So far in this series called YOU DON’T NEED NASHVILLE I’ve posted about…
...what labels actually offer their artists, or what labels do.
...what a label does to promote artists and how an indie can do a lot of those things for herself, or the basics of promoting yourself.
...how being signed to a label often comes with a price paid paid from one’s personal life, or the importance of priorities
...what artists REALLY make from this business, or all about my finances.
...what wearing the label “Christian artist” means one’s audience and music will more than likely end up being, or are you “Christian” enough.
...how good a recorded project needs to be depending upon its purpose and intended audience and how it can be created for less, or recording for a reason on a budget.
I hope all that helped. Thank you for the kind e-mails many of you sent me through-out this series of posts. Your encouraging words and shared revelations kept me out on this limb long enough to finish the task.
The point of this series of posts was not to convince you, the indie artist, that labels are always good or bad. Nor was it to persuade you to sign or not sign on their dotted line. The goal was to give independent artists information from my perspective, certainly not the only or best perspective, about the industry so that fewer artists in the future make decisions they later regret or that do not get them closer to their musical and ministry goals. I hope you now recognize the complexity of the decision before you and now grasp why I can’t answer the question, “Should I sign a Christian record deal?” when it’s thrown at me after shows from that fast moving autograph line. The answer is yours to wrestle with.
In the end the indie artist is neither saved nor sunk after signing with or turning down a label. And that’s the subject of my last post in this series. So much of my life post-school centered around trying to discern what “God’s will” was for my life. And so much of that struggled was a search for the right job, a way to make money and be satisfied. How American and how not Christian of me.
I’m not saying that my heart wasn’t occupied by God, my sins not forgiven and my eternal destiny not set in the stone of salvation simply because I constantly asked the wrong question: What job does God want me to have? But asking that question most is not Christian in that it does not reflect or require the priorities and perspective of Christ to ask it. It is asked most by someone who believes their purpose and/or worth lies somewhere within the box labeled “work”, that life is just what we do from 8-5.
When God’s will is nothing more than a job spitting magic eight ball we behave as if occupational concerns of ours are also the chief concerns of God. We live and pray as if the epicenter of God’s will and our purpose is work. It is not.
The central component of the American life is work. It has to be in order for the GNP to rise, more cars to leave showroom floors, bigger and more houses to be erected, more taxes collected, parks built and bombs manufactured. The capitalist bases her life on labor for payment. The Christian, the citizen of Heaven first, is to build her life around God’s highest priorities: relationship with God and man, knowing God and making God known, service to God and man, freeing slaves of all kinds, lifting the wounded in all gutters, making peace etc. In short, our lives are to be about making invisible God visible with others from this community called Church.
And I’m able to do that in many ways from any where in the world, doing almost any job (hitman and stripper not so much), and at any pay scale.
So many times, when I’m talking with independent artists who say they want recorded deals, their reasons stem from job dissatisfaction or a basic unhappiness with their life. They see my job as the greener pasture. But please believe me when I tell you I see no more content happy people souls in Nashville’s label system than I did selling Walkmans at Service Merchandise, flipping chicken breasts at Chic-fil-A, entering data at a law firm or picking up discarded bulletins from my church’s floor.
Contentment, I’ve found, does not lie in what I do but who I am. If who you are someone who spends most of their time and thoughts on work, if what you’re supposed to do for a living is the primary question you bring to God day after day, work will continue to be your god after your sign that dream record deal. And no matter how sweet the success the sour feeling in your soul today will continue to poison your life with discontent.
But if you are person using every opportunity, talent, relationship and minute of every day to make God known and know Him better then you’ve probably found contentment already and will carry it with you into whatever occupation is up ahead.
So the conclusion to this series is a reminder that being indie doesn’t change who you are and being signed can’t do that either. That doesn’t mean you can’t move to Nashville, sign a deal and outsell me someday. It just means that as you do so you need to remind yourself that whatever you do for a living isn’t most important. God’s will is more than the classifieds. He’s more than a career counselor. He’s the one who made you full of melodies and personality and intellect ready to be spilled out on everyone in your life right now - not just someday. Make the most of where you are. Set goals for the future. And don’t forget making records will never make you successful at heart. And it’s the heart that matters most to Christians.
