The deal closed in June of 1996. It was a great day. We felt the move positioned our artists in ways we couldn’t as an indie. We were hopeful for our future. It also alleviated a lot of stress between Dan and me.
As Bob Dylan had sung so many years earlier, “The times, they are a changing.”
FORTY-FIVE
Competition
When Dan and I sold the company to EMI we had to commit to stay and run it for a few years. That only seemed natural to us, and we didn’t want to abandon our artists anyway. Dan was our president but focused mostly on sales and marketing as well as managing the company in general. I was our executive vice president and focused on signing artists and songwriters and managing all content creation, including music, art design, videos, and anything else of that nature. I always thought of myself primarily as a songwriter, then as an artist and producer, so that role was a natural fit for my skill set. I was also always the guy on the road figuring out how to sell another t-shirt, so I guess I was more instinctively interested in sales and marketing than I thought.
One thing I didn’t anticipate about selling ForeFront to EMI was the amount of criticism we would receive from some of our peers. Many thought we “sold out to the man.” Some rebuked us for becoming “worldly” through our new association with the mainstream. Some cried we “made a deal with the devil,” while others interpreted Paul’s command not to be “conformed to the world” in Romans 12:2 as somehow related to Christian businesses. When the Bible was written there was no such thing as a Christian record company or book publisher, so I’m fairly sure that is not what Paul was talking about.
I was used to criticism and had become quite adept at accepting rebuke. But this wasn’t anti-rock stuff, or a bunch of out-of-bounds TV preachers; these were my friends. It reminded me of the “New Satan” church bulletin Shannon was given all those years earlier. I guess when you try to do new things there will always be people calling you the devil.
I spent over twenty years working for Christian music companies owned by large mainstream global conglomerates. I’ve been asked many times by friends, family, and church leaders if I was ever asked to compromise our content or beliefs for the sake of business. Generally speaking, the answer is no.
There was one time, though. And it was a doozy.
In 1996, shortly after we sold ForeFront to EMI, I got a surprise visit from the head of EMI North America. His name was Charles Koppelman, and there was something he needed to speak with me about. He called just a few minutes before coming by, and I had no idea what was up. It felt like a surprise visit from my high school principal. When he showed up in his chauffeur-driven car, I was even more intimidated.
EMI had just signed Prince, who at that point was going by the name “unpronounceable symbol” for a combination of creative, political, and marketing reasons. I always wondered what his mother called him then. They'd released his new album, Emancipation. When Mr. Koppelman arrived my assistant brought him straight up to my office. After a few brief moments of introduction, he got right to the point of his visit.
“Did you know we just signed Prince and released his new record?” he asked. “Have you heard it?”
“Not yet,” I said honestly, “but I plan to. I’ve long been a fan of his earlier work, like ‘Little Red Corvette’ and ‘When Doves Cry’ and other stuff from back when he had a name you could spell and not just a symbol.”
Mr. Koppelman continued, “This album has a Gospel song on it, and we need some help promoting it. Would you be open to marketing it through your Christian radio channels?”
That was certainly not what I was expecting. I needed to handle this carefully and respectfully. I thought about what he asked me for a moment and then spoke up. “Mr. Koppelman,” I began, “when we promote an artist and their music to the Christian networks, churches, and media, it carries a lot of responsibility for us. Not only do we promote their music, we promote a lifestyle and a belief system. Our church, radio, and media partners take this as seriously as we do. They trust us. Since Prince doesn’t reflect a Christian walk or faith in his lifestyle, and hasn’t professed even to being a Christian that I know of, if we were to use our name and relationships to promote him to the Christian market I think it could really damage our credibility to our partners and to the customers and fans of the artists we represent.
“I don’t want to be judgmental,” I continued. “That’s not my point. I don’t personally know Prince. But I see the lifestyle he promotes, and it does not seem compatible with our mission and who we are as a company. That being said, Mr. Koppelman, you are my boss, and I respect that. If you insist that we do it, we will. But I want you to know it will seriously wound our company.”
He looked at me mildly. “I had no idea,” he admitted. “I never thought of it that way. We would never do anything to hurt your credibility and what you represent. We don’t want that either. Forget I ever asked.”
Then he got up and left.
That is the only time I have ever been asked to do something that pushed the limits of who I am as a Christian. And once this powerful representative of the mainstream music world understood the ramifications of what he was asking, he immediately rescinded his request. These guys are smart.
One of the true highlights of my ForeFront years was working alongside and learning from our attorney, Richard Green. He was the one who really taught me the business side of music. Richard was a music business veteran. He represented D&K from the early eighties and was ForeFront’s legal counsel for many years. He took me under his wing and acted as my mentor. He also became one of my closest friends. Guys like that are priceless in this life. Richard became the head of business affairs for EMI Christian Music Group and was instrumental in helping Bill Hearn at EMI convince Dan and me to become part of the group.
