PRAYZEHYMN Online | where gospel music lives [Changing Faces]

By JAMES L. WALKER
E-mail: JJWALKER@WALKERANDASSOC.COM
Posted: January 11, 2007

Over the years, I have written many articles, essays and commentaries on the music industry, legal issues and general entertainment matters. This article however has been one of the toughest for me to write as I see the state of our gospel industry.

As a former news reporter, I covered over 100 homicides, but the recent slayings of many jobs of black execs in gospel music as well as the overall black music community, leads me to feel we are witnessing career assassinations of many brothers and sisters who helped build this gospel industry the past 15 years.

Let's look at the last few years of "our Industry" and the changes in leadership as we became a billion-dollar industry that corporate America now wants to profit from.

EMI's Shawn Tate, one of the classiest guys and brilliant marketing minds in the industry, single-handedly, helps build the EMI Gospel company to its current success, including great marketing work on Tri-City Singers & Donald Lawrence, Smokie Norful and Darwin Hobbs to name a few. Tate is gone, shown the door.

Jerry Mannery: helps build Malaco and a slew of great gospel artists including Mississippi Mass, Dorothy Norwood, Men of Standard and The Caravans to mention a few. Mannery is no longer with the company. (Reportedly he resigned, but after what he built how could a company not offer the house to keep him?)

Vicki Mack-Lataillade, a creative genius, builds arguably the most successful gospel label ever in Gospo Centric bringing us the likes of Kirk Franklin, Tri-ni-tee 3: and Kurt Carr. She merges or sells her company to Zomba a year or two ago and today is no longer with Gospo Centric. (Reportedly her contract was not renewed and she has until end of the year to leave.).

Mickey Carter, a talented lawyer, who worked in the business affairs and publishing offices of Zomba prior to the BMG-Zomba merger. He's no longer with the company, for whatever reasons.

Alvin Williams, powerful young brother working for Music World/Sony and building their gospel presence. He's no longer even working on the music label side anymore, moving to Gospel Music Channel. Indeed, a promotion, but the corporate gatekeepers should have kept him in the music industry for his vision and thinking outside of the box.

Monica Coates: a young, rising star at Verity, worked on various great albums including Richard Smallwood, Twinkie Clark and Donnie McClurkin's is strangely no longer with the company. No one knows the whole story.

Jackie Patillo introduces us to Israel, Lisa McClendon and Stephen Hurd while heading up A&R at Integrity, but she's now with Zomba. How could Integrity not create an environment that keeps this diamond in the rough and beautiful Godly being?

Tara Griggs-Magee: aside from Demetrus Stewart, Griggs-Magee is arguably, the most talented of several female executives to be terminated. There are widespread allegations and rumors that not only was she let go by Sony Urban, but she was escorted out of the building with security and no one has heard anything from her in recent weeks or in terms of her future career steps.

Lastly, Max Siegel: after helping the label, by any means necessary, build Verity to a gospel powerhouse, he shockingly announces his retirement to go work with the Dale Earnhart race car companies. Very strange and unexplainable to many.

And, even further, while one of the respected and most talented Gospel Industry execs, Jazzy Jordan leaves then returns to Verity, we are told in a press release, "there will be no President at this time of Verity" .

And, let's not overlook Ms. Brenda J. Culpepper and her pioneering to bring us the East Coast Mass Choir and early works of Kirk Franklin, John P. Kee and Lucresia Campbell and how the industry has overlooked her talents for years. She should be running Verity right now. Or even Telisa Stinson, who created Men of Standard, and the list goes on-and-on.All and all, these firings, resignations, departures or whatever you want to call them, really pain me first as a gospel music lover, but then scare me as it appears our black gospel music may be controlled by corporate giants now who have no connection to the very people who developed the music.

According to Nielsen SoundScan, gospel music sales experienced a double-digit percent increase. As of July of 2006, nearly 18 million gospel music albums, including those sold on the internet, were purchased by consumer, placing millions of dollars into corporate bank accounts of these major companies.
So we must wake up and realize that in 5 years, the Gospel music industry could be as big as other genres and make even more billions for the corporations.

In this new millennium, gospel music, like hip-hop, will become big business, controlled by bean counters and corporate titans who have no idea of The Reason Why We Sing.

Sony will control Verity, Gospo-Centric, Sony Urban (if still there), and all of the Zomba gospel companies, a total of nearly 60%-65% of the market share and billboard charts. In a billion dollar industry, its scary to see one company have this much dominance and control AND a loss of black execs.

Given all of the moves, I pray first for all of the executives previously mentioned as examples above.
Secondly I challenge the execs who are still able to release the debt of the gospel artists, turn over their masters and do whatever to empower the artists before your departure. Let the artist out of this corporate circle that they never planned for when signing with a small Verity or Gospo-Centric. None of these artists could have forseen these mergers, and the corporate gorilla they now work for and signed to for 5-7 plus LONG years.

Thirdly I urge the gospel music community, from Black Gospel Promo, to the leaders of Gospel Industry Roundup, to Gospel Flava to Gospel City, The Stellar Awards, The GMWA, Gospel Today and even the Bobby Jones Retreat staff to organize and call a Summit or meeting to discuss the serious plight of our industry and get a game plan to preserve our jobs, our music and our future.

Our talented executives are being shown the door, resigning or simply put: no longer in the house to shape, drive and control our music. It is critical that we unite now and call a private, close-door meeting to discuss the state of our industry and how we can maintain control of our music, the direction of our industry and the overall ministry of gospel music as it goes forth.

Admittedly, as one of the most active law firms in gospel music, we have had our battles with these labels and executives over the decades, but at the end of the day, most of us were pushing for the preservation, integrity of our music, our artists and our gospel industry and community.

Look carefully at what happened in hip-hop: a music from the street with DJs and rap artists selling music out of their trunk and maintaining its authenticity and integrity, now, controlled by corporations who will allow violence, drugs and material glamorization to permeate our black music stations and communities. As a result, our children, instead of hearing Al Green and Marvin Gaye, are given messages of "Get Rich or Die Trying", "I'm A Playa", "It's All About the Benjamins' and "F*** The Police".

If we do not do something now, the risk is that all consciousness could be lost in our Gospel Music and it will merely be controlled by big corporate businesses with no intention of saving souls and Changing Lives or employing people that truly live and believe in The Gospel.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Founder of the Urban Impact Summit James L. Walker, Jr. is an attorney with the law firm of Walker & Associates, L.L.P. He has worked with or represented the likes of Bobby Jones, Twinkie Clark, James Hall, Donald Lawrence, Hezekiah Walker, Yolanda Adams, and many more.

OTHER VALUABLE RESOURCES TO LOOK INTO:
We perish because of the lack of knowledge. Get schooled.

Max Siegel Leaves Zomba Gospel - Article posted on United By One.
Looking Ahead to 2007 - Gospelflava.com predictions for 2007.