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
Melody, Great blog topic! Being a gospel music musician, I see this struggle everyday. I once assumed that the lack of support for live concerts was based on location; meaning, it is very hard for a gospel artist to get support from his or her local community. On the same token, even when there is a well known gospel artist in concert, the venue will be packed if it is free. It is definitely sad and I wonder what the underlying issue is. I have watched people in the christian/gospel sector pay buckets of money for artists like Prince and Earth Wind and Fire, but are quick to oppose $15 for almost any gospel artist. We have a saying "you have to do gigs to get gigs." At some point, the free engagements get old, the artists have needs as well. I personally get upset when a person is quick to respond "someone shouldn't get paid monetarily for things regarding ministry," and unfortunately, I hear that more times than not.
ReplyDeletePeople think that gospel artist shouldn't be give money because they are doing ministry. It ministry but they are incurring an expense the same as the R&B/HipHop artists. People who support these artist an are benefitting from the songs have no problem paying R&B/HipHop artist because they love to share those special moments with the artist on stage. Gospel artist have to create the same special moments, just in a different way. I recently went to a concert that had The Tribbett, Marvin Sapp, and Smokie Norful. i was all excited, ready to dance my shoes off and praise the Lord until rain fell down from heaven and I was let down by the artists. i was more hyped then they were. They sung only three songs apiece and hopped off stage in exactly two hours. i couldn't see the stage and the sound was terrible. Much has to be done to improve these live performances before gospel artists can demand higher ticket prices. I came away from that concert saying I wouldn't want to go back. I felt ripped off. I am not saying that every concert is like this, but our industry cannot afford any acts like this if gospel artists want to get paid and want to be treated as equals amongst the R&B/HipHop competition. They must learn how to work that stage and the audience!! They do it in church. They can do it in concert!!
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