Who Buys Inspirational Music?

Or…
What Kind of people Are Inspirational Music Lovers and Consequently Buyers?

The potential customers of Inspirational music line up by the millions. First, let’s remember that Inspirational music is entirely trans-denominational – it attracts people from all religious denominations. And this attraction is world-wide.

Of course there is the Christian music market. The Christian book market is estimated to be worth more than $4 billion. The Christian music market has become an industry powerhouse, selling 43 million albums in the United States as long ago as 2004.

As a whole, the Christian video game industry is only expected to grow… and fast. In fact, estimates are that the video games market could be worth more than $55 billion by 2008 from the $22 billion reported in 2003. Wal-Mart, for one, is smart enough to know from selling about 550 Christian music titles and more than 1,200 Christian-themed books.

Beyond the Christian market lies a fascinating unclaimed market. We like to call that the Spiritual, But Not Religious market. These are people who may not go to church or, in fact sometimes do attend church sporadically.

They are seekers of spirituality who might go to their Methodist church, but also watch Wayne Dyer on television, have taken part in the amazing Oprah Winfrey/Eckardt Towle “A New Earth” internet explosion or might read Deepak Chopra. This market is 20% of America.

They are people who are not following a religious tradition per se, but are seeking beyond the boundaries of any one particular religion. They are people who think for themselves and are working out their sense of spirituality individually.

This market is on the rise at a time when people the world over need to turn to a higher power to find their way through the problems of this world. We clearly need an end to the financial crisis in the world. President Obama and other world leaders are doing their human best to balance the world’s economy, but the real answer here lies in this higher power.

At this time what the world needs now is a little (or a lot) of Inspiration. What lifts our lives daily? What brings the message of new hope? What better elixir than Inspirational music?

~ Peter Link

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For more inspiring music you can download
and information about Peter Link, please visit Watchfire Music.

What Is Inspirational Music?

What is Inspirational Music?

To inspire is “…to breathe life into”. To lift thought higher. To fill with hope. Inspirational music is just that. The genre of the music doesn’t matter – it can be pop, country, jazz, R&B, gospel, heavy mental – whatever. The lyrics must be in some way uplifting.

A love song is an Inspirational song. “I woke up this morning and I feel good.” is an Inspirational lyric. It is inclusive; it is spiritually trans-denominational. All are included. Along the way it promises to brighten your life and enliven your soul. How? Simple, really. With great music.

We claim a new category. At a time in our world when fear is rampant and hope is down, the ability to inspire mankind seems to be of utmost necessity. And so we set out on this musical adventure with the goal to preach to none, but to include all in our endeavors.

What are the endeavors?

Inspirational music embraces all spiritual ideas but promotes no religious theology.

Inspirational music spans all cultures, religions and people. It believes that all people have inside of themselves truth, life, love, spirit, soul.And so it serves all mankind.

Inspirational music has no doctrine to preach, no mission to fulfill except to offer positive value in the music and lyrics.

It is its mission only to be a gathering of light.

Inspirational books are a clearly defined category. We all know what Inspirational books are. Books that inspire. Well, Inspirational music is the same. It is music that inspires us – to reach greater heights, to be a better person, to love mankind, to carry on.

Where is God in all this? Where He or She or It always was and is — right smack in the middle, at the circumference… and everywhere in between. If you don’t believe in God, or if you don’t believe in your old definition of God, Inspirational music is there to help you find your peace when you are at war, help you be a better individual on the planet, or help you find a new and better definition. If you do believe in God, Inspirational music is there to do the same as above.

We say that Inspirational music is a new category and yet it’s really as old as music itself. It is the cave man beating on the stretched skin of an animal. It is the synthesist programming Spectrasonics Omnisphere. It is an old man on a curb, whiskey voice and gutbucket guitar, howling at the moon. It is the Beatles changing the world. It is Bach, Beethoven and Brahms. It is Frank Zappa. It is A Chorus Line. It is Puccini’s Madam Butterfly.

Inspirational music, if done right, should speak to all of us – or one of us. Ultimately it reconnects with its derivation. That is, it breathes life into people no mater what their religion, their culture, their tradition. It wakes you up, it calms you down, it lightens your life, it deepens your thought.

Inspirational music inspires.

On Fame

“I always thought I should be treated like a star.” - Madonna

“Fame is fickle and I know it. It has its compensations, but it also has its drawbacks and I’ve experienced them both.” - Marilyn Monroe

“Now there is fame! Of all — hunger, misery, the incomprehension by the public — fame is by far the worst. It is the castigation of God by the artist. It is sad. It is true.” - Pablo Picasso

If you fail to succeed in any case, it is because you have not demonstrated the life of Christ, Truth, more in your own life…” - Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health

I find it interesting to note that Mrs. Eddy says nothing here about money, glory, good reviews, or fame. I personally have experienced all four of the latter, and I can’t say as I have gotten much of anything out of the four. The money, I spent — the glory, only served to confuse my ego — the good reviews, no matter how good, were never good enough, — and the fame — well, let’s just say, “it was all a bit on the hollow side.” in fact, let me tell you my favorite story about fame.

In the early part of my career I was working in New York as an actor– performing the lead role in “Hair” on Broadway at night and doing a leading role on CBS’s “As The World Turns”, better known as “As The Stomach Turns” during the day. I received several hundred fan letters a week, was on the Johnny Carson show and the Ed Sullivan show, was recognized constantly in the streets and generally badgered and harangued whenever I went out of my apartment for autographs and interviews with the media.

