Sam Chappell

Sam lives in Nashville, TN and provides M&A and business development advisory services to companies and Christian ministries operating in the areas of music and print media.

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WHAT BIBLICAL LESSONS APPLY TO THE MUSIC BUSINESS?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr1KS_pMGfM Hi. My name is Sam Chappell. I'm a music business executive from Nashville, Tennessee. My background has been in Christian music for over 30 years. I've ran two record labels, Integrity Music and 40 Records, and I've managed multiple artists, and two different management companies. During my years of experience, in those capacities, I've learned different lessons. The greatest lessons to me come from the Bible. Probably the greatest lesson I've learned that I apply not just to the music business, but other businesses as well is, "A man without vision goes unrestrained, and happy is he who keeps the law." How does that apply to the music business? Many times I see young people go into the music business and if they're recording artists and they don't get a record deal, they get dejected and give up. My challenge to you is if you are called to ministry, if you're called to Christian music and you don't get a record deal, that should not stop you from moving forward in what God's calling is. Having a record deal is just another aspect of helps for you, but it doesn't define your calling. You've got to hear your vision very carefully. The verse in Proverbs says, "A man without vision goes unrestrained." What that scripture means, the word Vision, in the Hebrew actually means a prophetic Oracle from God, which is your blueprint. What is God's blueprint for your life? I see young people going into the music industry, and if they're focused on their God given vision, they're successful. When they lose that vision, they go unrestrained. They become men and women of lawlessness. They don't have guidelines. They've lost their vision. I'm saying be secure in your calling. Be secure in what God's called you to do. Don't let any person discourage you from that calling. Stay focused on your God given vision and have people praying for you, walking alongside you that believe in your calling and that are always praying and interceding and pushing you to fulfill the vision that God has given you - for your artistry. being a songwriter or being an artist. Watch this video on Vimeo Read the full article

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WHAT CHANGES IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS HAVE YOU SEEN IN THE PAST 20-30 YEARS?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQaEDvWw2u0 Hi. My name's Sam Chappell from Nashville, Tennessee. I've been in Christian music for over 30 years. I've been a President of a couple of labels- Integrity Music and 40 Records during that time, and have been the CEO of several management companies. During that time I've seen many changes in the music industry. Over the last 20 to 30 years we've gone from cassettes to CDs to downloads, to streaming. We've gone from needing large studios, to be able to do recordings in your bedroom. Technology has become a very key part of the music industry where it wasn't 20-30 years ago. Now you see record labels, they still record, they're still creators of content, but now they have to have technology pieces to go alongside that. Technology could be something from a social media piece. Marketing has totally changed the marketing plans of recording projects. 20-30 years ago, that was done by newspapers, billboards, radio, and retail. You don't see retail stores anymore. They're becoming less and less, with the Lifeway and family bookstores going out of business. You're seeing more sales on the internet. You're seeing purchases all online. Now you're seeing streaming as subscriptions and it's skyrocketing. What has been consistent though over the last 20-30 years is the music still drives everything. If the music's not good, if it's not creative, if it's not something that people want to listen to, you don't need to go to the second area of the equation. That second area is once you have a great product, or once you have great talent, or once you have great music or great songs, now you add the technology piece. Now with technology today, record labels are looking at databases and who's listening to what. They've got teams that are just a hundred percent doing social media. Some of the major labels now have technology teams that are viewing if there's copyright infringements over YouTube and over the internet. Technology has been a tremendous change in the industry - Not withstanding the changes in streaming, the growth of Spotify, Apple, Amazon, I could go on and on. The streaming services have actually really made the music industry well again. I've seen the highs and the lows, the ups and downs, but I'm a real believer that the music industry is here to stay. It's in a healthy state, and I believe the trends are good. Watch this video on Vimeo Read the full article

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What Do You Think About Churches Being Music Labels?

