In the previous issue, I wrote a somewhat emotional article about the foundation we ought to have as Christians involved in the music industry. This article is going to be a bit less emotional. It’s going to deal with the ins and outs of our industry and how we might improve what we’re doing. I’m going to point out a few bad things and a few good things, and we’ll get to hear some thoughts from people in the industry itself. Hopefully, these things can be useful for everyone in working toward a new position in the music industry.

First, it would be very important to read the “Foundations for our Industry” article. Though it covered spiritual topics, it also outlines a few areas of the industry and also defined the differences between the Christian, mainstream, and underground industries. Since I’ll be referring to these things a lot, it would be good to read over it to better understand where I’m coming from.

This article will focus mostly on the “Christian” and “mainstream” sides of the industry. I’m mostly experienced with how the Christian industry works, and it often tries to model the mainstream industry. I don’t have a lot of experience with how the “underground” industry works, so I won’t talk about it much. As I said before, I think many of our heavier hitters are doing great things in the underground, and there are plenty of forum topics dealing with that side of the industry. It seems, however, that our efforts to reach into the Christian and mainstream industries have been slim and rare, often times a nonexistent failure.

Reasons for the lack of advancement

I think we’re up against some tough, but not unbeatable, competition. You don’t hear a lot of dance music on mainstream radio and you don’t see a lot of music videos from dance artists. On the mainstream side, this is a direct result of the labels and artists catering so closely to the clubs that they have forgotten about radio, which is the foundation for all media outlets. Because of this, most media outlets have forgotten about dance music. We still hear it in clothing stores, and often as background music for commercial advertisements, television shows, and talked over by radio announcers. This, however, does not equal radio airplay or pop-culture relativity. In other words, it isn’t really selling CD’s. For example, when someone is shopping at Abercrombie & Fitch and he hears a great dance track, he still has no idea what it is because there’s no plug for the artist. No DJ giving out track info, no text on the music video, no references on AIM Today.

Those of us working the underground side have a profitable future. There will always be DJ’s who want to buy club mixes on vinyl, or download them from beatport. But those of us who are trying to sell music elsewhere are in a world of hurt, because we’re approaching it all wrong.

Small Christian dance labels seem to be struggling with selling music and keeping out of the red. In my opinion, it’s because they’re marketing to the wrong people with the wrong methods. They’re focusing on making music for DJ’s, but trying to sell it the wrong way. Plus, there’s a massive audience of non-DJ people willing to spend money on a Christian dance CD, but the CD’s aren’t created in a way that makes it enjoyable to them. So, we need to change our focus in order to make things work.

An example of failure

Here is an example of how we’ve failed. I’ll use a pretend-situation because I don’t want anyone to say I am secretly talking about a specific label.

Blasted-Eardrum Records is a small label run by a Christian named Mark, who wants to market his music to the Christian industry. He’s released one full-length album, one compilation CD, one CD single, and one 12” vinyl, all by Christian dance artists. He had some pretty decent exposure, with a limited amount of airplay on the few Christian mix-shows and dance programs. However, none of his projects have sold well enough to put him in the black, and now Blasted-Eardrum Records is thinking about folding.

The 12” vinyl was simply a mistake. There wasn’t a big enough buying pool in the Christian world to make it worth its while.

The CD single didn’t do well because most of the songs were catered for DJ’s, and DJ’s like to either get serviced for free, or buy individual tracks from download sites like beatport or iTunes. Fans don’t want to sit through a 2-minute drum intro like DJ’s do.

The compilation CD and the full-length were probably the most accessible releases, but there were two problems. Neither album got much exposure, because radio stations didn’t want to play the eight-minute length tracks, and none of the artists were the touring type. Not to mention a serious lack of catchy vocals. The result: No fans knew about the songs. It wasn’t something non-DJ’s cared about, and so it didn’t sell.

I think this reflects a lot of what our Christian labels have been doing. We’re making tracks for DJ’s, and expecting them to purchase those tracks when they could spend the same or less money purchasing a 12” record or making a $0.99-cent download which might even be of equal or better value. We’re also making music that the average listener, who happened to dig Days Go By by Dirty Vegas, can’t get into because there are no words to sing along to, and the songs are just too darn long.

