Some time this year I had the opportunity to do some professional work for a distinguished gospel singer in the American South. I learned more about music and the business than I could have imagined. The lessons are very relevant to a broader industry.

1. Modern gospel singers largely promote themselves by performing live at religious concerts that attract ticket buyers. Performers receive either a flat rate payment for their time or a cut of the gate. I think a good solo act can make between $3000 and $5000 per concert. The same act may perform between 150 and 200 times per year, largely in the South. Do the math. Costs? They have to pay for gas, pay stage help, and pay off the van.

2. A singer may have a small label deal, or she may produce and package her own CD. A singer can sell a CD in the back of the concert hall for $15. The costs of manufacturing and packaging are $1. If she produces herself, she keeps the difference; i.e., 90 percent. Combined revenues from performances and sales, I estimate that a popular gospel singer can earn about $1 million per year performing in concerts and selling CDs. A superstar will do much better.

3. Gospel singers don't need radio play or big labels to break their acts. In the first place, there are not enough gospel stations around to break acts, and the gospel genre is not conducive to listing artists on charts. In the next place, gospel music does not command a large presence in big box and mall retail outlets; you try finding Shirley Caesar at Tower or Walmart. Singers can get specialized distributors to put their materials in Christian book stores, but this is of secondary importance for many.

4. The key intermediary in the gospel business is the booking agent, who may earn 15 percent of ticket sales per concert. The agent enables concert goers to find established stars, and may also take new acts under her wing. Agents can be integrated agencies (such as the leading Beckie Simmons Agency in Nashville), or chosen individuals who work for a particular performer or groups of performers.

5. Information about particular singers moves by word of mouth through church groups. People may anticipate the return of a particular act, and tell others of their interest. Everybody returns to the concert hall to hear old favorites or new recommendations.

The choices perhaps are easy for the gospel industry - radio is small, church is big, and booking agents are well paid. Hence, the singers have a network to accomodate live performances and sales at the back of the concert hall as the prime way to promote and survive in a professional career. Who needs Universal and Clear Channel?

The upshot of this discussion? Provided that SOMEBODY performs the intermediary roles of promotion and distribution, an artist can survive very well without a major label. Of course, it is the responsibility of the interested community of artists, fans, and potential entrepeneurs to put the structure together. Jam bands have learned and taught some lessons. But a wider strata of intermediaries still must emerge.

TO BE CONTINUED ..................................