https://youtu.be/-QZhjR6PPlc For a few years I was president of Integrity music in Mobile, Alabama. I was President of 40 Records, which was a division of Gotee Records, which was their worship label. I have a lot of experience in worship music. What we've seen over the last 10-20 years and even longer than that, is that many churches are now becoming worship labels, like Hillsong and Elevation Church. Years ago you were looking at Marinatha, Vineyard, and now Bethel. People ask me, “what do you think about a church being a music label?” I've got multiple responses to that.  First of all, as a believer and a new Testament believer, I believe the best songs, the best worship songs come out of the local church. I believe the church was designed to birth worship music and not to create songs, but to create an atmosphere for worship. I believe the church is becoming worship labels and music labels. I've not really had a problem with that at all because I think that is the presence environment, which creates the culture and the atmosphere in the presence of God for worship songs to be created. Now there is a line where I think the function of a traditional label may be done better outside the local church. So a lot of times you're finding local churches sending off their distribution or their marketing or their publishing to a third party. They are the content provider. The church provides the content and then they may sub their distribution and other services that they're not really as well equipped for, because it's not really a function of the church. I think this modern trend to go with local churches is a very good trend - as long as they merge their services with somebody that has the functions, the ability and the resources to do those things that a local church is not created to do. They're not created to have their own distribution. They're not created to have a lot of the things that a record label provides, like a large staff. But again, my heartfelt belief is the music should be created and sent out of the local church and then distributed through other facets. View this video on Vimeo Read the full article

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How to get a Record Deal or Publishing Deal

https://youtu.be/v11hCNtER_4 Hi, my name's Sam Chappell. I'm a music business executive that's worked primarily in Christian music for over 30 years. A common question that I often get is “How do I get a record deal, or how do I get signed to a publisher as a writer?” Let me deal with the first one- How do I get a record deal? There is no stated formula on how you get a record deal. How you get a record deal 20 years ago is, in my opinion, different than how you get one today. Today the labels are looking for someone that's performing out on the road already, and have some kind of a track record that there is a demand for your music.  I think you have to create demand with social media, YouTube, and with video. With all these mechanisms you can do so much marketing of your talent as an artist or as a band or as a musician through those means. A&R people - these are artists and repertoire people. Their job at the record labels is looking for musical talent, great recording artists, but they're also looking for some kind of a draw that you've already established a fan base or you've already established some kind of social media following. They will say, “Okay, if this worked in this small region of the country, this may work elsewhere.”  You've got to create some kind of mechanism where there is a demand for your music and artistry.  Now on the publishing side, which is the songwriter side, it’s a whole different scenario than a recording artist. That is where you write songs - that’s the critical thing. It's a very difficult process and the best tool is to get somebody to cut your song. You might say, “Well, how do I get somebody to cut my song?” You write your songs, you demo your songs or have someone demo your songs, and you pitch those songs to as many people as you can - to managers, to music publishers, to A&R people, and to artists themselves. You find any way you can get that song into the hands of an established artist because once they record that song, it creates a demand for you as a songwriter. That to me, getting somebody to exploit songs, is the best mechanism to get your songs showcased. That is how I would begin both on the recording side, and secondly, on the publishing side, and how you get signed. View on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/377650712 Read the full article

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HOW DO I GET INTO THE MUSIC BUSINESS? - BECOME A PRODUCER OR MUSIC ARTIST

https://youtu.be/qZs6DnyX37o Hi, my name's Sam Chappell. I live in Nashville, Tennessee. I've been in the Christian music industry for over 30 years of my life. A common question I get from young people primarily is ‘How do I get into the music business?’. There's really two aspects of that. There's the business side and then there's the creative musician side, and there's a multiplicity of ways to get into the music business.  Let me deal with the first half, which is the music business side, which is the area that I have been in all my life. First of all, you need to have a passion for the music business and you kind of need to pick your lane. Do you want to be a manager? Do you want to be a record label executive? Do you want to be a producer? What is your area of passion and strength? Train yourself in that area. Some people go to music business schools, some people internet management companies, and some intern at record labels. Pick your lane and try to find the area where you're going to get the best training. On the business side, I think it does help to get formal training - whether you want to be an accountant, a lawyer, or a business executive. You should get training that drives you into the business area and it will effectuate your way of getting in the music side of the business. Now for the creative side, which is the second part of the business. If you are talented as a musician, you may want to be an artist yourself - and I will discuss that in another video of how you get an artist deal. But if you want to be a producer or artist, basically you need to get as much experience performing or producing other artists from doing little demo projects, to vocally recording things, to being a backup singer, to singing in your church, to being on your worship team,  to performing in a band. All those things are building experiences that prepare you for production or producing or being a recording artist. That is just a snippet of how you can get into the music business. I will go more in length in some of my subsequent videos on how you get into these specific areas. Read the full article

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How I Got Into The Music Business

