The 5000 Music Group

Interview with Burke Swiger, lead singer for sonzaViz

Check out what Burke Swiger, lead singer for the band sonzaViz, had to say about the band's new album Invasion by Invitation Only.

CHRIS MCCONNELL: Where do you get the ideas for the songs you write?
BURKE SWIGER: Most christian music today is geared toward worship. I believe in worship. I have participated, in one form or another, on worship teams for over twenty-five. However, there is a personal, more intimate aspect of our relationship with God. Worship has to do with our view of God. I'm more interested in what God sees. I use my years of intimacy with God to see His perspective and then write about it. I believe that Jesus removed the barrier of separation between God and man clearing the path for this level of revelation and interaction.

CM: What does your creative process look like?
BS: When we put songs together it important that it have a groove instrumentally before we add the words. That gives the song substance. Then the words come on top of that. The words are actually the most important part, but if the music is sub-standard you give up on the song before you get a chance to hear the words. Its not that God is not in the music, but He has described Himself as "The Living Word".

CM: What is the main goal you have for sonzaViz this year?
BS: My goal for sonzaViz is to determine how far God wants to go with this. As a group we are prepared to go as far and as long as He wishes. Or to accept that this is only for a short season. We are not interested in forcing this past the anointing. Having said all that, I must say we already have enough new material for a second album. So it would appear that God is still moving in this.

CM: Do you have a favorite song from the new album Invasion by Invitation Only?
BS: It is difficult to select one song over the others. Each song is a very special and personal reflection of my relationship with Jesus as we have gone through life together. Also, I tend to view this album as a compilation rather than individual songs. There is a continuity to this in its entirety.

CM: How did you get started playing music?
BS: When I was twelve I got the mumps. As a result, I had to stay in bed for a while. I got so bored I was driving my folks crazy. So my dad bought a mandolin with a book and gave it to me. That was a long time ago.

CM: Anything you want to add for your fans?
BS: Thanks for listening!

Talent Search Video

For more information about the 2008 talent search, click here.

Purpose
To discover and support Christian indie bands.

Mission
Help Christian artists reach their goals by providing a personalized artist assessment, exposure and useful prizes.

Registered bands and artists will have the chance to win great prizes, will receive a written A&R assessment, will get audio and/or video exposure through our website and may be featured on a nationally distributed compilation album.

Once registered, bands and artists will be able to play up to 3 songs (about 12 minutes) at the showcase location of their choice sometime during August through November. Our head judge will pick the nation-wide winners in January of 2009.

Artists and bands will be judged on elements of their performance such as spiritual content, vocals and background vocals, presence on stage, musicianship, originality, song writing, and general performance and will receive a written A&R assessment on these elements.

Whether you are a music veteran or just getting started in your musical career you will find something in our talent search that has significant value for your career goals.

We are currently looking for bands and solo artists in the following catagories: acoustic, alternative, contemporary, rock & pop, gospel, rap, praise and worship - no screamo, ska or hard rock at this time, sorry!

For additional information regarding showcase locations, official rules, answers to common questions and more, please use the menu on the left of this page.

Space is limited! Register as soon as possible to take part in this year's exciting talent search!

Van Hurst finds "Extreme Rest" and so can you!

Popular speaker and classically trained musician Van Hurst's debut album, Extreme Rest, is now available from The 5000 Music Group. Hurst's music transcends any one style to include classical, country gospel and light contemporary Christian. Get your copy of Extreme Rest today!

Find and Book Christian Venues with Booking Pro

We have launched (actually re-launched and back by popular demand) our Christian venue finder known as Booking Pro. You can find it at www.bookingpro.us or through the resources page on The 5000 Music Group's main site.

So what are people saying about Booking Pro? "Booking Pro has helped us so so much. It helped us find most of the venues on our tours and the places we found through it were honestly the best gigs we had played (nice people, great compensation, amazing sound). The concept of the venue finder is amazing, and honestly as a band, we need it, we were relying on it since the fall of last year. It is one of the best tools for a Christian artist today." — Stereo Jesus

For a limited time only enter the coupon code "bplaunch" and we will give you a rebate of 50% off your first month!

