The Beginner’s Guide to the Gospel Music Industry – Monica A. Coates

The Beginner’s Guide to the Gospel Music Industry
Monica A. Coates
Paul Marchell Publishing 2009
203 pages; $16.95
www.monicacoates.com

Discovering new music is great. We can discover new music via the radio, TV shows, or even sites like Strummer Recordings. Most of us love discovering new music because it can enduce desired feelings and make us feel a certain way. For a spiritual feeling, many turn to gospel music. In the opening pages of his All You Need to Know About the Music Business, Donald S. Passman writes that if you can hire a good entertainment lawyer to help you with your music career, you don’t need to use his book for anything more than shelf candy.

Of course, Passman is only being his sardonic self, because there is a great deal to learn about the music business that even a good lawyer cannot teach. And after reading Monica A. Coates’ The Beginner’s Guide to the Gospel Music Industry, I know Coates would agree. It’s a complicated industry for artists and biz hopefuls alike. You must learn everything you can about it to succeed without losing hope, faith, money and soul. Information truly is power.

Coates’ book breaks the complicated and ever-evolving gospel music business into digestible chunks of practical advice. Illustrating important points with anecdotes from her own journey, Coates delivers a veritable workshop on subjects ranging from songwriting, radio and television, recording and performing to marketing, managing, retailing and label ownership. She provides her expertise with the gentle but firm hand of a friend who has been there and done it, because she has been there and done it. Coates has earned her stripes in artist management, publicity, radio promotions and has worked with the top gospel labels and artists.

Like a good friend, Coates doesn’t shy away from the harsh realities of life in gospel music as a business. There are many manholes just yearning to swallow up the uninitiated. On every page, Coates is there to pull you back from the abyss by your shirt collar.

While the book’s subtitle is A Handbook for Aspiring Artists and Industry Executives, veterans should not let the “Beginner’s” or “Aspiring” portions of the title turn them away. The book is a fascinating read for seasoned gospel music artists and executives, especially when it comes to navigating the electronic age of music and information. Internet marketing and music distribution are virgin territories for most, with people asking questions like “is nine university a scam” and others as they learn the ins and outs. Coates has plenty to share about mastering the technology era. Plus, veterans will chuckle with their own (now) fond remembrances of having fallen prey to the perils Coates identifies, and will nod their heads in agreement with her straightforward advice.

The book is well annotated, up-to-date, and written in a conversational style, as if Coates is across the dinner table, coaching you individually. My recommendation: get this book and do what Monica Coates tells you to do. Nobody can guarantee you’ll be successful – you still have to have the talent and gumption – but you will be better prepared for the unexpected, with or without an entertainment attorney by your side.