Video Studio Tate

Los Angeles — Known as the Balladeer of Gospel, soulful singer, songwriter Desmond Pringle prepares for a new CD release Fidelity, which marks the fourth in his phenomenal career.  Prefacing the new release is Pringle’s debut single off the project.  “Hope Is Born” is a timely message of victory and personal empowerment.  The world is experiencing an unprecedented time of change – financial stability is challenged, natural disasters have displaced families worldwide and our nation has embarked on the most historic presidential election of our time.  In the midst of these sometimes challenging moments in our lives, there is a source of continual hope.  Pringle penned “Hope Is Born” to be a sustaining and uplifting anthem of abundant possibility and personal responsibility! 

“We’ve already won. We the people on an individual basis have been given a personal allotment of precisely what’s necessary to not only survive but thrive,” says Pringle.  “One’s reality will be impacted by one’s embrace of personal responsibility or the lack thereof. ‘Hope Is Born’ is a message of relevance regardless of race, creed, color or political affiliation. Whoever you are, wherever you’re from, you are not out of reach of the arms of hope to carry you directly to where you need to be.”

Hope is color blind

And it transcends party lines

The ceiling has been shattered

All of the pieces, yes they have been scattered

According to Pringle his new project, Fidelity, is a reflection of God’s faithfulness in every aspect of our life.  “My desire is for people to come away from listening to this project being totally doused in hope and possibility,” Pringle explains.  “Faith substantiates our hopes and brings into reality what we do not see. It is when we fully embrace this truth that hope is born.”

Working on this new project, being a minister and an executive would seem to be more than the average could handle without strategic focus.  Pringle says that experiencing these layers in his career has helped him become fully engaged in this process with confidence and a sense of personal responsibility. “It has caused me to perceive and understand the Kingdom principle of “Dominion” from a practical application perspective,” Pringle states. “With the accelerated evolution of the music industry growing exponentially on a daily basis, it’s imperative that those who minister in the genre broker the power and keep the gates themselves.  That’s the order of God!”

Pringle has been blessed to be a part of Gospel music for over 10 years.  His journey into professional music began in the lead role of the hit gospel musical “A Good Man Is Hard To Find”. His portrayal received an NAACP Image Award nomination. The native South Carolinian then relocated to Chicago to further develop his musical prowess. His work as a singer/songwriter gained him contributions to award-winning artists including Yolanda Adams, Bishop T. D. Jakes, Shirley Caesar, CeCe Winans and Bishop Paul S. Morton.  Add to that, stellar performances at the Stockholm Gospel Festival and the award as the Best Male Vocalist by the African American Religious Connection. In 1998 his independent release “Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs” grabbed the attention of Chicago radio stations and led to a record deal with Tommy Boy Gospel and his highly acclaimed release Loyalty.  Pringle also served as VP of Urban / Gospel for Warner Bros. Records.  Now, Pringle, Dove Award nominated songwriter, ordained minister and psalmist faithfully travels throughout the country administering workshops, ministering the Word and sharing his heart.  After months of preparing and recording, Pringle is energized and ready for this long awaited CD – Fidelity, available spring 2009.

With such a demand for this compelling message, Pringle has made the single available on his website.  Consumers can download “Hope Is Born” now for FREE by logging on to http://www.desmondpringle.com/HopeIsBorn.  The single will be available via free download for a limited time. Add “Hope Is Born” to your ipod, be encouraged, share the message and claim victory!

For more information visit:  www.desmondpringle.com

Booking:  Magnum Opus Entertainment- West

Denise Love – 888-212-4482

DLove@MagnumopusEnt.com

Marketing and Media:  The Bellamy Group

240-305-4082  * thebellamygroup@hotmail.com

Online music is one of the most popular ways to acquire music these days. It makes sense, since almost every person here has or has heard of the iPod. Downloading music from the internet makes it more convenient to upload the songs directly onto an M3 player. However, not everyone that has an iPod is going to be aware of the fact that they just might be downloading music illegally. Now it is harder to find the music sites that are using these pirated music downloads.

Many people are involved in music sites with a file sharing concept. These music sites are called peer to peer sites, in which people can download music from other people’s music libraries. While this is easier, some people are finding that they are being connected to illegal music, without even knowing it. What makes it harder is that these libraries are almost untraceable; to everyone except for the ones tracking people down.