Let us know what you think...

New Talent Search Locations

This years Christian music talent search is underway and we have opened up two locations for bands and artists to register for. YOU CAN REGISTER RIGHT NOW!!

Michigan: November 15, 2008
Howard Performing Arts Center (website)
100 Old US 31
Berrien Springs, MI 49104
(On the campus of Andrews University)

Minnesota: September 28, 2008
Maplewood Auditorium (website)
700 Main Street N,
Hutchinson, MN 55350
(On the campus of Maplewood Academy)

The Story of "The 5000 Music Group"

For those of you interested in learning more about The 5000 Music Group, I thought I would post the details of how things got started.

When I was younger I remember a friend of mine who introduced me to the Newsboys of who I quickly became an avid fan. Other groups like dcTalk, Jars of Clay and Audio Adrenaline quickly became my favorite bands and my dream to work with Christian artists was born.

When I was attending high-school in Colorado at a school called Campion Academy I, I made a few friends that invited me to play drums for some music they were going to perform at a school function. I decided this would be fun so I began practicing with Ashley Wheeler and Nick Clark. Ashley created some great lyrics and Nick brought them to life with his acoustic guitar. Usually, the drums got added last since nobody could hear over them in Ashley's basement where we went to practice. Soon enough we had four of five good songs and began playing at local coffee shops, churches and school events. I remember the very first time we played as a group at an open mic night at a small coffee house called Johnstown Java and Jams. Since we didn't have a name picked out yet, we signed in as Awful Waffle, a name we got from an old Nickelodeon show called Salute Your Shorts. Eventually we decided on the name Capable, at first as an inside joke and later because we felt that God was capable of handling anything in our lives. We began to do some recording in a local studio, but did not get much accomplished before we graduated and went to college.

After high school, I was accepted to Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska where I studied graphic design. I never really gave up on my dream of being a Christian musician, but it wasn't something I was actively pursuing. During my time in college I began to realize that I could use my design skills to make some extra money, something every college student could use more of, so I started offering free design to independent Christian musicians I connected with online. As I built up a music design portfolio I started doing business as INFINITEdrops and charged more for my services. Although I only took one business class while at Union College, I began a series of poorly designed and severely underfunded businesses revolving around different aspects of helping Christian indie artists which included a couple of subscription based services that began earning me a small, but recurring monthly income. These failed attempts at business success taught me many valuable lessons and provided some solid experience for what would later become The 5000 Music Group.

Around this time I was approached by a business owner in Nashville who was looking to offload his A&R consulting company. I decided this would be a great starting point for a career in the music industry and after convincing a friend to come on-board as a business partner decided to take the plunge. Over the next year I continued to build business relationships with executives from both the Christian and secular music industries, forming partnerships that would fuel the growth of my personal brand. I eventually decided to sell the company back to it's original owner ton concentrate on my own company, at the time known as McConnell Entertainment.

After Candice and I got married, I felt I had an idea for a company that could realign the economics of the aging and turbulent music industry. Soon, McConnell Entertainment morphed into The 5000 Music Group, the first digital label of it's kind. To learn more about us, click here.

 

Press Release

From: Styker International www.styker.com
Contact: lrieger@styker.com
Date: For immediate release

Launch revolutionizes music experience

Lincoln, NE—Announcing a most exciting development for Christian fans and musicians who want to network. The 5000 Music Group is currently launching a major talent search for new Christian music artists while establishing a new virtual community. Started by Chris McConnell, The 5000 Music Group is a unique digital record label with a new approach to nurturing, marketing and selling young, raw Christian talent.

Chris McConnell started out as a musician and then he formed McConnell Entertainment, afterwards he fronted “Band With A Mission” for a year. Now he has created The 5000 Music Group. Having just signed their first artist, sonzaViz, they are in the process of signing additional artists as well. What sets this new label apart from others is their business plan that makes artists profitable from day one while building momentum with each new release. They virtually eliminated the bulk of expenses other labels charge back to their artists. Besides putting more money in artists’ pockets, the label encompasses a virtual interactive community, a physical venue talent search and valuable resources for independent and professional musicians.