Watching EMI Christian Music Group come into being was truly impressive. At the time, EMI was one of the “Big Five” music companies in the world. For a company like that to take such a serious interest in Christian music was an interesting development for someone like me. I vividly remember all those times the mainstream companies expressed some interest in D&K until they found out what we were all about. With EMI it was now different.
Bill Hearn had a passionate vision to expand the Christian music genre. He worked alongside his father Billy Ray Hearn when EMI first purchased Billy Ray’s Sparrow Records. After Billy Ray retired, Bill took over the helm as CEO, and he successfully led the company after EMI acquired Star Song Records and Distribution. Star Song was the home of several very successful artists of that day, including Twila Paris, Petra, David Meece, Newsboys, and many others. Star Song was also ForeFront’s distributor. Once they were added to the group it made perfect sense to round out the lineup by purchasing ForeFront.
Bill is the consummate record man and one of the very best I’ve ever come across. He lives it, breathes it, and eats it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The three years Dan and I spent running ForeFront under EMI and Bill Hearn were productive years. We were able to partner with Virgin Records, also an EMI company, to re-sign dcTalk to a new record contract. Virgin began by taking “Between You and Me” from the Jesus Freak album to mainstream radio. We achieved some good success there.
Audio Adrenaline released their answer to “Jesus Freak” in a song called “Some Kind of Zombie.” Rebecca St. James released “Pray.” We also had a big hit with “What Would Jesus Do” by Big Tent Revival and the accompanying album collection of the same name. We even enclosed a “WWJD” bracelet in the clear spine of the CD jewel box. That was Greg Ham’s idea. He was our VP of sales and did a good job tapping into an important cultural trend of the day.
Greg was our longest running ForeFront employee. In fact, when he first started with us in the late eighties his job was to pack and mail order D&K merchandise to fans. He was a college student at the time and absorbed every part of the record business like a sponge. Out of our thirty-five or so employees, he was focused on s
ales growth and was fantastic at his job.
ForeFront was firing on all eight cylinders and it showed. Our artists were commanding radio and sales charts and dominated their fields in the various awards shows. Our artists garnered four out of the five Grammy nominations in their category in 1999. We were flourishing.
As the end dates of our employment contracts approached, Dan and I talked about whether we wanted to continue with ForeFront or move on. Dan came to the conclusion he really wanted to move on. The corporate world of the record business was something he didn’t feel compelled to continue with. I get that. I really do. It’s a much different experience than owning your own business and operating it independently.
In some ways, being in a big company can provide better access and resources to help your artists. In other ways, though, it can be frustrating. Layers of corporate bureaucracy can make it hard to make quick strategic decisions and performance is constantly scrutinized through “metrics” of every kind known to man. That didn’t appeal to Dan at all. He was not a committee man. I wasn’t either, but my job seemed more fun in a lot of ways. I got to make records and videos. He got to make budgets and sales projections.
I told Dan I decided to stay with the company after our employment contracts expired. EMI already made it clear they wanted us to stay. I felt called to make music that impacted people’s lives. That was my gift, and I felt I served best by staying with ForeFront. He didn’t really debate my decision. He simply said, “I always thought we would leave together. We started it together, and I always figured we would ride off in the sunset together.” I’ll never forget him saying that.
When we told Bill Hearn Dan was going to leave but I was going to stay, I felt compelled to explain my desire to be given Dan’s role of president. Looking back, I see that as presumptuous on my part. More than a little bit of my ego was involved. I never even considered there would be a different way to move forward if Dan left. I assumed it meant I would be promoted. When I told Bill I wanted that role his response left me speechless.
“I’ll have to think about it,” he said.
It turned out Bill was considering Greg Ham, our VP of sales, as Dan’s replacement as president. I knew it wouldn’t work for me to stay if that was indeed Bill’s choice. Greg Ham is a good man, and the contest wasn’t about that, I just knew in my heart I couldn’t stay on if Greg made the cut. It wouldn’t be fair to him, or to me for that matter. I also felt I would do a better job. Who knows if that is true or not, but just ask any United States presidential nominee if he or she will make a better president than a rival. Of course the answer would be yes, regardless. Over the next few weeks, I made my case to Bill to be made president and I’m sure Greg made his as well.
Bill chose Greg. When he told me, he asked me to stay in my current role and even offered me a ridiculous raise to stay. “You know you won’t really work for Greg,” he said. “You founded the company. You will be by his side.” But I knew it wouldn’t work. I resigned immediately.
I was confused and upset. How could I, the founder and creative leader of this enormously successful business, be passed over like that? It hurt me deeply and I don’t think I’ll ever fully understand it. I’m fairly sure the Brocks never really supported my decision to stay and run the company. I’ll never really know. Dan’s words haunted me: “I always figured we would ride off into the sunset together.”
As painful as that whole experience was, I now see it as one of the most wonderful turn of events in my life. It really seems to me that God, in his infinite wisdom, knew had I settled into that role I never would have created Meaux Music or !Hero the Rock Opera. The next chapter, it turned out, was critical in my development. It would prepare me to build and run the largest Christian music publishing company in the world. God was absolutely in control, even though it hurt.