“Hair”, at the time, was the hottest production on the planet and just across 47th street Dustin Hoffman was starring in “Jimmy Shine” having just leaped to stardom in the hit movie, “The Graduate”. They cordoned off 47th street every night to cars because the street would fill with fans of both “Hair” and Dustin.

So every night after the show I would take a deep breath at the backstage door, then as the doorman opened the door to let me out, I would run pell mell through the hysterical screaming mob of teenage girls while they, for some reason, would try to grab me and tear the clothes off my back. Because I was also known from television, the decibels would rise higher as I scrambled through the crowd. Then I would out-run those frenzied females a half a block down 47th Street towards 8th Avenue as they chased me down the street.

8th Avenue was an entirely different story. It was just another New York street. The mob would not turn the corner; they would not leave the lights of Broadway. And so I would run around the corner, stop, and stand and wait for the bus…

To me, that ’s fame. I believe it was Andy Warhol who said, “in the age of television, everybody would get to be famous for 15 minutes.” For me, it was a half a block.

“Fame is proof that the people are gullible.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

“A celebrity is a person who works hard all his life to become well known, then wears dark glasses to avoid being recognized.” - Fred Allen

The Sneeze

March 16th, 2009

Perhaps you’ve heard or read this story as it was passed around. It’s worth repeating.

They walked in tandem, each of the ninety-two students filing into the already crowded auditorium. With their rich maroon gowns flowing and the traditional caps, they looked almost as grown up as they felt.

Dads swallowed hard behind broad smiles, and Moms freely brushed away tears.

This class would NOT pray during the commencements — not by choice, but because of a recent court ruling prohibiting it.

The principal and several students were careful to stay within the guidelines allowed by the ruling. They gave inspirational and challenging speeches, but no one mentioned divine guidance and no one asked for blessings on the graduates or their families.

The speeches were nice, but they were routine… until the final speech received a standing ovation.

A solitary student walked proudly to the microphone. He stood still and silent for just a moment, and then, it happened. All 92 students, every single one of them, suddenly SNEEZED!

The student on stage simply looked at the audience and said, “God bless you, each and every one of you!” And he walked off stage.

The audience exploded into applause. This graduating class had found a unique way to invoke God’s blessing on their future with or without the court’s approval.

This is a true story; it happened at the University of Maryland.

I Am Free

I was given an assignment (and paid well, I might add) to write a song about being free. When I heard the title assigned to the task by the client, I secretly groaned in disappointment. “This song has already been written a thousand times”, I said to myself. But I took the money and ran with it.

I put off starting the song for days. The clichés coursing through my brain were deadly to the creative process. Finally, with little time left, I reluctantly began the process.

I thought, “Well, what’s the biggest cliché in song?” The answer: “I love you.” And yet those three little words make up one of the world’s most cherished utterances. So what makes a cliché a cliché? No real content, no true meaning, no real stuff behind the words, in short, no truth.

I turned to the fertile ground of imagination. I pulled from the memory of a powerful healing I had as a child. I literally lay on the floor of my studio in the dark and reconstructed this childhood miracle perpetuated by my mother’s healing thought and God’s infinite grace. I re-lived the emotions and grandeur of the experience in my imagination. Moments later I was no longer afraid of the creative experience. I got up and wrote this song.

By the way, Jenny Burton adds to the mix and brings total magic and originality to the vocal on the CD.

I wept last week as the song was sung at a dear friend’s memorial. She requested it before she passed away. Her passing gave a newly layered meaning of depth to the song.

Feelin’ like a river
Rollin’ through this valley of life
Free like a river
A river that’s rollin’ on
On and on
I’m free

Now I wake up in the morning
The suffering is gone from my life
And I am free from the burden
The burden that I had carried
All of those years gone by

Now where there once was pain
There the peace will reign
Now where there once was fear
Hope is not in vain

Because of You
I’m free
Because of the work you’ve done
Because of the battles won
I’m free
Free now to live in my life
The way I choose in my life
Like the west wind blows
As the river flows
The way it was meant to be

For I have been released
And I have been regained
And I am now at peace
I am free

Now where there once was rain
The sun shines down on me

Yes I have been released
And I have been regained
And I am now at peace
I am free
I am free
I am free!!!

You can find a recording of this song on two different CDs: Peter Link’s “Mindfire” and “The Jenny Burton Experience” both on watchfiremusic.com.

Insight

March 10th, 2009

I like to think of a blog as a modern day soapbox. For some of you, the term “soapbox” may be so archaic as to be unheard of.

Wikipedia to the rescue:

“The term originates from when speakers would stand on a wooden box meant for holding soap. The term is also used metaphorically to describe a person engaging in often flamboyant impromptu or unofficial public speaking, as in the phrases “He’s on his soapbox”, or “Get off your soapbox.”

Well. I’ve been dabbling in this modern form of “soapboxing” for about a year now. It is, of course, a social phenomenon that has gratefully taken an amazing hold on the public consciousness. Probably some form of grass roots negative reaction to today’s politicians. Except, whereas the old form of soapboxing was mostly political, today’s blog can be just about anything that’s on your mind. All made possible by this amazing invention called the internet.

What’s on my mind these days is Inspiration - all things inspirational. And I’ve now decided, mostly because of the urging of others and the state of our world, to try to get up here on this soapbox every day and establish a real consistency. It’s my promise to you.

There’s one real positive difference between blogging and soapboxing: You’re invited to bring your own soap box to the party. You’re invited to respond. Without you feeding back, it’s just me out here yakkin’.

So get on your soapbox. Join the fun.