What do you know about Music Industry Trade Associations?

It’s not enough just to have information about the music industry although it is important to be very knowledgeable. What’s most important about the information and the knowledge that you acquire about the music industry is that it is current as well as accurate. The music industry is constantly evolving from various formats to different standards and from what’s hot to what’s not. It’s important in the music industry to know who the decision makers are as well as the leaders in a particular segment of the industry. Trade and profession associations provide individuals with pertinent information that can prove to be vital to the growth as well as the sustainability of ones organization, business, or career within the music industry.

As someone who operates in the music industry in various capacities the Recording Industry Association of America is a good association to become familiar with. They provide important industry research including data on the industry as well as its consumers. They provide updates and important news reports about the industry. Lastly, they provide information on copyright basics, licensing & royalties, anti-piracy, audio technologies, gold & platinum album status, and current issues. However, because I work more closely to the Christian/Gospel Music genre, I would like to talk briefly about the Christian Music Trade Association, The Gospel Music Association, and The Gospel Industry Round Up Publication.

The Christian Music Trade Association was established in 1993, as a non-profit organization that exists to build community and cooperation among Christian & Gospel music industry leadership in order to address mutual issues and to maximize Christian/Gospel music's impact on culture. Their board of directors is comprised of  high-level executives from major record labels. They provide information about Sound Scan, music piracy, and give valid news up dates. They are also partners to and affiliated with industry leaders and decision makers like EMI (EMI Christian Music Group), Warner Music Group (Word Entertainment), Sony Music (Provident Music Group), and Universal Music Group (Universal Christian) just to name a few.

The Gospel Music Association (GMA) is a non-profit organization , founded in 1964, whose purpose is to educate, encourage, and promote the development of all forms of gospel music. As an umbrella organization, the GMA provides an atmosphere in which artists, industry leaders, retail stores, radio stations, concert promoters and local churches can coordinate and centralize their efforts for the purpose of facilitating their respective needs and interests. The GMA is also the host to the Dove Awards and they provide various conferences throughout the year to bring many of these industry leaders, radio stations, and artists together for networking and educational purposes. I’ve actually had the opportunity to attend one of their conferences and it was a great opportunity to network and gather some great information to help me build my business and career.

Lastly, The Gospel Industry Round Up is a publication that comes out annually and it is considered, “The Bible of The Gospel Music Industry”. Lisa Collins who at the time was the gospel editor for Billboard Magazine started it in 1993.  It was formed to fill the void of there not being any publications that looked at the who’s who and the inner workings of the gospel music industry.

The book includes:

•        The Latest industry statistics and sales
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•        “The Hot 100”, Gospel’s hottest artists
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•       Gospel record labels, radio stations, retail outlets and key churches
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•        Top Producers, songwriters, and choirs
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•        Management and Booking Contacts
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•        Key Events
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•         A look at gospel’s power brokers
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•       Insight from top gospel stars
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•       Tips on breaking in

Hopefully you can see the importance of having access to this type of information through the various trade associations and publications. The great thing is that the majority of the legwork and the gathering of information has already been done for you by the trade association. All you have to do is get connected. Once you are connected, you can use the resources that are available to propel your organization, business or career forward in your particular industry. So know that you know, have at it! I wish you all the very best and much success!

-The Mike Sears