Contemporary Christian Music magazine interviewed Amy
Wolters and Lang Bliss of Tom Jackson Productions. Tom Jackson Productions is the top live
production company in the world! In this
interview they discussed the live show and why it is so important to an artist
career in this economic climate. What I
learned is that if an artist is going to make money he or she must do live
shows. Live shows are not only where the
artist gets to share their gift of music with the audience but where they must
connect with the audience. Connecting
with the audience drives sales at the merch table. Lets' face it, if you don’t make sales, you
will not make it in this business. Amy
and Lang discuss the fact that times have changed. The artist income stream depends on what
they do whereas before it depended on what the label did. Artist must put on the live shows and connect
with the audience by creating those special moments that make the crowd say
that they love this artist, like the way that song makes them feel and create a
need to buy that song so they can feel that way again. Artist can no longer focus on what they feel
comfortable doing but now must think about what the audience wants. They go on to explain how the artist can engage
their audience by using a process to achieve a relationship with their audience
where the artist will have the audience eating out of their hand. When an artist achieves this, sales will
follow and long lasting relationships with fans will develop.
This is especially relevant for gospel artist. One of the pressing issues for gospel artists is that their audiences only want to pay half the price for a concert ticket
than they would for secular artist concerts.
Could it be that they haven’t made the shift to focusing on what their audience
wants? I think we , (managers and artists) can learn a lot from this discussion. If
gospel artist are going to make the income they deserve, this information is
just what we need to implement.
The person that helps the artist go through the process of
connecting to his audience are similar to a project manager because he or she
has to provide strong direction and structure for how the artist is to use a
process to connect to their audience.
They have offer support to the artist and serve as a mentor to the artist
while at the same time make sure that the project runs smoothly. Why is Live Performance So Important?
Why is Live Performance So Important? Contemporary Christian Music. Retrieved from http://www.ccmmagazine.com/article/why-is-live-performance-so-important/2012/January30
Why is Live Performance So Important? Contemporary Christian Music. Retrieved from http://www.ccmmagazine.com/article/why-is-live-performance-so-important/2012/January30
