Gospel Rises Again

Black Enterprise, July, 1998 by Shawn E. Rhea

Their second album, Whatcha Lookin '4, released in 1995, went platinum in less than a year. Its success paved the way for Claude Lataillade to start B-Rite Music, a second, more youth-driven label. "Our reason for starting the second label was to have a vehicle for more cutting-edge gospel," he explains. "To do that we needed to have a strategic partner for reaching urban youth. Interscope became that [partner]."

It was through B-Rite that Franklin realized his more radical music offerings and produced the 1997 platinum-selling album God's Property From Kirk Franklin's Nu Nation. It held the No. 1 spot on both Billboard's gospel and R&B charts, and entered the pop chart at No. 3. Its debut single, "Stomp," a celebratory rap, became a staple on R&B and pop radio stations, while the video went into rotation--a major marketing coup--on BET and MTV.

GETTING IN ON MANAGEMENT

Starting a record label is costly. The success of the Lataillades' labels is not typical of most gospel independents. More often, these labels have rosters with three to seven artists who've sold less than a million records altogether.

Some entrepreneurs have achieved success by launching businesses attached to gospel music. Shiba Freeman Haley worked as a concert and events production manager for 10 years before partnering with Louis Bond, a friend who was launching a record production and artist management company in 1990. It was through this partnership that she began working with Yolanda Adams, who signed a management contract with Bond's company right after the 1991 release of her second album, Through the Storm (Verity Records, formerly Tribute/Diadem). Haley and Adams worked closely over the next year, and when the artist's contract with Bond's company expired, she recruited Haley to manage her.

As manager, Haley negotiates Adams' performance and recording contracts, pursues promotional and income opportunities and aligns Adams with organizations or causes that reinforce her ministry. While Haley was no novice to the music industry, management required a very different set of skills than the ones she'd honed before.

"There are managers who are also lawyers, but that's not my background, so I had to make sure Yolanda had the right legal representation," says Haley. "I also had to commit to representing just one artist, because there was still a lot I had to learn about management and building relationships with record labels."

With Adams' statuesque looks, eclectic musical style and powerful song delivery, Haley felt strongly that her artist could reach beyond the traditional gospel audience. She was unable, however, to convince the label to invest in creating visual packaging or advertising that would promote Adams beyond the gospel market until there was evidence of sales in other markets.

Determined to prove her broader appeal, Haley hired an independent publicist to book Adams on such shows as the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, CNN News and BET's Teen Summit. The benefits of receiving media exposure beyond traditional gospel outlets were obvious in the sales of Adams' next album, Save the World, which sold more than 150,000 units (50,000 is considered successful).