One note that should be taken is that not all file sharing is illegal. In fact, most music sites are just that; the only difference is that the legal music sites have the permission from the music artists to share their music. Some unsigned music bands use the file-sharing networks to distribute their music hits through free music downloads. In these cases, these music sites are actually helpful. It is when big music artists’ music hits are being downloaded for free, and they are not getting paid for their music hits that create the problem.

Many people are confused about what is a legal music download. What is clearly illegal is unauthorized copying of commercial music. Many just assume that any downloading music can put them in risk for legal action. The truth is, recently there have been little or no actions of illegal music sites being created. For the most part, the online music sites have been cleaned up and are almost all legal. It’s no wonder people are confused about which music download sites are best, because the Net is full of legal music download sites which are 100% legal. This does not mean that there are not any music downloading sites that violate copyright laws, by offering music downloads that are posted without the permission of the music artist or music band.

Finding free music is easy and can be fun, but it has to be doe with care. With a little bit of research, anyone can download new music hits for free, and have the best quality music to upload onto their iPod. Most of the time, people can find new music artists that have new music hits. What better way to get known than through online music downloads.

For more information about Legal Music Download or even about Legal MP3 and especially about Legal Music please review one of these links.

The RIAA would like you to believe that you are participating in the Recording Industry. Be advised, you are not.

You are in the Touring (Gig) Industry, make no mistake.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to get as many bodies through the doors of your show as possible.

Then, get them on the list. Then, give them things. Then, sell them things. Then get their friends on the list…

Friends? Yup.

What do you do if you want to see a movie? Most people will read a review or ask a friend’s advice. Most people want an endorsement of some kind before they can get into it. Even if they’ve never heard of the movie, chances are they’ll go based on the buzz generated by someone else’s opinion.

You have your list – your targeted group of consumers. Lets use these people as marketing “hubs”. Think of them as the center of a bicycle wheel and their friends as the spokes. It will be a good idea to incentivize your list to get their friends in the fold as well.

Now that we got the lingo down…

The best way to incentivize your hubs will be to either a.) bring them closer or b.) give them things.

Try offering a free t-shirt for each fan that gives you the mailing address of 5 friends. You can then send these 5 each a free CD. From there, the process will continue with these people as well as you continue to incentivize THEM in turn.

So, how long do your keep doing this? Let’s stop the giving at 1000 and get into marketing a solid product for purchase – which I’ll get into later.

If you’re wondering if the cost of 1000 CDs and 200 T-shirts are worth 1000 fans, the answer is YES!

What I do is consider the LIFETIME VALUE of each fan. If you treat them right, their investment in your music won’t end with just 1 CD or show, or t-shirt. It will be helpful to think of Lifetime Value in order to draft your long-term marketing plan. And NO, it’s not as dry as it sounds – it just makes good sense to do a little thinking, if not planning.

A Little Math

1000 promo CDs, copied and printed at home: $1000

200 T-shirts @ $3.50 per: $700

Total fan investment: $1700 / 1000 fans = $1.7 per fan.

You can call this your Aquisition Cost.

We’ll now have to do a bit of estimating in order to figure out each fan’s Lifetime Value:

Let’s say you play 1 show every 2 months in your town. It’s safe to think that if you communicate with your fans effectively, 7-10% may show up at each show.

6 shows per year, 70 fans per show, $5 cover charge: $2100

$2100 / 1000 fans = $2.10 per fan.

That’s without merchandise sales, without marketing A SINGLE ITEM to your fans. You’ve turned a profit – albeit a small one.

Hell, your break even point is only $1.70 – that’s only 57 bodies a show. ONLY 5.7% OF YOUR MAILING LIST!!!

Meanwhile you’re building goodwill and loyalty which will last alot longer than you realize.

Fan Incentive Idea

Make sure this gets out to as many non-fans as possible. Hopefully before each show, you’ve hung posters in as many places as you can, advertising the gig. Hold a contest where you give away (free is good!) something cool to the person that takes a photo of themselves doing something crazy in front of your poster. (Pick a few winners) Let them know that they can email the photos to you, or send them via postal mail. Either way, you now have a form of return addresss in which to contact these people again because you’ll need to now where to send their prize. More fans, more marketing hubs, more goodwill, more loyalty, more people at your shows, more fans, more LIFETIME VALUE per fan.

Folks, that’s not how you build a band, that’s how you build an enterprise.

That’s how you make a LIFE in the New Music Business!