FORTY-SIX
Ultimate Ruler
Just a few weeks after resigning from ForeFront I got a call from Bill Hearn asking to see me. Neither of us mentioned ForeFront when we met. Bill opened the conversation by asking me if I would be willing to help him with two things. He went on to say CBS Television, in conjunction with the Vatican, was producing a three-night mini-series titled Jesus to air on TV on Easter of 2000. It would be released as a motion picture in theaters internationally, but in North America it would be a major television mini-series event.
He went on to say Capitol Records and Sparrow Records obtained the soundtrack rights as well as the “Inspired By” rights. His hope was to create an album with well-known mainstream artists alongside top Christian music artists. He invited me to serve as the album’s executive producer along with himself, Evan Lamberg from EMI Music Publishing, and Mike Curb from Curb Records.
I knew Evan through the years as one of the top creative guys in music publishing in the world. Of course I knew Mike Curb from my days with Pat Boone and Lamb and Lion Records a lifetime ago. Bill went on to explain I would be the hands and feet of the project because he, Evan, and Mike had a lot of plates spinning. I was intrigued and excited to create something special with these guys. Little did I know where it would lead me and what it would teach me along the way.
This was an unprecedented opportunity to work at the highest levels of mainstream media to impact culture. I was very excited and honored to be involved.
CBS Television committed to an enormous budget for the production. It would be released globally, simultaneously. The project was also being produced in conjunction with the Vatican’s apology for 2,000 years of anti-Semitism. The Church was finally admitting that the Gentiles were just as responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus as the Jews were. That was a really big deal to a lot of people. It was the first time the Church formally admitted to having the blood of Christ on its hands. Throughout history the Jews were castigated and persecuted for having caused the death of Jesus. They were chased all over the world as a result.
My first task was to fly to New York to attend a meeting set up by the show’s producers and CBS television executives. The purpose of the meeting was for them to present the magnitude of the project and to introduce those of us who didn’t know everyone involved. The meeting was held in the boardroom at EMI Music Publishing, the largest music publisher in the world, at their mid-town Manhattan offices.
Evan Lamberg met me at the door, as gracious as ever. Evan served as EMI’s VP of Creative, East Coast. We met a few times through the years and worked together from time to time looking for just the right song for one of my ForeFront artists to record. Years later, Evan and I crossed paths again. He became my boss as president of Universal Music Publishing, North America when EMI recorded music was purchased by Universal Music Group. He helped Bill Hearn (my other boss at Capitol) and me create Capitol CMG Publishing, which is the largest publisher of Christian music in the world.
When I entered the boardroom I didn’t know anyone else present. There were movie producers, CBS executives, film and DVD distributors, the director, and many others involved in the project at various high levels. One of the show’s producers, Russell Kagan, stood at the head of the massive table. As everyone took their seats or lined up around the walls of the overcrowded room, Russ addressed us all.
He introduced himself and said, “I am so honored and appreciative that each of you are here today. I realize all of you are experts in your fields, and this is possibly your first exposure to this project. Before I say another word, I want to make a commitment to you; it is our utmost goal to make the best f—-king Jesus movie ever!” He struck his chest with his right hand as a dramatic pledge. He didn’t have a single thought about the language he used to describe a film about Jesus. He was just proud.
Now this is different, this Southern Baptist-raised boy thought to himself.
That’s the mainstream world. They can’t know what they don’t know. We Christians often expect them to think, act, and be like us. We judge them when they aren’t. I agree there are limits to socially acceptable behavior in societ
y, especially with underage people. But too often we circle the wagons against secular folks for just being secular.
We church folks are often guilty of not showing simple kindness and love toward the non-Christian world. That doesn’t mean we have to accept public lewdness, unjust practices, or indecent behaviors. It does mean, however, there is no excuse for us not to be kind and respectful as we recognize human dignity in folks with different views than ours.
Russ Kagan, Saul Melnick, Evan Lamberg, and many of the other folks involved in Jesus: The Miniseries became good friends of mine through the project. The mini-series turned out to be a hit worldwide. The record delivered a number one hit with “I Need You” by LeAnn Rimes. The album contained outstanding performances by 98 Degrees, Lonestar, Sarah Brightman, Edwin McCain, Hootie and the Blowfish, dcTalk, Steven Curtis Chapman, Yolanda Adams, and many others. I was very proud to have been involved with it.
To impact culture, we have to be willing to be a part of culture.
The second thing Bill Hearn asked me that day concerned a very young artist named Stacie Orrico I signed a few months before I left ForeFront. He asked if I would be willing to stay on with Stacie as a sort of advisor and mentor.
Stacie was just twelve years old when I signed her. She was also one of the most gifted singers I have ever come across. She was very young, though, and would really benefit from the kind of guidance I could offer. Bill and Greg Ham felt it was a good idea. I felt a certain responsibility, being the one who signed her. I was also a big fan of her family. I readily agreed.
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