Comments on: The internet and gospel survival strategies

By: LSJ

LSJ — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 04:48:10 +0000

I’m on the same level as KB. I used to work at two national chain retail music stores concurrently: one secular and one Christian. (I actually worked in the store with the most DVDs in the nation.) The secular store had a Pop/Rock section anywhere from 80-120 feet filled with CDs on both sides (approximately 4,000 total), plus an additional section half that size. The “Christian” section (which eventually became labeled the “Religious” section) held at most 800 CDs. Calling our company about Southern Gospel issued a response that was either “You mean the Gaithers or the Martins?” or “I see Yolanda Adams, the Winans…” The same was true of the Christian store, which, like KB mentioned, had four rows of SoGo, which included 50 copies of the newest Alan Jackson or Randy Travis, and a couple copies each of the newest Gaither Homecoming Series. As a result, our SoGo sales kept dropping (despite a SoGo crazy manager who kept as much in stock as possible) which told our company to give us fewer SoGo–definitely a downward and disappointing trend.

By: CVH

CVH — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 23:05:38 +0000

I have to laugh; AFL is becoming the ’six degrees of separation of the Crabb Family’.
I don’t think there’s been a post lately that doesn’t include them in one way or another. Hallelujah

On the subject of sales and marketing of SG I believe one of the biggest factors that has had a negative impact is the tremendous diversity of styles that are pushed into retail by record labels and distributors. While more variety may be good for the average consumer of Christian music, the SG portion of the market has suffered.

Thirty years ago you could find an album by J.D. Sumner & The Stamps next to one by The Archers next to Richard Roberts next to The Kingsmen. (RR…kind of creepy, but…) There wasn’t as much diversity, the number of record labels was fewer and the consumer was older. Today most bookstores are limited in what they can order because of corporate chain ownership or what distributors carry. The consumer is younger and their taste generally trends toward CCM or whatever’s current on AC Christian radio. Even given the factor of geographic regionalism, I’m amazed at how little SG is available through retail.

Understandably, Christian consumers will take advantage of any medium to obtain product. Table product is great when a group is around your area but absent that option, online sales from a website or downloads are often the only way to get what you want. The old models of music sales have all changed and SG is slowly evolving as well. Whether or not this has any significant impact on the quality of the music being produced is up for debate, but surely there will always be fans willing to lay down 15 bucks or more for what they want.

By: KB

KB — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 18:23:57 +0000

I work for one of the largest Christian retail chains in the nation, and I can tell you that, in every store I’ve been in within the chain, southern gospel takes up no more than 4 shelves (as opposed to two isles worth of contemporary). I worked diligently for a year with several distributors to build up a decent selection of SG material, but in the end, we were lucky to sell half of it. And the majority of the material was indie stuff that places like New Day or Central South simply put in stores.

In a way, it’s a vicious circle. The market is so small (and so isolated) that it is virtually impossible to sell SG in stores (unless you’re Alan Jackson). I’d say that once every quartet, there will be ONE SG sale emphasis (and usually, it’s Gaither). Otherwise, they throw it on the back shelf and say, “it’s over there.”

The biggest advantage to retail is impulse buys (people come in looking at what’s new, and they buy whatever looks/sounds good). If you take CD’s out of retail, you lose that possible impulse buy that you otherwise could have had.

By: eve

eve — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 17:11:16 +0000

I would not call the Crabb Family failure on any level. You obviously don’t have “real” information. The facts of their success are very private and will stay that way. Their succes has only begun. They are all in their twenties and say no on a daily basis to more opportunities than most groups have in a lifetime. They are not spin masters, none of them are. They are truly the most private people I know. Their hardwork tactics implemented by Kathy and the ability to connect with people have built these kids a platform that will serve them for the rest of their lives, all of them. If they had a music row record company (I am sure that is something they already know), they would have made the transition. However, contracts are the biggest roadblocks in an artists career. Sometimes the road to freedom is a drastic decision. Yes they want to do what they do, but believe me, there are MANY things that you will never read. I am not a Crabb, but I have a very close view.