Going beyond the basics: how Morgan Music has found a lucrative market selling churches more than the the typical guitar, sound, and keyboard products carried in M.I. stores.

Title Annotation:THE CHURCH MARKETDate:Jun 1, 2005Words:1597Publication:Music TradesISSN:0027-4488

The historic view of music in the church put an organ in one corner and a piano in the other. That paradigm has changed dramatically over the past couple of decades, first with gospel groups in the South and major cities, and then with the broader embrace of the contemporary Christian music (CCM) movement. Among retailers, a conventional view of CCM is that it draws almost entirely from m.i. product staples--guitars, basses, keyboards, amps, drums, and related accessories--and many retailers have built rewarding business by meeting these basic needs. But others have cultivated even greater success by going beyond the basics into sound reinforcement, theatrical lighting, and multi-media gear. Morgan Music, serving Lebanon, Missouri, and surrounding communities since 1978, augments its fun-line store's sales with a flourishing trade in the design, sale, and installation of church sound and video projection systems. Like a growing number of retail music stores, Morgan is helping churches reach their congregations with multi-media-enhanced services. For more and more churchgoers, seeing is believing.

Lebanon, Missouri, population [+ or -] 12,000, flouts common wisdom about small, rural towns being slow to accept change. According to Morgan Music co-owner Alvin Deskins, the region has seen "a huge push" to incorporate video projection and multi-media capabilities in church services. But Lebanon provides a mere snapshot of trends sweeping communities of all sizes nationwide. "A video system can do a lot of things," says Deskins. "Anything presented visually makes a stronger, longer-lasting impact."

Initially projection systems were used only for listing Lebanon's church calendar events or a particular scripture verse referenced in the pastor's sermon. Later more contemporary churches began using them to display choruses in praise & worship sessions. "Eventually they displayed even the old hymns like 'The Old Rugged Cross' on the projection screen," says Deskins. "The parishioners can still turn to page 183 in their hymnals, but now it's also shown right up there on the screen."

One obvious benefit that's a strong selling point even to change-resistant churches is that displaying hymns on a large screen provides a service to visually impaired parishioners, supplementing or even eliminating the need for large-print Bibles and hymnals. Worship leaders appreciate projection systems' tendency to make parishioners look up and project their voices out into the church instead of down into their hymnals.

Beyond merely listing activity dates, a projection system can also be used to display videos or PowerPoint slideshows that engage parishioners and heighten their sense of community within the congregation. "It's very common now to see a collage of images of the bride and groom before a wedding," Deskins points out. "And when kids go to youth camp, all week long they take digital photographs of each other and the things they're doing. Displaying a PowerPoint collage of those images on Sunday morning allows the people who contributed money to youth camp for years and years to see the fruits of their support."

Retailers reluctant to dabble in this "peripheral" field should consider that video system sales and installations can be parlayed into sales of instruments and sound reinforcement systems--and vice versa. According to Deskins, church boards may not see the audio-video connection instantly, but many eventually realize, "it's when the video experience and the broader array of instruments come together that praise & worship has its greatest impact."

Many churches in and around Lebanon adopted electronic instruments and digital drums first and later incorporated video projection. For others video projection was the first step to incorporating praise & worship into their services. Deskins comments, "Praise & worship isn't very effective with just an organ, so adding other instruments--everything from cello to electronic drums--followed naturally. That requires more inputs for an electric guitar, bass, and keyboards, and drums can use up another five channels."

Similarly, installing a video system often requires upgrading the sound system, since older churches were commonly equipped with just a pulpit mic and one or two handheld mics. "A standard video projection system requires inputs for computer, DVD, and VCR," Deskins explains. "A lot of times they'll also need more output channels to direct the sound into the classrooms or the foyer of the church for funerals and weddings."