“In addition to providing a community where people can interact, we provide a bigger picture of the Christian music world. People are making informed decisions as to where they want to connect by social networking to other like-minded people. I believe they will make their choice based on overall connectivity to the global Christian music scene, which we provide a larger portion of than other sites. We are not just a social network, but also a unique vibrant community. Musicians especially are very drawn toward us and they bring with them fans that want to interact as well,” said McConnell.

The 5000 Music Group also provides new opportunities for marketers to reach a niche audience of Christian artists and fans and increase the promotion of their site as well.

“As Christians we also engage revolutionary ideals such as directly presenting the teachings of Jesus Christ through music; embracing new technologies and revenue streams; fair profit sharing between the company and its artists; sharing profits with other worthy causes; being inclusive and supportive of developing artists and promoting Christ-like role models as well as being one” said McConnell.

If you’re a musician seeking a label, a media person needing more info, a Christian fan or simply curious about this new musical environ contact Chris McConnell at: Phone: 402-327-9659, Email: chris@the5000music.com, Web site: www.the5000music.com.

What we have been working on lately...

We have been very busy updating some features on the site. Our talent search page has a new look and easy to use interface. We are still working on booking venues and that information should appear on the site under "locations" soon. We also stocked the "promote" page with new posters so you can promote in your local area.

We are also working on a new "web show"... more details to come soon.

I was recently asked what makes our community different from all the others out there. Let me explain... the community aspect of The 5000 Music Group is just one piece of the pie so to speak. We run a digital label (signing some great artists as we speak), an international talent search and provide resources for musicians and music fans. In the near future we hope to expand our resources page by adding some powerful and completely free tools and applications. So in addition to being digital, we are also present in the physical realm of music via our talent search locations. In addition to providing resources for professional musicians we also provide resources for independent musicians. And in addition to providing a community where people can interact, we provide a bigger picture of the Christian music world. The point is that when people are making an informed decision as to where they want to connect by social networking to other like minded people, I believe they will make their choice based on overall connectivity to the global Christian music scence, which we provide a larger portion of than other sites. In other words, we are not just a social network. Musicians especially are very drawn toward us and they bring with them fans that want to interact. Basically what I am trying to get across here is that some other sites are JUST a social network, or JUST a magazine, or JUST a record label and The 5000 Music Group is more than just one thing - and I think that is really what people want because its all about making it easier for them to get more of what they want in one place.

Chris McConnell Interviews Tim Westergren of Pandora

Thank you to Tim and Michele from Pandora, we appreciated the opportunity to set this interview up.

Chris McConnell: For our readers that are unfamiliar with Pandora, what makes Pandora unique as an online radio service?

Tim Westergren: Well the secret sauce for Pandora is the Music Genome Project, which is an enormous music taxonomy that we've been working on now for over eight years, and it's what powers Pandora. It consists of a collection of hundreds of thousands of songs that have each been individually analyzed musicologically by one of a team of fifty trained musicians that work for us and what these folks do is they take each song and listen to it several times through and essentially score close to four hundred musical details per song. So every little detail like harmony and melody and form and instrumentation and vocals etc. all the building blocks to create in the end essentially musical DNA. And when you use Pandora, when you launch a station on Pandora by typing in a song or an artist, the Music Genome Project builds a playlist by connecting that starting point with other songs that share musical qualities so thats a very unique approach that I think is unique to Pandora.

CM: What prompted the decision for Pandora to offer Christian music?

TW: Well it's really a reflection of what our listeners want. And it's fully our objective to have the Genome be a comprehensive collection that spans the whole globe and many many languages and comprehensive. We are pretty much led by the priorities set by out listeners and CCM has been a very popular request for a while so we have been working on that catalogue for a bit and now it's finally available.

CM: Do you agree with Michael Arrington of Techcrunch that music is slowly but surely marching toward "free" in price?

