| Christian Music Retail Conference |
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| Written by Felicia Abraham | |
| Monday, 06 April 2009 03:03 PM America/New_York | |
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Saturday, April 18 7:30 a.m.–6 p.m., Early registration
Sunday, April 19
Monday, April 20
Tuesday, April 21
Wednesday, April 22
Thursday, April 23
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| ‘We need each other’ |
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| Written by Cameron Conant | |
| Monday, 06 April 2009 10:40 AM America/New_York | |
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The Christian music industry addresses
its challenges and cheers its successes
“We feel like with the economic crisis, people are more apt to stay home and run for cover, but that’s even more of a time to not disengage,” said “Going home and shutting your door is not the best solution.” To help ensure a well–intended show, the GMA—the nonprofit advocacy group that organizes the yearly event that includes educational seminars for music professionals and retailers—has lowered prices and extended its “early bird” rate of $299 through April 10. It’s the lowest price for the event in more than a decade. Additionally, Bill Anderson, president of CBA, has sent a letter to member stores, encouraging them to attend GMA Music Week. The schedule includes more general talks to up interest. Among the presenters will be Michael Q. Pink, business consultant and author of Rainforest Strategy (Excel Books), and husband–wife team Scott and Bethany Palmer, authors of Cents & Sensibility (David C. Cook) and First Comes Love, Then Comes Money (HarperOne). Both talks are open to all attendees, while Dave Ramsey’s Wealth Coach Program will be offered to independent artists. “We’re not blind to what’s going on,” Aviles said of the economy.
‘MORE CHALLENGED’ It’s a disheartening time for the music industry to be hit with a recession as things were already gloomy. While music is more popular than ever, profits at music labels and traditional music retailers continue to tank as soaring digital sales fail to keep pace with decreasing CD sales and rampant music theft. The GMA said that less than 50% of all music acquisitions are now paid. Nor does it help that a majority of the approximately 900 Christian radio stations in America are noncommercial and pay lower royalties than commercial stations do, or that Christian concert–goers are also less But Styll, like Aviles, noted that present economic difficulties only reinforce the need for industry types and retailers to get together, share ideas and encourage one another. “If you come (to GMA Music Week), you’re going to get the tools you need to move forward; you can’t not afford to come—and we’re trying to enhance the value–add proposition by adding some classes on coping with the financial times,” Styll said. “With a convention like this, our goal is to offer an excellent return on investment. Coming to a convention really is the most effective way to get your business done. I heard a quote that said the ‘90s were a period of irrational exuberance and now we’re in a time of irrational pessimism … now more than ever we really need to come together.” However, future prospects for GMA Music Week are uncertain. Attendance this year will almost certainly be down due to the economy, and next year’s numbers could be hit as the Christian Music Broadcasters (CMB)—the trade group that organizes the radio educational track at GMA Music Week, but whose contract with GMA expires this year—recently announced a conference of its own called “Momentum” that will be held Sept. 10–12, 2009, in Orlando, Fla. Currently, radio producers and broadcasters make up about 30–40% of GMA Music Week attendees. But Aviles downplayed the new conference, noting that, “as far as having events, (the Christian Music Broadcasters) have done that before.”
‘STILL VITAL’
He also observed that it’s “oftentimes in talking to other people that we’re going to come to a solution.” “The last several years, retail attendance at GMA has been declining and it’s been declining because music sales are down,” Ross said. “But I will say that even with music sales declining, and (even with music’s) percentage of overall store sales shrinking, it’s still out–performing other categories. “ ‘We used to do 20% but now we only do 12%.’ Well, what if you approached every category that way? I guess you can write those (categories) off, too. Even if it’s declining, it’s still driving traffic. People don’t say, ‘There’s a new framed piece of art out today.’ Your avid customers are geeked about new (music) coming out, and you can’t write them off.” According to Aviles, physical album sales at Christian retail were down about 1 million units in 2008, from approximately 12.4 million units sold in 2007 to 11.4 million units sold in 2008. Overall Christian album sales—physical and digital combined—were down 9.7% (from 35.9 million in 2007 to 32.4 million in 2008), while overall sales of digital singles were actually up 5.7%, from 53.6 million to 56.6 million. That’s one of the ironies of the precipitous decline in music revenues: More music is being sold than ever before, it’s just that the profit margins that once existed are no longer there, theft is rampant, and the physical CD—or traditional music retail as we know it—isn’t dead but is trending downward. In spite of the uncertainty, Joy Fletcher, vice president of events and programming for GMA, encouraged retailers and music professionals to remember, “God is in control.” “We are simply instruments of His ultimate plan, so we can work every day believing that what we do will advance His kingdom through music,” she said. “It may look totally different one year from now, but we’re here now to follow His leading.” While GMA is reducing costs wherever possible—for example, luncheons have been consolidated into one daily event for all attendees—there is still a full slate of workshops and panel discussions at this year’s event. In addition to the recession–driven talks on money, GMA Music Week is offering retailers talks on how to train music sales staff with Mike Hockett, CBA training and consulting manager; understanding today’s—and tomorrow’s—music consumer with Russ Crupnick of the NPD Group, a consumer and retail research firm; and a panel discussion on how Christian music is impacting people around the globe, among other presentations. To that point, when he was asked about the bright spots in the industry, Styll, GMA president, immediately noted that “we’re seeing more Christian artists concerned about social justice issues”—he specifically cited the CompassionArt charity that has the backing of Christian music’s biggest names—and added, “I think that’s a great story.”
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GMA Music Week & Dove Awards 
This year’s GMA Gospel Music Week—the annual celebration of Christian music that runs April 18–22 in Nashville and culminates with the 40th Annual Dove Awards—is touting the theme “engage.” It’s a salient message in an economic recession, organizers believe.
Gabriel Aviles, vice president of marketing, business and development for the Gospel Music Association (GMA). “We need each other, and we’re an ecosystem that’s always worked together well.
willing to pay high ticket prices. Such factors, said John Styll, GMA president, make Christian music “inherently more challenged than other segments of the music industry,” especially in a recession.
As for this year’s GMA conference, Randy Ross—a music inventory specialist for Parable stores and chairman of the Christian Music Retail Conference (CMRC), a retail advocacy group that created the retail educational track for GMA Music Week—said music is still a vital part of Christian retail and retailers need to take it seriously.