Thanks for reading. If I can ever be of more help to you please e-mail me. I’ll do my best to listen and give good information.
And I know some label types have been lurking about reading this stuff. I alsa know I’m not right about everything. So please, if you disagree, agree or can just shed better light on anything this series has covered please step out of the shadows and post your words of wisdom here as a comment. We need all the help we can get understanding the machine called Christian music.
I’m sitting in the greenroom of the Logan Show in north Nashville. Actually painted green, this room is swanky, decked out in large overstuffed couches and leather chairs. A large TV sits in the corner entertainment center and on it is Taylor Sorensen, coming from it’s speakers are his “la la la’s” and “yea yea yea’s”. he’s warming up for his live performance on the show with his band (now known as Trigger Code) and special guest guitarist Steve Mason of Jars of Clay.
After his performance taylor and the boys will shoot their five to eight minute couch interview, a la The Tonight Show, and then it’s my turn to look very unrockstar by comparison, banging out three tunes on my acoustic guitar. I’ll let you know how that goes.
Apparently this show’s a big deal. It’s beamed out to 120,000,000 homes world-wide, 60,000,000 of those in the US. I need to go to the bathroom all of a sudden. Shlog at you later.
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Reason #6 you MIGHT not need a record deal? You can record your music yourself for less than you think. BUT, and this is the biggest but in the series, it probably won’t sound as good as a label creation.
First of all, let’s deal with the goal of the recording. There are two main kinds of recording I want to discuss with indies reading this blog:
1) TO SELL AT SHOWS: This is a recording you want to best represent your music the way you hear it in your head. And you want it to look and sound as professional as possible because no one but your Mom is going to overlook that horrid cover and “indie sounding” recording of yours. You need this disc to sound and look as good as it can. That’s the goal for type 1.
2) TO GET A DEAL: At the end of this series, which we’re almost to I hope, there will be some of you who wisely, after much thought, decide you DO want a record deal. It’s actually a great thing when the right kind of artist and the right kind of label get married. So you want to make a CD that you can shop around for a record deal. That’s the goal for type 2.
Type 1 folks hopefully plan on touring on their own for a while to sell and pay off their CD. If you’re not willing to work to pay it off (or pay that credit card or loan off) and if you don’t have a “sugardaddy” (a benefactor who is giving you money to make a disc - often a dad) then you really should reconsider whether it’s a wise use of time and money to make a CD right now. It’s not cheap to make a great one and you often get what you pay for.
Now, while it’s not cheap to make a good sounding CD, it can be done for much less than labels often pay. A CCM disc can cast hundreds of thousands and as little as 30 thousand and still sound good. And the cheap discs sound good because they are often made around great songs using talented producers and musicians. It’s hard to make talent and well written songs sound bad.
My belief is that you can make a good sounding CD for less than most labels if you have good material, talent and a producer worth his pay. To do so there’s no need to jaunt all the way to Nashville and pay a bunch of money for a studio. There are great studios here and if you can get one to give you a deal - the best time to record is the winter by the way - then you should take the opportunity. But even the best deal here could be beyond your budget. So if you can’t afford a Nashville/LA/New York studio, consider using on of the better studios in a major city near you where you could record for less and be using the same gear.
After a studio, the next things you need are an engineer and a producer. Engineers are very important and often come attached to a studio. Find a studio and they’ll be able to recommend an engineer who knows his way around the place.
The producer is the hardest item to procure on your shopping list of recording ingredients. That’s because truly talented producers eventually migrate to major label herds and then refuse to work for indies. But there are some out there and you can find them. Listen to other indie records you like and read the liner notes. Pick up a phone book and call the guy. If he’s unlisted don’t stalk him. Producers are like wild turkeys, once spooked they will take flight and issue a restraining order. Ok, so they’re not exactly like wild turkeys but my point is made.
Like that indie band at Alivefest last Summer? Look up their producer. This step can’t be skimped on. It will take time and you’ll need to listen to their demo reel - a collection of songs they’ve produced. And if they’re in demand you’ll have to get in line. But it’s worth waiting for the right person who can put the right clothes on your naked ideas. I sell records today in large part because I waited for Monroe Jones and the waiting, with his skills, made my music something worth listening to.