TW: Well I think that in many ways music has been free for a long time in the form of radio so I think that most music has been listened to for free for a long time and the business of radio has always been the largest part of the music industry. That said, I do think that the physical part of the industry is clearly changing. I do think that it's marching towards advertising supported, although I think that there will always be an appetite among music lovers to own, in other words to buy, music that they like and I think that they will always be willing to pay something for it. I think the real key is sort of how do you create a sustainable economic arrangement for musicians so they can sustain themselves.

CM: Does Pandora have future plans to offer direct downloads?

TW: Well in so far as our listeners want commerce, we want to make that as seamless and efficient system and as easy an experience as possible and right now we fulfill through iTunes and amazon and over time if we think that getting into the download business ourselves would be best for our listeners then we would do it. But it's entirely about whats best for the listener.

CM: Do you think feel that Apple has too much control over recorded music?

TW: I wouldn't really even describe it that way. I think they've built a particular sort of ecosystem and it was really elegant and easy to use and became very very popular and along with that came great success and they've been a great catalyst for the whole music industry. So I don't really think in terms of too much control, I think they've had a lot of success. And then the question becomes from the musicians standpoint and the listeners standpoint and so far I think it's been great.

CM: Is there anything you would like to add for our readers?

TW: I guess one addition to the first question you asked about what makes Pandora unique, I think one of the advantages of using musicology to connect music is that we play a lot of music that people have never heard of, so Pandora is a huge discovery tool which means its a great discovery tool for listeners and its also a really valuable promotional platform for all those musicians that don't get played on typical radio so I think it's one of the thinks that makes Pandora standout. Seventy percent of our music comes from artists who are not signed to a major record label, so there is a lot of independent music. So I think if you're someone who likes to listen to independent music Pandora is a great place for you.

We7 CEO Steve Purdham Speaks on Ad-Supported Music

Earlier I had the privilege of asking We7’s CEO a few questions regarding their ad-supported music service. We7 is a new service that offers “free” ad-supported music.

Chris McConnell: What do you feel is the most compelling reason for artists and labels to use your service instead of a service like Qtrax?

Steve Purdham: Before I got involved in the music world, I always remember listening to Rick Wakeman tell a story about his involvement with Cat Steven's Teaser and the Firecat "Morning has Broken" track. He said the most important facts for an artist is to be paid and be recognized. That stayed with me and I would extend that to include reach. So we put two people ahead of anything else in our model - the consumer and the rights owner - to we pay, recognize and provide reach for artists and labels in an open way, we deliver MUSIC not CONTENT.

CM: Do you agree with Michael Arrington of Techcrunch that music is slowly but surely marching toward “free” in price?

SP: Absolutely not. People are tied up with this "free" tag. I have been fortunate to build successful technology companies before and in the evolution of the internet the buzzword was "software will be free" back in 1996/7 (look at the open source promise) but as anybody who has bought Microsoft Office lately knows, software is far from free. My perception, as an outsider coming in to the music industry, is we have to look at what an individual music listening value is over a year, lets say its $50, we then provide a whole series of alternative delivery models which will go from super premium to "paid for by someone else". We have to get away from single models and recognize that me as a 50 year old man may pay for $42 of music in a year and I want $8 paid for by someone else (ads), my 17 year old daughter may only pay for $5 and want $45 paid for by someone else. If we allow more models to flourish and scale then we will realize the real potential of fan/band digital deliveries.

CM: What seems to be the consumer’s predominant attitude towards hearing ads in their music?

SP: Lets be blunt, people, on the whole hate ads - but they love free better (or at least paid for by someone else) and so interestingly because we have been very open with our users that the "deal" is "if you want music" then you have a choice - you pay for it or have it free with an ad - because we value the music that can get the hairs on the back of your neck moving. In that context, our users have been very supportive, that means that the advertisers are being invited in to be intimate with our users and they have to have some sensitivity to that, sadly, is not there yet but once we get to critical mass we think we can increase the relevance and sensitivity to make ad exposure at least tolerable if not welcomed (well maybe not that far).