Where is the audience, and what does it want?

The audience is everywhere, but none of them are listening. They aren’t buying Christian dance music (defined as music written by Christians). For one thing, the big-time Christian labels aren’t interested in investing time or money in dance music. I know this for a fact, because I e-mailed several label representatives with some questions for the interview section below, and the only larger label that responded was Rocketown Records.

This whittles our audience down by more than half. Now, we’re looking at the people who are smart enough and willing to search the internet sites for smaller labels, many of which have people who hang out here at Tastyfresh. The problem is, a lot of the smaller labels are still under these radars. I think it all boils down to a perception that dance music is “boring” – it’s all ten-minute music that’s too repetitive. There’s no hype, there’s no attainable coolness factor for people who aren’t DJ’s.

The audience wants something they can listen to on the radio, or something they can listen to in the car that their friends won’t say is getting obnoxious. They don’t want a song longer than three and a half minutes, and they want words and lyrics they can sing along to without sounding like a broken record. Unfortunately, that’s not what we’re giving them. We’re giving them six minutes, at the shortest, and we’re giving them one or two lines of vocals repeated over and over again. It works in a club… it works on the mix shows which air once a week… it rarely works for the average fan.

We need to start making a serious effort on writing what I always refer to as “radio-friendly music.” If you scoff at the idea, but you are seriously trying to get music into the mainstream or Christian industries, then pardon me for this but you are the problem. I would hazard to say that, if you aren’t trying to reach the underground, but you aren’t writing radio friendly music, then please do us all a favor and throw in the towel until you’re ready to get serious about this.

What is “radio friendly”?

For those of you who are willing to listen to a radical idea, thanks for your willingness to stick around and keep reading. Here’s what a “radio-friendly song” is all about.

A radio friendly song is all about simplicity without always sacrificing art. It’s about mass appeal, which may or may not translate into “cheese” depending on the situation. It’s not just about radio, however. I simply use that term since radio is my career. In short, a radio friendly song is around three to four minutes in length, and it has vocals with a memorable melody, verses and a chorus, something for fans to sing along to in their cars, at home, at work, wherever. Most other genres of popular music hold dearly to this concept… rock music, hip-hop, country, pop, everything that’s well known. Even Polka. Even vocal jazz.

Dance music used to stick with this concept, but in recent years it’s gotten selective, even snobby if you will. Many people think that if a song is played outside a club or party, then it’s lame, or lacks legitimacy to the genre. I think this is only hurting the industry and stifling the availability of a great artistic form of music from the masses.

Taking it a step further, if you’re going to write music specifically for the Christian world, you really need to grab on to this concept hard. The underground, call it secular if you want, can hold its own, but there’s no such thing in general when it comes to Christianity. The only way you’ll get your music to impact a lot of people in the Christian world is by writing radio-friendly music, of which is lacking right now.

Unfortunately, the current status quo of Christian dance music seems to be long, instrumental tracks, or tracks with very limited vocal work. Getting mass appeal in the Christian world just isn’t going to happen with this structure, and you can dream on if you want to go beyond the underground club culture and get your music into the mainstream.

How do I write radio-friendly music?

As an artist, you’re more than likely used to writing long club-style tracks for DJ’s to mix with. Here is a step-by-step process on how to take your current style and make it radio friendly. There are other ways to do it, but this is how I, having produced before, would do it.