Here’s the bad news. There are very few indie CDs, regardless of budget and talent, that end up sounding like a nationally distributed record. But indies I meet have a hard time listening honestly to their own music. Many truly believe they’re CD is Grammy worthy. But in the last four years on the road I’ve accumulated about three hundred indie CDs, handed to me at shows, and listened to almost all of them, and NONE of them were close to the production quality coming out of Nashville. I truly believe some of those CDs could have been amazing if they’d taken their time putting together the right songs and the right team.
For those of you trying to get a label deal with a recorded demo my advice is much simpler. Don’t record a fully produced record. I don’t sign people to record deals, but I do know that bad production can distract from great songs - indie or not. And often times the bad indie CDs I’m handed became bad when a local guy wanting to make some money with his studio makes a “deal” with an indie artist and a lot of bad production choices circa 1982. It’s next to impossible to hear the potential of an artist through Petra guitar squeals and Toto keyboards.
So because great producers can be hard to find and can mess things up I encourage indies to make a live disc when creating something for label folks who are really more interested in the artist than the production anyway. The live recording is a better representation of the whole you. And for that reason much scarier to make. If you don’t sound good live you just don’t sound good. And you won’t get a deal - and shouldn’t.
But if you are good at what you do then you have nothing to hide. Show the label who you really are. Labels are almost NEVER going to put your indie recorded disc on a store shelf with their logo on it. They’ll almost always choose the songs from it they like, ask you to write more and better, and then send you back into the studio to record an entire CD of old and new material with a skilled producer and engineer. Rarely does it happen differently. So what labels seem to be most interested in hearing on a demo are the basics: voice, expression, musicianship, song-writing skills etc. So why not remove what they’ll redo in time anyway and just give them more you - more of what they want.
And the bonus to this approach is....IT’S CHEAP and often FREE! All you need is a club, school, or church with a soundboard and a geeky friend with a hard drive recorder or something of the same quality - something recording multiple tracks digitally. Mic’ the crowd and everything on stage well and do your show. Do a couple shows that way to give yourself more options. Then all you have to hire is a mix guy. This is CRUCIAL. The good thing is mix guys don’t care if you’re signed or not, if you pay. So look at your favorite CCM recordings for mix engineer names, go on-line to the Nashville white pages, search and dial. That easy. If time is not of the essence you’ll get a better price for waiting your turn. “I need it in three months” will more than likely get you a better deal than “I need it next weekend.”
One last tip on the live recording. Keep it simple. If you’re a solo artist then consider recording you solo. Nothing’s more powerful than a song standing on it’s own. Johnny Cash taught us that didn’t he? Why dress up the live recording with a full band? A band won’t make you express better, stay on pitch better, or write better. And those are the things that matter most.
Last thing. What makes a recorded project great (live or studio) is not just sonics. Songs matter. And labels and publishers really are better in general at helping writers craft great songs. If you’re indie you don’t have that irreplaceable tool in your arsenal but you do have a mp3 collection. Listen to it. It’s your teacher. When I first started writing in Nashville a publisher held up a CD and said “If you want to wrote a hit song the rules are right here.”
He’s still right. Don’t rip off or copy but learn. CDs will teach you what a chorus is and how it’s different in function from a verse, how long verses should be in relation to choruses, what a bridge is, how to use imagery and rhyme, what a musical hook and lyrical hook is etc. The rules are right there and if you learn them well you can write great songs. And great songs can shine through mediocre recordings and grab the hearts and minds of your audience and even turn the heads of label suits. But great songs recorded well is the goal so, to summarize, find a producer with a track record of making music you like, take your time making music with him while communicating clearly who you are musically, and don’t let production (live or studio) come before or in get in the way of well written songs.
Hope all that helps more than hurts.