New churches, which Deskins says are "popping all over the country," tend to implement contemporary style praise & worship--with all the appropriate instruments and sound and video systems--"from day one." Conversely, working with traditional churches calls for patience and, occasionally, extraordinary levels of customer service. "Some worship leaders get frustrated when they hit a brick wall in trying to implement their vision for modern praise services," he explains. "We try to coach them in how to deliver that vision in a way that's acceptable to the church board and the congregation. If the most traditional parishioners walk into church one Sunday to find electric guitar and drums and four or five people singing, the shock could be too great You can't go from white walls to neon green all at once."

In some cases Morgan's introduced new ideas and technology obliquely. For example, once it sold a set of digital drums to a church's youth group that performs for the church only one night per month. Deskins recalls that when the group played the kit through the main sanctuary's sound system, many congregants were surprised at how tasteful and appropriate it sounded. "The next thing we knew, the church was looking for a digital system for the sanctuary."

More often the store shepherds a step-by-step transition of new instruments, starting with a single acoustic guitar and, only after people were comfortable with it, adding an electric bass and a pair of congas. Other times they recommended moving from acoustic piano to electric piano. "You have to prove to the parishioners that any change is implemented with an attitude of worship and in a tasteful manner," says Deskins. "Before you know it, you have a full praise & worship band playing in the sanctuary, and everybody's happy."

As with non-traditional instruments, parishioners at some established churches are apprehensive about the installation of a video projection system in their sanctuary. Their first priority, Deskins explains, is that the screen doesn't cover up the cross. In these cases Morgan's technicians positioned the screen off to the side or installed one that retracts when it's not being used for the praise & worship portion of the service. "It's very important to show respect for the things people hold sacred. In one church, when the projector bulb burned out two years after we installed the system, the same board members who initially resisted it were calling us in a panic, saying 'We have to have the projector working by Sunday.'"

In general, even worship leaders whose musical backgrounds make them familiar with instruments, amps, and p.a. components lack significant knowledge of video projections systems. "Some," says Deskins, "acquire just enough information to be dangerous." He recalls one youth pastor who went online to purchase a $1,500 projector whose lamp couldn't overcome the strong ambient light streaming through his sanctuary's stained glass windows. "His blunder ruined it for the church; he had his one shot [at introducing a video system to the congregation], he bought the wrong stuff, and he was done."

Meeting the needs of the church with audio and video systems requires more than understanding the components' specs, Deskins asserts. "You have to understand how the components work with each other, and you have to be able to analyze how they'll work in a particular environment, whether that means particular acoustics or particular lighting and obstruction issues. That's why we design systems and we install systems--two completely independent services. We go out of our way to understand what each church's people want to accomplish, the layout and dimensions of the sanctuary and the other rooms, and so on."

To find new church customers Morgan Music advertised on Christian radio stations and in Christian magazines, mailed postcards to churches, and even spent a good deal of "road time" driving to communities to visit with worship leaders up to three hours away. One particularly fruitful trip resulted in sound and projection system installations in three churches in the same town. However, most of the store's church business actually originates with strong word-of-mouth among church leaders.

What are churches looking for in a music dealer? A sense of trust starts with an impeccable reputation, and product knowledge is a must. It's also essential to assure the pastor and worship leader that the store will provide strong, reliable service and support, year after year. For example, Morgan's allows churches it works with to take three or four microphones, two or three keyboards, or a couple of different electronic drumsets to determine the products that best suit their situation. "A lot of times," says Deskins, "we have to deliver the set of electronic drums to the church, set them up, and train two drummers one for the youth service and one for the regular worship service. It's the same for electronic keyboards. Later we discuss with them how their first service went. If we feel it will suit them better, we may deliver a different instrument the following week and train them on that one too. Some manufacturers give us an additional discount on a product because they're aware of the extra service required to meet the needs of a church customer versus the guy who walks into the store to buy a drumset or a guitar. This is the kind of service that churches can't get online or through mail order companies, and it's one of the big reasons we get their business."

COPYRIGHT 2005 Music Trades Corp.

Copyright 2005 Gale, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.