• Go ahead and write a nice DJ-style intro. Most often, this consists of 16 to 32 bars of gradually expanding drumbeats, into 16 to 32 bars of looped beats with synths adding in during the transitions.
• Next, cut out the 16 to 32 bars of gradually expanding drumbeats.
• The song must move into a Verse to Chorus style. This means there must be 16 to 32 bars of music with actual vocals over it, leading into 8 to 16 bars worth of catchy, memorable chorus. This can be all vocals, or a mixture of vocals and synth leads.
• To get there, you don’t want to have more than 32 bars of non-vocal intro. This means you need to compress your “building synths” segment into something shorter, preferably 8 or 16 bars that either models the sound of the verses or the chorus.
• There should be two verses and a chorus. Often times you can add a bridge, which could be just instrumentation, a whole new vocal line, or a mixture of the two. Ideally, you want to have a verse into a chorus, then a second verse into the chorus, then either repeat the chorus or add a bridge before repeating the chorus again.
• Finally, you don’t want to use 4 minutes to end the song. You want the chorus to go into a natural ending, something that lasts anywhere from 2 to 16 bars at the most. Don’t be afraid to use a fade-out, DJ’s aren’t going to be mixing this track.
  

What do we do with radio friendly music?

I have my own ideas on this, but the two people who replied to my interview questions not only answer that question best, but they also back up much of what I’ve written. Big thanks to Josh at Illect Recordings / Sphere Of Hip Hop, and Derek from Rocketown Records for their brilliant responses and willingness to spend some time answering these questions! These guys say it best, and they’re right there in the thick of it all, so listen to their advice.

QUESTION 1

It seems that dance music is an art form that doesn't receive a lot of respect on radio airplay. Why do you think this is? In the past, many dance releases have incorporated the traditional 6-9 minute song lengths, often times with lyrics that are repetitive, or simply non-existent. Is it simply a lack of the artists' ability or willingness to create appropriate song lengths with lyrics, or is it something else?

JOSH: Song length and appeal has much to do with it. In the Christian market (which often mirrors the general market, but on smaller scale) the avenues to promote an electronic record/single is very limited. Because of that, there aren’t a lot of opportunities. Sounds a bit redundant but it is the old "you can’t get credit until you have it and you won’t have it until you get it".

I must say that strides have been made (ala a release from someone like Andy Hunter) but maybe just not enough visibility. Moreover, the trailblazers have been few and far between. It'll be a tough road (as I’ve shared on the TF forum before) but it can be done.

Lyrics definitely would be helpful to get radio programmers to feel that the genre is "safe" and any songs that aren’t too aggressive or extreme in their style (more 'pop' leaning material) does help to get started.

There are few specialty shows out there. Having a few folks get some started can help to prove that the genre/music as a whole is viable to a radio audience.

DEREK: I think it is radio’s inability to play songs that don’t fit in the traditional 3-4 minute box. Listeners have A.D.D. and tend to flip around a lot or become bored easily. Also, longer songs could cut into precious time for ads.

QUESTION 2

In regards to that, what would you suggest an artist do in order to create music t hat is better suited for mass appeal?

JOSH: Short and catchy songs. Make it 'easy' for radio and fans to get into it.

QUESTION 3

There has been some talk amongst the dance/electronic community of "Christian Mix-CD's" similar in concept to the DJ Maj albums for example. Another comparison would be any number of "Club Mix 2005" type CD's traditionally found in the mainstream dance music sections of retail stores. Many believe there is enough Christian dance music to begin creating these CD's. Do you think this would be a good selling tactic?  If so, specifically, what advice would you give to make sure that a project like this would sell?

JOSH: It’s maybe the best way to start. Illect for example is working on our first one. We are primarily a hip-hop/rap label but the three of us who run the company love various parts of electronic music. The progression towards something like that would be a natural one for us as a label. We're working on something more along the lines of down tempo and instrumental hip-hop. It has a lot of appeal and we can grab the electronic fans and also the hip-hop fans at the same time.

Price point is important. It’ll have to be well promoted and priced at say $9.99 SRP to draw in the fringe consumers who will take a chance on something new because it’s a low cost option. It’s helpful to offer CD samplers at large events (tours and music festivals) to spread general awareness.

Having modest goals is important. Knowing what the market can bear will help everyone involved keep an even keel approach in seeing the vision through. It’ll take a lot of time/dedication/follow through.

DEREK: Include some songs that are already familiar and do dance remixes to sell the product to consumers who already love a particular song or artist. Also, keep budgets low and make the product look attractive. Quality sounding dance and mix CD’s don’t have to be too expensive to produce. Be realistic with sales/marketing/promotion expectations. Incidentally, I feel that the demand for Christian dance/mix CD’s is still relatively small…very few outlets for exposure and promotion.

