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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Is the grass green in your world?? You are telling
me that even the the Christian world there are those only interested in their
money! I'm shocked, Shocked I tell you! </FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
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style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=deco@moscow.com href="mailto:deco@moscow.com">Art Deco</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">Vision 2020</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, May 03, 2005 7:57 AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Vision2020] 05-02-05 LA
Times: Gospel Artists ForcedtoPonderRoot of All Evil</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Pat,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>If you read the article closely, you will see that Verity,
while allegedly promoting gospel [Christian] music, was using exploitive,
decidedly Counter-Christian tactics with its Christian artists.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>W.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=pkraut@moscow.com href="mailto:pkraut@moscow.com">Pat Kraut</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, May 02, 2005 8:33
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Vision2020] 05-02-05 LA
Times: Gospel Artists Forced toPonderRoot of All Evil</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I don't understand your purpose in posting
this. Do we know someone in Gospel??</FONT></DIV>
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style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=deco@moscow.com href="mailto:deco@moscow.com">Art Deco</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">Vision 2020</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, May 02, 2005 7:17
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Vision2020] 05-02-05 LA
Times: Gospel Artists Forced to PonderRoot of All Evil</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>
<DIV style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1em; MARGIN-RIGHT: 1em" align=left><A
href="http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-gospel2may02.story">http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-gospel2may02.story</A><BR>
<H1>Gospel Artists Forced to Ponder Root of All Evil</H1>
<H2>A lawyer's suit against a Sony BMG record label stirs up questions
about money and mission.</H2>By Charles Duhigg<BR>Times Staff
Writer<BR><BR>May 2, 2005<BR><BR>Bestselling songwriter and Pentecostal
minister David Frazier recalls that two years ago, as he sat with one of
the most powerful figures in gospel music, he was told to choose between
his lawyer and his God.<BR><BR>Frazier, now 39 and author of more than 15
songs that went gold or platinum, was discussing the forthcoming WOW
Gospel 2004 compilation album with executives from <STRONG>Verity
Records</STRONG>. Verity's bestselling WOW series transformed the gospel
marketplace in 1998 and fueled the genre's growth by offering lesser-known
artists a shot at exposure they might otherwise not get on their
own.<BR><BR>Frazier's inclusion on previous WOW compilations had enhanced
the songwriter's profile and finances thanks to the negotiating prowess of
his attorney, James L. Walker Jr., who demanded high-end royalty
payments.<BR><BR>But Walker, 36, had also publicly accused Verity
executives of using the WOW albums to bully some of his clients and others
into exploitative contracts. So in 2003, Frazier said, Verity's president
warned him that his songs would be excluded from future WOW albums if
Walker was invited to the bargaining table.<BR><BR>"James had gotten me
great payments because he was aggressive," said Frazier, who wrote the
2004 gospel hit "I Need You to Survive." "But my first goal is the
ministry of Christ. And as my mama said, 'If you aren't heard, you aren't
doing God's work.' So I found a new lawyer."<BR><BR>That conversation and
others are at the center of a lawsuit filed last month by Walker that has
stirred up controversy not only about the money in gospel but also about
its mission, revealing the fissures in this small corner of the record
business.<BR><BR>In his federal suit, Walker alleges that New York-based
Verity and parent company <STRONG>Sony BMG Music Entertainment</STRONG>
intimidated his clients into firing him and maligned his character,
depriving him of income. Sony BMG and Verity, one of gospel's dominant
labels, declined to comment on Frazier's account or the pending
litigation. <BR><BR>Though some gospel artists and religious leaders
praise Walker's hardball tactics, others dismiss the litigation as an
affront to the spiritual origins of a genre that exalts God's everlasting
word above the almighty dollar. Some also accuse the Stamford, Conn.-based
lawyer of fostering unrealistic expectations among gospel singers and
songwriters, whose music represents only 6% of albums sold in the U.S.
about $750 million a year.<BR><BR>"Gospel artists don't want to think
about money and greed," so the industry disdains secular activism, said
Frazier, who consented to a lower rate of compensation on the WOW Gospel
2004 album after dropping Walker and signing with a new
lawyer.<BR><BR>Walker is "a crusader," said Garrett Johnson, who now
represents Frazier and negotiated his 2004 WOW deal. "But I'm worried he's
convincing musicians they have more power than they really do. A
songwriter may be a fantastic talent, but there are a lot of fantastic
talents in gospel. It's better to settle for a smaller deal than to get
barred from ever appearing on WOW."<BR><BR>Music historians say that
Walker's crusade, win or lose, has cast a hot light on what they say is
the exploitation of spiritually driven artists that has long plagued
gospel music.<BR><BR>"For a long time gospel artists saw performing as
almost an act of charity," said Yale University Chaplain Jerry Streets.
