1 of 3

Recording artist Shaun Groves is currently in the studio working on his sophomore CD, Twilight, tentatively scheduled for an August 5 release. In this second installment of a monthly series in which Shaun reveals the process of making his new album, he shares about the writing and selection of songs and how the choice is impacted by both creative and commercial concerns.

Revolutions happen every day. It's just that we don't always hear about them. A man recently unveiled an innovative automobile, the fruit of 10 years of labor and over one billion dollars, to a major car manufacturer. His design replaced gasoline with a hydrogen-based fuel cell, required few moving parts and no combustible engine, and featured exchangeable customized exteriors that snap onto a chassis containing the real guts of the futuristic vehicle. Amazing.

But while his masterpiece promised to run without failure for 30-plus years, emit no pollutants, end dependence upon foreign oil, and secure the U.S. a place atop the auto industry, you and I have not seen this wonder — and we may never see it. When a manufacturer presented the inventor's marvel to his sales division and reps from the oil industry, he was given two cold shoulders. The salesmen and oil moguls — gatekeepers for the auto industry — said the American consumer is not ready to ditch the traditional car for something so different and revolutionary.

They never asked me.

The gatekeepers for the car business kept a good thing from reaching the masses and made sure their industry would remain safe and profitable. They were afraid of change and risk and failure.

I deal with good hearted, well-intentioned gatekeepers as well — intelligent people with much more experience than I have, and often with much more at stake. In my world there are three: record labels execs, radio program directors, and buyers for retail stores. These people are huge factors in the creation of a CD, especially at the stage I'm in today — choosing the 10 songs you will hear.

Briefly, here's how they affect the decision-making process. Because there is no MTV or Entertainment Weekly for Christian music, the primary way my music and message get to the masses is through radio. Most people who buy my record do so because they hear me live in concert or on the airwaves. (And they only see my concert because a promoter heard me on the radio.) Then there's retail. Buyers decide if and how many of my CDs will be on shelves nationwide, and how hard they will promote the CD with ads and displays, etc. But none of these people has a greater effect on the CD creation process than my label president. It's his job, at this stage, to pick the songs that will make the best record.

Rocketown Records is a democracy. As president, Don Donahue leads the way, making these difficult decisions with a great deal of input from my manager, producer, and me. And all of us, to some degree, will choose songs for this CD following our own convictions while keeping one eye on the gatekeepers.

It's hard not to.

Some in the radio business are scared right now. The economy is squeezing them like it is the rest of us. Americans are not only buying less stock, they have also slowed their financial support of some listener-supported stations. And those who are still sending checks to noncommercial stations are believed by some to be the older listeners who are often more conservative than younger listeners. A station manager recently told me that while he would like to play more music "that is more original and offers more than encouragement," his station literally can't afford to. He believes that the supportive, over-30 conservative listener — his financial backbone — wants familiar worship music and classics that are "positive" and predictable lyrically and musically. I hate that he's in such a dilemma. I'm not sure what I would do in such a position.

next page... |  1 of 3