Martha Becomes a Mary
As an independent artist, gospel's Martha Munizzi was too busy with the business. So she signed with a label, ditched the busy-ness, and now has more time at the feet of Christ.
by Andree Farias | posted 4/24/2006
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For someone who never had aspirations to be a celebrity, praise and worship artist Martha Munizzi ain't doing so bad. She's recorded at Joel Osteen's church, is friends with Israel Houghton, had a cameo in the movie The Gospel, sold hundreds of thousands of albums, and won Best New Artist at the Stellar Awards, a first for a non-African American—all as an independent artist. But as an indie, the busy-ness of running the business was overwhelming. She was, like Scripture's Martha, "distracted" by it all, so she signed with a label (Integrity Music) to free up more time to be, as she says, "Spirit-led." Martha became a Mary, listening at Jesus' feet. The first tangible result of that change is No Limits Live, a double CD that she'd intended to be a single album—till God told her otherwise. Here, Munizzi shares about signing with a label, the pressure to deliver another hit, and the tension she feels about being a gospel sensation.
Before your current album, No Limits Live, you were thriving as an independent artist. Why get involved with a record label?
Martha Munizzi We thought we had gone as far as we could go [independently]. It was becoming more than we could handle, the business and the busyness of it. We got advice from several different people that are very wise and way down the road from us. It probably took us two years to make a decision. We thought, well, if we're going to do this [independently], we're going to have to really set it up like a record company. That means we're going to have to hire people. To go where this was automatically going on its own, you can't do that with a one-person staff. You have to create a whole system.
That's great for some, but for us, I just want to be able to get in the car and go to the beach with the kids, to have that freedom. I didn't want to this to control my life. I wanted to control it. I want to be in charge. And to be able to be Spirit-led. If you're so overrun with the issues of the business, it's a lot more difficult to be Spirit-led sometimes.
Several other labels approached us, and it always was, "No, we're already doing it. We don't need you to do it for us." So we sat with Integrity [Music] and [executive vice president] Don Moen said to me, "You don't really need us, but we would love to be a part of your ministry." And that's what I was waiting for somebody to say. Not for somebody to say, "We want to make you more successful." But for somebody to say, "We want to help you with your ministry. We want to help you expand your ministry as far as it could go." And that captured my heart.
Has the load gotten lighter now that they're handling the business side of things?
Munizzi In some ways it has. They've done a lot of things for us. Sony [Integrity's mainstream partner] has also been so instrumental about making us more visible in stores. It's like choosing to ride a car or a bullet train to get to where we're heading. And I'm not getting any younger—I'm 38. it would just take us a lot longer to do that on our own.
You said things were getting out of hand as an independent. Did the business side of things affect your ability to minister?
Munizzi There were moments like that. But I'm not a business person. My husband is that. He is the administrator. That's his gift and anointing; that's where he ministers. For me, I just say, "You've got this. I'm going to go write a song. I'm going to pray a little bit. I'm going to go spend some time with the kids." So it's not hard for me to walk away. But I'm a visionary, too. I think I can see what's coming, and if we don't change it now, it really will be overwhelming.
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