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Margaret Becker is a singer-songwriter, speaker and author with two decades of experience in the Christian music industry, four Dove awards, four Grammy nominations, and 10 albums (and counting). She has been honored by American Songwriter Magazine with their “Songwriter of the Year” award, and by SESAC seven times with the same honor. She is also an in-demand speaker, the author of three books and a monthly columnist for CCM Magazine. In 2003 she received the most meaningful honor of her career: the first ever Lumie’re du Monde award from the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe for her part in saving the lives of 500,000+ children living in poverty as World Vision’s very first artist partner. Here’s our unedited e-mail conversation:
So my manager Glenda brought you into my world about four years ago. We sat down, do you remember, at a grill downtown and talked about the two of you managing me. I said, “Heck yes,” pretty quickly, so you helped form the big picture of my career early on, gave me pointers on live performing and gave me the occasional pat on the back that helped keep me going. So first of all, thanks for all of that.
Glenda’s never told me, how’d you guys get hooked up? Did she manage you or what?
I met Glenda on and off over the years through Proper Management (Avalon, Nicole Nordeman etc . . . ) When ever she was at an event with her artists, she always got them what they needed. After a while, I learned to just to tag along behind her . . .
I approached her about managing me. She’s dynamic, proactive and strong. She thought about it and then, we moved forward. After that, we went into business together in a few different areas, and that’s when we ran into you.
And now I guess you manage yourself. Is that because you’re doing less music stuff these days and don’t need a music business manager or am I wrong about that? I know you’ve written some great books (plug) and you’re an amazing speaker - thanks again for speaking at IKON, that was great - so I guess I’ve just assumed you’ve moved beyond music as your career focus these days. Is that accurate?
Let’s just say that Glenda’s talents would be wasted on me at this point. My “Career” or “calling” is about being “available” right now. That takes me across many lines and in and out of different situations than I have been in in the past.
I still do music, but when it makes sense around other stuff. Before—as you know—from first hand experience, there was little time for any other interests. That was ok for a time, but eventually I felt like God gave me a choice --continue as is or take the “wild card,” and become more spontaneous and intuitive in my life. I took the wild card. It means being more behind the scenes supporting others, as well as speaking and singing, writing etc. It’s just enough “change” to keep things interesting. It’s been an awesome time of life for me, as was the full time music thing. It all boils down to being in God’s sight—there is provision when He calls—no matter what the calling is.
It’s weird how many of us artist types go through times of similar emotions/thought patterns. I mean, so many artists I know have had this feeling that they’ve sold the rights to their own life in some sense, lost the freedom to change direction or priorities because of a contract..or maybe because they grew up and got a mortgage. Do you think your desire for more freedom to follow God each moment had more to do with your having been a contracted artist at one time or with simply growing up...or equal measures of both? Is that restlessness I sometimes feel a product of being artists or just being American, bored, adults, human, Gen-Xers or something else?
Wow, great question. I think for me it was more about feeling like it was “the cloud” moving, (the cloud by day fire by night thing ). I love constancy, so the only way God gets me to move is by making it very obvious. Unfortunately, for me that means making it very uncomfortable.
I began to sense a level of “discomfort” in my life. Among other things, I felt like I had bumped into walls on all sides being a full-time recording artist. That, coupled with the fact that I had other things I wanted to try before I left this earth --and the feeling that I needed to use my resources (relationships, business structures, energy—even placement) more responsibly (in a community/global way).
Growing up --probably. Feeling the pressure of floating a spreadsheet within a big record company --probably that too. Bored—never. Privileged --absolutely. One of my life verses is “To whom much is given, much will be required.” That will keep you on the healthy side of “Fear.”
The Gen-X mentality is a plus in these things as well. That mentality forgoes linear approach in things in favor of a more spontaneous, internally driven path. In the case of leaving one sure thing for all things unknown, that kind of mind-set is an asset. And all these things under the umbrella of Christ are a true adventure—with life giving results --not only for those who are doing it, but for those around them too.
I think one of the greatest lessons you’ve taught me with words and modeling is how to achieve contentment - recognizing that God is meeting my needs right now even if it’s not in the form I expected or prefer. It’s hard for me to be content with you right now, honestly. (Check out this transition. Barbara Walters eat your heart out.) I’m a fan of Margaret Becker the musician but that seems to be something you’re offering us less of these days. I’ve only recently become acquainted with Margaret the speaker and author and I love those parts of you but your music was what I loved first. You’re meeting my need for something creative from you and my need to hear the truth in new ways, but at the same time it’s not in the ways many of us have come to expect from you either. You’re the first ever Christian rock chick! And I guess I’m drawn to that part of your communication “toolbox” the most because it makes me think and inspires in ways books just don’t. Even if they’re great books.