"Songwriters didn't even know to ask for publishing rights. Artists didn't
realize labels were profiting from their recordings."<BR><BR>But musicians
began recognizing the economic importance of their work in the mid-'90s,
when Christian music, which includes gospel, began outselling classical
and jazz, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The genre's steady sales among a
core audience prompted major music companies to begin acquiring smaller
gospel labels. Today, three corporations Sony BMG, <STRONG>EMI Group
</STRONG>and <STRONG>Warner Music Group </STRONG>Corp.<STRONG> </STRONG>
dominate sales of recorded religious music of all sorts.<BR><BR>The major
players quickly began producing compilations of the kind that had scored
big in pop and rock. Verity released the first WOW Gospel in 1998; the
2003 album sold almost 500,000 copies. Last year's reached No. 1 on the
gospel charts.<BR><BR>Many artists crave inclusion on these compilations
because of the albums' exposure and sales. But because no single artist is
essential to the project's success, labels retain significant power over
the terms of participation. In exchange for the exposure, lesser-known
artists frequently compromise on royalties.<BR><BR>"Those WOW albums are
really important," said Roger Helms, manager of Grammy-winning singer
Donnie McClurkin. "They offer smaller musicians the chance to appear with
big names and participate in a bestseller. There's only a few gospel
singers who can make it without being on WOW, and the labels know
that."<BR><BR>Walker represented 15 clients on the WOW albums between 1999
and 2003 and negotiated top-dollar royalty payments for each of them, he
said. The lawyer has negotiated on behalf of more than 200 artists
appearing on 30 gold and platinum albums, he said. Industry leaders agree
that Walker is one of a handful of attorneys representing gospel's most
successful artists. <BR><BR>In his lawsuit, Walker alleges that Verity
President Max Siegel and other executives two years ago demanded a cut in
royalty payments to the lawyer's clients. After he refused, Walker said,
Verity's executives began telling artists they'd be barred from WOW albums
unless they changed representation.<BR><BR>"This is the top project in
gospel music, so the artists deserve top compensation," Walker said.
"There's no labor in these albums you just grab the masters, put them on
a CD and it's in the stores the next week. So for Verity to ask artists to
take a cut of $25,000 is just greedy."<BR><BR>Walker said that after he
was dropped by three of his clients, he decided to sue Verity and the
label's president, distributor and parent company. "They're scared of
anyone who stands up to them, so they want to make it impossible for me to
work," he said. "I have to fight back for both me and my
artists."<BR><BR>To press his agenda, Walker in April helped found the
Gospel Artists Progressive Movement, a group whose stated goal is to
educate musicians about copyright law and artists' rights. But even that
group, illustrating the conflicts in the gospel music ranks, has asked the
lawyer to withdraw while his case is pending, questioning the spiritual
valor of his methods. <BR><BR>"The Bible speaks of Christians not suing
one another," said Rev. Robert Lowe of Mount Moriah AME Church in New York
and chairman of the Gospel Artists Progressive Movement. "This is Jesus'
music and it is governed by the rules of God. Our artists have not gotten
our fair share, but the Bible prefers things are decided at a table rather
than in the courtroom."<BR><BR>The religious criticism is particularly
risky for Walker. Unlike hip-hop, whose artists successfully negotiated
with record executives by founding their own independent labels, the
gospel industry has traditionally valued harmony. A Dallas choir came
under criticism in 1997 when the group signed with Interscope Records,
then distributor of Death Row's Snoop Doggy Dogg. When Kirk Franklin, one
of gospel's few platinum-selling artists, launched his own label, he did
so under the aegis of Verity's parent, Sony BMG.<BR><BR>Some artists say
they are uncomfortable with their battles' becoming public.<BR><BR>"I
don't like talking in the open about money," said Twinkie Clark of the
bestselling Clark Sisters. Clark, who appears on WOW Gospel 2005, was
represented by Walker on projects that did not involve Verity. "I want to
concentrate on talking about the Word."<BR><BR>Walker's critics say change
is already happening within the industry. As evidence, they point to
business conferences administered for the last 12 years by Rev. Bobby
Jones, a musician and Black Entertainment Television
personality.<BR><BR>"Bobby Jones is teaching singers how to fight for
their rights and to lobby," said Richard Manson, a Nashville attorney who
represents Jones and other gospel artists. "The WOW albums are
exploitation in its purest form, but the answers lie in better laws
instead of litigation."<BR><BR>Legislators, however, say there's only so
much they can achieve.<BR><BR>"There's no law that will give artists the
backbone to weather a fight with the record companies," said California
State Sen. Kevin Murray (D-Culver City), an artists' rights advocate and
former entertainment lawyer. "Gospel is where rap was 10 years ago. The
artists are unsophisticated and there aren't a lot of high-powered
attorneys, so the labels can push tough negotiators out. The problem is,
some lawyers may be tough but not very competent. It's hard for clients to
tell which one they've got."<BR><BR>In the meantime, Walker is preparing
for the religious ire of his peers and gambling that his lawsuit will win
him power within the industry.<BR><BR>"The Book of Matthew tells us it is
OK to sue," Walker said. "What I want is an apology. I want public
admission that I was fighting for my clients and Verity was scared so they
wanted me out of the room. When I get that, you'll see everyone line up
behind me. Then you'll see some real change." </DIV><BR clear=all>
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