Question/Answer # 3

Tai,
How closely do you track things like album sales, Billboard Top 200 ratings, etc.? Have you ever found the need to limit yourself on how often you check, or is that not a struggle for you? Are you ever bummed that Conspiracy No. 5 should deservedly have an RIAA Gold stamp on it? Do you have any specific goals in terms of sales for Revelation and/or other albums in the second decade of Third Day, or is this something you generally don't think about?

I think this is like 5 questions....

I've always followed the "business" of Third Day very closely. That's the part of hip-hop music that I like. In that genre, it's cool to be a good businessman. In Christian music, you're supposed to not care. That has never worked for me. I think a lot about the parable of the talents, and I see Third Day as a precious gift to which I am accountable to be a good steward. I see a lot of musicians who get to the place where their career is something that is happening to them rather than something they're doing. I've always looked at what I do with Third Day as a "get to" rather than a "have to." I stay involved daily with all the people that are part of the Third Day team. These people are not my enemy. They are people that are giving a big chunk of their lives to increase the sphere of Third Day's influence. I wrote a big section in Nigel's book, Lessons from the Road, about this very thing.

So, specifically, I get reports weekly on album sales, radio chart positions, and upcoming ticket counts. I also get monthly or bi-monthly reports or website traffic. But, I'm also checking our blogs and message boards daily for concerns, and seeing how I can address them. Usually, we don't have to do a lot with that information because someone else is already doing their job. Numbers often just serve as a humbling reminder of how many people hear our music. (Our original goal for this band was to be as big as the Prayer Chain who had sold 40,000 records!) Sometimes, these numbers are an indicator that a song or project or tour might be missing the mark a bit with fans. Sometimes it tells us we need to pick up the phone and call someone to see what the band can do to get a song/record/tour to maximize its potential.

I see a lot of what I do in the band and for the band as a support role. Mac is our front man, and I don't want his job. We witnessed that tremendously on our USO tour. For every soldier in the field, there are probably 14 people directly working to make sure that that soldier has the tools and information he/she needs. I think it is definitely one of our strengths as a band. No one of us could really give Third Day all the business, spiritual, and creative attention that it needs. So, we all maximize our individual gifts to serve the larger mission. Even on stage, as a bass player, the metaphor holds true. I try to provide a musical foundation for the melody to soar on top of.

I don't get all that bummed about Conspiracy No. 5 because I try to look at the "Third Day" business or even the "music" business as something larger than the conventional music business. For so long, the only gauge of success that people looked at was just album sales. But, going into the future, every way that a band connects with people has value and needs to be considered. Touring numbers, song placements, merchandise sales, website traffic, ringtones, etc. Conspiracy No. 5 does stand out as our least selling project. But, it gave us My Hope is You which was a great moment Live on the Offerings project and had a great placement in the Movie Joshua which people still discover every week. We probably doubled our live touring base working that record and by the end of that season we were a better band and were ready to make "Time" which has been one of our most successful projects on all fronts. It is so many fans' favorite record that are only wish is that we could maybe re-mix it and re-release it with it sounding better. Who I Am took a big jump to this century when we re-mixed it for Chronology.

My immediate goal for Revelation would be for it to be a platinum record. That's a million sales. I think WYA reached 750,000. I find that in life and business, you HAVE to set goals that are a little bit beyond what seems easily obtainable. Will we do it? I don't know. But, our whole team is ready to work like never before, including the band.

Comments

[Wendy]

I love these comments. Oh and I bought at least 10 Conspiracy No. 5 (everyone gets a Third Day cd for Christmas so guess what will be on the list this year?? ;))

And Time is still my favorite (Revelation is giving it some competition now though).

I love how you explain that it does matter and should matter.
" In Christian music, you're supposed to not care. That has never worked for me."
I'm glad it hasn't worked for you and that you aren't ashamed to tell us.