So what kinds of musical endeavors do you have going on right now? And is music still something that scratches an itch you can’t get scratched any other way? Is it something you still feel you HAVE to do - even if it’s not for a living?
Man Shaun. I feel like a slug right now Let me go get my guitar and start slugging one out!
Yes, it’s still an itch. I must. It is something indigenous to my soul expression. I guess I’ve been trying not to be so presumptuous as to think that my commentary delivered in that way is sorely missed. But I miss making that type of commentary and as time would have it, I am writing a new body of songs for a fresh record right now—just a straight ahead MB record. In addition, I’ve been co-writing with a lot of other artists as well. I enjoy the collision of 2 minds on creative things.
What you said is encouraging to me. I don’t take it lightly. I’ll get to work!
I guess I was just that person who after my show comes up to me and asks, “When are you going to write another Welcome Home?” Hope I don’t make you feel pigeon holed. You write, sing and speak very well. Keep doing all of it. But yes, your commentary on God and life in musical form is valuable to me...and I’m sure many others.
The best way to thank you for your time is to not use all of it, so just a couple more questions alright?
A passion you and I share is mentoring, or helping in some way, the indie artist. Many indies struggle with whether to sign a traditional record deal and whether, if they’re Christians, to sign with a “Christian” label? I’m wondering if your own experience can help answer those questions for them. Why did you sign a record deal years ago and why one that would limit your audience to primarily Christians?
Years ago, when I signed, there was no appetite for Christian commentary inthe general marketplace. There simply was not a lot of opportunity for —singer/guitar songwriters, (remember, it was the fade out of the 80’s where hair needed a building permit and everything had to be big and better)
I knew that my music would always be colored by my relationship to Christ. That coloring wouldn’t allow me to do or say—or endorse—certain aspects of what pop music at the time was focusing on. Sparrow was a company who made an industry based on Christ commentary, so it was a fit for me. In fact, they were the company I wanted to be at once I understood that
record companies in those days had distinct “personalities.” Theirs was definitively ministry oriented.
The field is different now. The general marketplace is quite open to faith-colored content—and in fact, I believe there is a unique hunger for it.
When Indies ask me this question, I respond the same way I would respond to someone who is trying to choose a vocation or ministry organization to align with—Let God lead.
Simply this: open doors, chase down opportunities, use the lovely senses He gave you to navigate. Fast and pray. Be open to long silences, and lack of direct communication from Him—rather, follow the “cloud” in your life. When you feel His pleasure on you, it is generally a confirmation. Be faithful to whatever he brings—not with the intent of “moving on to bigger and better things,” but with the intent of serving Him and His kingdom in whatever role He assigns you.
I believe that whether or not anyone “signs,” (which by the way means losing autonomy in many ways—not that it’s bad, but it can be tricky) is of no consequence when it comes to expressing art as a believer. The key to success is to understand what you were designed to do, and to do it for 10 people, 6 non-english speaking people, at a barbeque—if that is the opportunity God provides.
“Feed my sheep.” It was a loving command He gave. It’s what we are called to do, corporately and individually.
Thanks Margaret.
MARGARET BECKER RELATED LINKS:
*MAGGIEB.COM
*WORLD VISION
*HOPE INITIATIVE
*CCM MAGAZINE
*MARGARET’S BOOKS
*BOOK MARGARET TO SPEAK OR SING
The fifth reason you MIGHT not need a Christian record deal? You might not be “Christian”.
Despite various definitions floating around town there is really only one answer to the question “What is Christian music?” that most of us in Nashville Christian music business actually live by daily. This answer doesn’t come from wise philosophers like Frankie Schaeffer or Charlie Peacock or from the Gospel Music Association. You won’t find it in print at a Christian music seminar either. Instead this answer is arrived at by looking at what the music coming out of Christian labels actually is, who it is consumed by, not what we aspire for it to be or what God has defined it as in some as-yet-unfound appendix to scripture.
