somehow, this mandate may have been muddied by multiplatinum sales and million dollar deals. Maybe the aftermath of Gospel’s economic storm will yield a bevy of smaller, more Kingdom focused companies some may even be ministries." Standing ovation on THAT alone! Work Holy Ghost! I'm so serious...I felt that. WOW!
Just read the editorial and don't find it a good teaser to read the full article in the magazine. Aside from other genres of music, Gospel in particular has its own unique problems even without economic changes. Lets not forget we're talking about a genre of music which has a long history of open discrimination against young artist(s); which is needed to keep the industry alive. For the past 10 years or more, we've been harassed with the same names/faces over and over, dropping CDs every 2 years. As soon as we're finish listening, here comes the next item on the conveyer belt. Consumers are actually tired of the same names/faces over and over again; being those same faces are practically all over 50 years old. Please keep in mind the medium age range of Gospel Music consumers are between 16-43. Thank God for Sunday Best, that platform is probably the only way we're going to see NEW TALENT! That's why it’s so popular and the blogs are so long, because now consumers have a voice and decision. Just because they're young and have a record deal and winner of a talent competition, doesn't mean they're going to get health radio rotation and put on the big programs; and the reason is, we still have to deal with discrimination. Wonder how Elder Mc... is doing so well? Hmmmm In closing; we as consumers have money, and we're even more empowered than we were 10-15 years ago thanks to the internet. We purchase what we want and we pass on what we don't want. But mainly we're misinformed, because we have a generation of elders that have their foot on the next generation of leaders! It's right there in our churches too! So when the editorial mentioned that ministries may be next to lead the way, LORD HAVE MERCY! We already know, once the industry is put in the hands of today's bishops and leaders, we're even more in trouble! It's a mess out there saints, that's because we've been sleep, letting the wrong people lead us for so long. Get back to what the Holy Spirit is speaking; get back in the Word of God to understand what the spirit is revealing to His people! Stay empowered and don't be deceived any longer! Love you in Christ Jesus.
CONGRATS
Congratulations, Erik!! I will acquire my copy ASAP. @vrc... the boy can TALK!!!
@In My Realm: Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I respect where you're coming from, but I don't recall stellar record sales for younger/fresher artists. Neither do I recall stellar record sales for current Sunday Best winners -- we pray that story changes for the Yanna Crawley! My point is that I don't see the panacea of the industry's ills being young artists or new faces.... a fresh sound perhaps, but from what I perused in the preview, EJ deals with the myriad changes in the Gospel marketplace with laser focus.
@Byron "Get back to what the Holy Spirit is speaking; get back in the Word of God to understand what the spirit is revealing to His people! Stay empowered and don’t be deceived any longer! Love you in Christ Jesus."
Congratulations on the article! Nice to see your name in print (old-school paper, that is! ;-) )
Congrats EJ!! Usually we have them in the house, so if we get that issue I'll look for your article!
Congratulations, be blessed.
Congrats EJ! Good Read. Keep it up -
This is what many are trying to ignore, but some have identified and agreed to take a stand. "Kingdom focused companies" sounds ideal because one day I was flipping through Youtube for a specific gospel artist and I found a video of one of my favorite songs by her. Unfortunately, I came across this dude's presentation of him dancing all over a pole to the song. It was a hot mess, a complete freak show! However, I think it happened because audiences are not sure how to receive gospel music now that it appears so many times in this unique package for sales. Too many companies are in support of artist who say "I sing gospel music, but I also sing this stuff and make these videos with all this other non-Christian like stuff in my life". That amount of blending causes so many mixed signals. People are so confused right now. It has also had an effect on the style of praise dancers. I have viewed several videos on Youtube of church youth groups who are dancing to gospel music as if they are trying to seduce someone...so what is creating that setting for people to start thinking it is Ok to act that way while listening to inspirational songs?
Great article, great points...just great. Congrats!