QUESTION 4

Simply put, to get music on the radio, music needs to fit the accepted format of radio, including lyrics and a small song length ( 3:30 average). There is an added element with dance music, and that is the "club style remix" which is usually 6 to 10 minutes in length, designed to be mixed together by a DJ. There are certain radio programs that have these kinds of “mix shows” and, though the station may want to play a "radio edit" they also may be interested in getting "remixes" for their mix shows. What do you suggest would be the most cost-effective way of making this happen, in an ideal situation?  Would it be broadband servicing of tracks to specific people?  CD-R servicing?

DEREK: ALWAYS do a radio edit and remix and put them on the same CDR for servicing. Target your VIP mailing list for the CDR’s and make the rest available on a website for download (password protected of course).

JOSH: Do it all. Offer everyone a choice. In my experience, some stations like getting access to the single in advance in MP3 format (several options: 192kbps, 256kbps, 320kbps) to either use or preview the single. Then we also mail them a CD in addition to pitching our singles for inclusion on other radio samplers.

QUESTION 5

Many dance artists want to release their remixes on 12" vinyl records. This is almost always not cost effective. I do know some labels have gotten around this issue by allowing the remixes to be released on a vinyl-specific label, usually not Christian-run. What's your opinion on this?  Could this work, and if so, how?

JOSH: Christian radio doesn’t play vinyl. Most DJs unfortunately don’t support it even when it is available. It’s not feasible for artists or labels to press it when it: won’t sell and wont get played.

Digital is now. Itunes. Offering remixes to people on your email list. CD-R on request. It’s all about flexibility and being able to get people what they need. Then they see you’re serious about what you do and more apt to provide more opportunities.

DEREK: Vinyl is only feasible if you have the budget for it. It is almost always a novelty piece and not feasible for small labels to do. There is not enough demand in the Christian market for vinyl, so I feel this would be a wasteful use of money (unless it was for a specific promo piece, P.O.P. materials or chotski item for gives. 

QUESTION 6

Lastly, I'd just like to ask you to give any broad-based suggestions that you think these artists need to hear about the Christian recording industry; something that may help them to pursue it with better stewardship and focus.

DEREK: Be accountable in your music and life – your writing, the mixes, and your life in general. Use a group of peers as a “test focus group” and get opinions before committing anything to tape. Pray and commit your way and your music to the Lord and seek Him every day!

JOSH: Learn the business. Really learn it and for oneself. Everyone talks about the industry stories but usually don’t know the intricacies of what is *really* going on. Labels aren’t evil. Artists aren’t stupid. Be educated and learn everything you can.

Start small and grow one step at a time. While it would be great to burst on the scene and sell 50k units, it’s not likely to happen. Try to sell a few thousand and then grow.

Now What?

I think that, from looking at these interview answers, we can look at a pretty good summary of what to do. My suggestion would be this. Continue writing the music you love to write, but begin to think about ways to add vocals to your art. Find vocalists who can sing and even write lyrics, and work on getting those vocals recorded by professional-standard equipment. Then, begin to work on writing music that leans toward radio-friendly, with the ultimate goal of being able to make two versions of each song: a radio edit, and an extended mix for the club and mix DJ’s.

Also, it’s crucially important for us to discuss these things, and begin to think about finding ways to approach promotion and publicity better. One serious avenue for labels to consider is teaming up with some larger Christian labels to get the work done. We, the producers, smaller labels, and artists ought to learn how to make mix-CD’s and radio-friendly songs. Then we can put together album packages that actually have some appeal to non-DJ’s, and ask larger labels to put their stamp on it and handle the distribution. It cuts out their production costs and… it just sounds like a great idea to me.

Finally, let’s just drop the attitudes we have about “Christian music” and “Christian artists vs. artists who are Christian” and start approaching this situation intelligently. We can get great music spread throughout the Christian and mainstream industries by spring of 2005 if we work hard at it. Let’s make this happen.