Christian music IS, today in Nashville, music made by professing Christians, intended for play on radio stations listened to primarily by professing Christians, and sold primarily to professing Christians. Christian music IS by and for Christians.
We could argue endlessly for a deeper more utopian and ecclesiastical definition - and I think we should - but such definitions are not true NOW. We don’t do business by those ideal definitions yet and this is a series about the reality of the music business today - not what we’d prefer it to be tomorrow. TODAY Christians are the consumers of Christian music, just as Christians are the hearers of church preachers.
I received a call from a friend of a friend of a friend one evening a couple years ago. This young sounding rock n’ roll rasp on the other end of the line asked me if he should sign a record deal with a well-known Christian label. I asked, “Why do you make music? What’s the point?”
He seemed annoyed. I didn’t seem to be answering the question he’d asked. He wanted to know if signing was profitable, if that label was effective etc. I wanted to know what his goal was, how God made him to function. I’ve actually asked this same question (Why do you do what you do?) of every artist I know and some have no real answer. The usual answer is a more flowery incarnation of “I’m a Christian and I make music so I make Christian music.” Lame. That’s not enough to get me through the hard days of this job.
I’m a preacher. I wish I wasn’t. I wish I was cooler than that. My goal is reformation of the Church. I want to upset the comfortable to the point that we live a life together characterized by comforting the upset, making peace and taking away from institutions and governments all that God intended US (His People) to do in the first place. That’s my point. That doesn’t mean I forget about being creative or entertaining but it means the undercurrent of everything I do, the general direction of every tangent I take, is reforming the Christian view of God by communicating the bible and retelling my own experiences with both.
That bend in me fits perfectly with the machine that is Christian music. I am very happy in my occupation because it is helpful in living out my vocation. I am a pastor in soft-rock star clothing.
The raspy rocker on the phone, however, eventually explained to me that his goal was to make music for non-Christians and Christians alike while still being distinctively Christian in the way he lived, but not necessarily in his lyrical content. Like a plumber or an architect who happens to believe in Christ, he wanted to do the work of a rock star while having the heart of a Christ-follower.
My advice to him? Don’t sign a Christian record deal with a Nashville label. It’s still my advice to you today. If Christian labels aren’t good at helping you do what you know you were made to do, don’t sign with them.
Two problems with this advice though. 1) You may not KNOW who you are and what you’re here for yet. Man, that’s a hard thing to figure out. Takes time. Don’t rush into a deal because you fear the chance might not come around again or because you’re not getting any younger. Better not to have a deal than to have one that makes you miserable as you slowly discover you were made for another audience.
2) Label’s lie. It’s actually spin but that’s just fancy for lying sometimes isn’t it? Or maybe they’re just wishful thinkers who get it wrong. They’ll tell you what they’d LIKE to see happen with you and your music in language that makes you think it WILL happen. Look at a label’s track record for the truth and ask the hard questions that may upset but will always reveal the true character of an exec. For instance, if a label has no history of marketing music primarily to the general market ask why they’ve decided to start now with you - why haven’t they marketed outside the church before? If they say they have, ask why it didn’t work before and what’s changed since then that will insure greater success this time around. Is your music that much better? If a label claims to have successfully crossed someone over before, ask for specifics on how that happened. Then try to ask that artist the same thing. (Artists are much easier to reach than you might think.) You’ll find the answers are often different - I have. A label may say they got a song in a film when in reality a manager did, or a publisher, for example. Ask tough questions and take your time. This is a marriage you’ll be in for years. Better to make sure this is a match at the purpose and passion level and not just a romance with a pretty face.
That raspy-voiced guitar slinger didn’t take this advice though. Now, having been signed for a while, he’s frustrated and angry at times because he draws an audience who doesn’t get him, doesn’t excite him, and wants him to be something he isn’t.
God made him different from them - different from me - not better, just different. He’s another part of the Body, the part that doesn’t sing only for the Body. You may be different too. That’s OK.
So, who are you? What is it you love about making music? Where is it God seems to use you most? Can you be content making music that will primarily be marketed to and heard by other Christians? Are you made to serve Christians in some way: entertainment, encouragement, discipleship, teaching, anything?? If not, you need Nashville as much as a raspy-throated rock n roller needs to play another Baptist youth camp.