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utqQHTTavLk&t=22s Hi, my name is Sam Chappell. I'm a music business executive from Nashville, Tennessee. I've been in primarily Christian music for over 30 years. I share my story with a lot of college students, a lot of universities, and young people that are trying to get in the music business. The common question I'm often asked is how did I get in the music business? I was actually a student at Anderson University in Anderson, Indiana and I was looking for a part time job and frankly, I was hoping just to get a janitor job on campus. The financial aid office called me and they said, "we have an opening in a warehouse, as long as you can get a car, you can drive there. There's a guy named bill Gaither that needs somebody to work in his music warehouse." So here I am starting this second week of my freshman year of college and I get a call to go work in a music warehouse. For four years I ended up working there for Gaither Music and established a friendship with the Gaither family. I went off to graduate school and when I graduated, the Gaithers asked me to come back and work with them. Sometimes the small things end up being the big things in my small beginning as somebody that was just working in the warehouse, which ended up creating the opportunity for me to now be in the music business for over 30 years. That's how I got my start. It wasn't a big plan or scheme on my part. God just opened the door and I never knew I was going to be in Christian music. But that was the beginning of my career. Don't despise small beginnings! Watch my video on YouTube For more videos on this topic visit: Sam Chappell Youtube Channel Read the full article

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Sam Chappell with Rapper Propaganda

This is me with Propaganda, a poet rapper. I met him when I was managing Lecrae. I believe this photo was taken backstage in a green room in Nashville at a concert for Lecrae. Propaganda is a very unique artist and a very interesting guy. Lecrae took him out on tour which is how I got to know him. Read the full article

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Sam Chappell (Nashville) with Matt Redman (Orange County, California)

I heard of Matt Redman when I was President of Integrity Music. Integrity was a worship label and I got to know a lot of worship artists. Matt is somebody I always wanted to work with but he was signed to another label. A few years ago, a producer by the name of Rob Marvin, who was the producer for Mat Kearney, said, “Sam, I'd really love you to meet a guy named Matt Redman.” I said, “I've been wanting to meet him for years!”   I had some business in southern California and Matt lives in Orange County. So Robert introduced us and  Matt and I struck up a friendship. It's probably a three or four year old friendship now. Every time I go to Orange County, I have coffee with him. I have a very high regard for Matt. He is a great father, very humble, and a great worship leader. He's a family man. He lives a Christ centered life.  Read the full article

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Sam Chappell with Jason Upton

Jason Upton is a dear friend of mine. I was at Regent University speaking to one of the business classes about the music industry. While I was out there, they asked me to go to chapel with them. Jason was a seminary student. He had a year or two to go and he led worship at the chapel. I was just like, “Wow, I've never seen anybody flow in prophetic worship like he did.” I made sure to shake his hand and introduce myself to him. I was living in Nashville and working for Gotee Records and 40 Records at the time. Two years later when Jason graduated, we signed him to 40 Records which was the worship label owned by Gotee.  I've known Jason 20 years now. I was president of the label when he made his first album. In fact, of all the artists and all the albums I've ever worked with, and I've worked with some great artists from Bill Gaither to Lecrae, my proudest moment was Jason’s Faith record. Nobody had done a record like that before and everybody was scratching their heads. It was a powerful worship service that we re-mixed into a free-flowing worship album. I talk to people now in their late twenties and thirties  about that record and they all say Faith really had a big influence on them. I knew Jason before he got married, knew him when he was a newlywed, and now he's got three kids and one's now in college. That tells you how old I am, and how long I've known Jason.  Read the full article

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Sam Chappell with Phil Driscoll

This is me with Phil Driscoll. He is a singer, recording artist, and a well known trumpet player in Christian music. I believe he played trumpet at Bill Clinton's inauguration. He's played before massive audiences all around the world as a trumpet player and a singer. I've known Phil for probably 20-25 years. I met him when he was a recording artist at Benson Records, actually in the late eighties so I’ve probably know him for a lot longer than 25 years. This picture was taken at Pinewood Social in Nashville, Tennessee. I’ve gotten to do some consulting and business services for Phil over the last several years. He’s a great guy. Read the full article

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In This Photo: Flame, KB, Sam ChappellFlame, KB and Sam Chappell attend the nominees during the 45th Annual GMA Dove Awards Nominations Press Conference at Allen Arena on Lipscomb University campus, August 13, 2014 in Nashville, Tennessee.(Aug. 12, 2014 - Source: Rick Diamond/Getty Images North America)

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Ted T. is a well known producer in Christian music. He has worked with a number of artists and produced people like Rebecca St James and Britt Nicole. Recently he worked with For King and Country. Ironically, Ted and I had not worked together all these years even though we are both in the Christian music industry.

