David Bruce Murray
Nov 13, 2007
Observations|Singing News
Only $7 To Whine And Moan For A YEAR…Waaahh!
Doug Harrison has already pointed out the new Gospel Music Coalition website, which has sprung up in response to the recent changes at the Singing News chart. Boy, does this site ever look slapped together.
If you’re a “Songwriter,” “Gospel Artist,” “Gospel Group” (as opposed to a Gospel Artist?), “Radio Station,” “Promotion Company,” “Comp. Company,” “Record Company,” or merely an “Individual,” you can pay $7 and become a member of the Gospel Music Coalition for a year. Their stated goals are “to make available information,” “to give a list of members,” and “to make available a place where artists may post situations that are believed to be a violation against their rights pertaining to gospel music.”
As for the first two goals, could they possibly be any more vague?
To put the third goal in other words, they’d like to collect $7 from all who want to get something off their chest about the unfairness of the Southern Gospel industry. However, they’re quick to assure everyone who applies that “this is not about money, but about service.” Yeah…right. This website looks like it would cost no more than $60 per year in real money for a volunteer to maintain, including a domain name registration and hosting…and if they paid someone to design this dog of a website, they need to demand a refund. Some of the links don’t even work…the “Home” link, for example.
I expected outrage from some of the stations that were cut from the list of reporting stations. I suppose it shouldn’t surprise me that someone would jump in and try to make a tidy little profit from the situation.
It’s interesting that a much stronger worded goal appears not with the official list of goals, but in the explanation for the application fee. “Even though we are not about money, it will take large sums of finances to bring to justice some of the corruption that already rules in the Gospel Music Industry.” It might very well take large sums to bring reform in the industry, but merely furnishing people a website where they can whine doesn’t take a large sum.
Some of you will probably want to dash over there and pay your $7. I trust the majority of Musicscribe readers are wiser than that, though. There are plenty of places to make your voice heard as it stands.
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Obligatory commercial: For those who don’t know about it already, AMGS remains free and unmoderated. You can whine all you want and never be censored. Your post may be diced into tiny little bits until there’s nothing left but a creamy mush, but you won’t be censored.