I began consulting a couple of clients that needed a producer so I reached out to Ted. Ted had me over to the studio to listen to some of his songs and we became friends in the process. Ted ended up working with my clients who were a worship band that traveled with Joyce Meyer. They had written a few songs and a couple of albums, but their production needed help and Ted became their producer.

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I heard of Matt Redman when I was President of Integrity Music. Integrity was a worship label and I got to know a lot of worship artists. Matt is somebody I always wanted to work with but he was signed to another label. A few years ago, a producer by the name of Rob Marvin, who was the producer for Mat Kearney, said, “Sam, I'd really love you to meet a guy named Matt Redman.” I said, “I've been wanting to meet him for years!”  

I had some business in southern California and Matt lives in Orange County. So Robert introduced us and  Matt and I struck up a friendship. It's probably a three or four year old friendship now. Every time I go to Orange County, I have coffee with him. I have a very high regard for Matt. He is a great father, very humble, and a great worship leader. He's a family man. He lives a Christ centered life.

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This is me with Tauren Wells.  When I was managing Andy Mineo, we needed a male vocalist for one of Andy’s projects and Andy loved Tauren’s voice. Tauren actually knew of me because we had some mutual artist friends, but we didn’t meet each other until this project with Andy. Tauren used to be in a Grammy-Nominated band called Royal Tailor. He is a solo artist now and I was told he always wanted to meet me. Tauren is a super talented singer and wonderful guy with a lot of character. It matches his musical gift.

This picture was actually taken in Mobile, Alabama at a studio. Andy invited Tauren to go on tour with him, and while we were touring, Andy wanted to record this song with Tauren. We were going to Mobile, Alabama on a tour stop and Any needed a studio. I knew all the studios in Mobile because of my work with Integrity Music down there. We recorded Tauren’s vocals in that Mobile studio and spent the day working on that song. Tauren is one of the most humble guys you'll ever meet. He is God loving and God fearing. He walks the walk and talks the talk.  

For more information on my artist management and advisory services visit:

https://samchappell.org

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This is me with Steph Curry. It was probably a three minute moment. Steph was a big fan of Lecrae, and I was Lecrae’s manager at the time. Steph and Lecrae were good friends already before this moment. Lecrae had a concert in San Francisco and Steph came backstage. I got a picture with him because all my kids are basketball fans and he is one of their heros. Steph hung out with us all night. He had his wife with him and they were great; he was such a kind guy. Very humble. That night, Lecrae got him to come up on stage and kind of dance with him. The crowd went nuts because the Golden State Warriors are based there so there were a lot of Warriors fans in the audience.

That same night a husband and wife group called Johnnyswim that were backstage watching the Lecrae concert. Steph and his wife had listened to all of Johnnyswim’s songs. So they were kind of cutting up in the back. It was a real neat evening. I only pulled Steph away for a minute because I don’t usually ask for pictures, but I had to for my kids!

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In this picture we are in Cupertino, California at Facebook’s headquarters. Lecrae, on the left, was launching a new album and we were going out there to raise media support. Andy Mineo was about to release a record too. So here we have Lecrae from Atlanta, Andy from New York, Sam from Nashville, and we’re in Cupertino, California. Lecrae is a recording artist who is the owner and cofounder of Reach Records, and Andy Mineo is an artist on Reach Records.

That day we went to the offices for Apple, Facebook, and Instagram and believe me when I say those campuses are huge. Facebook looks like a college campus, and Apple looks like a big tech center. We were there doing interviews with Lecrae and Andy. My company was managing them both at the same time. I started as a consultant to Reach Records and then Reach asked me to form a management company for their hip hop artists. This included Lecrae, Andy Mineo, Trip Lee, and Tedashi. I never thought I’d be in the hip-hop world. I started with Bill Gaither in Southern Gospel and went all the way to Lecrae, one of the biggest Christian rappers there is.

When I started in the industry I was in Bill Gaither’s warehouse. Gaither Music was more Contemporary Christian music and Southern Gospel. Then all of a sudden I find myself with a bunch of rappers and I meet 50 Cent. I start learning about magazines that I’d never heard of in the hip-hop world. I started accompanying artists to interviews on rap radio stations. It just opened my eyes. I love the rap culture and the special way they are able to craft music. I won’t say my age, but I am probably one of the few Caucasian guys my age that loves hip-hop now. I saw how much work these guys pour into their art and I love it.