Transcript This Business of Music

THIS BUSINESS OF MUSIC
Navigating the Catholic Church Music Industry in the United States and how
best to utilize these resources
THE BIG 3
Oregon Catholic Press (OCP)
Gregorian Institute of America (GIA)
World Library Publications (WLP)
OCP
Began in 1922 as the Catholic Truth
Society of Oregon.
The original purpose was to provide
information to Catholics and nonCatholics alike about the Church’s
educational and charitable activities
as one method to combat the
rampant activities of the Ku Klux Klan.
1934 saw the first printing of My
Sunday Missal, an English translation of
the Latin mass so people could more
easily follow. Converted to Today’s
Missal in 1971 as a response to the
liturgical reforms of the 2nd Vatican
Council.
 The latter years of the 20th Century saw
OCP become a leader in Catholic
Church music publication, including
resources for the growing Hispanic and
Vietnamese/Tagalog communities in the
United States.
 Large selection of annual subscription
missals (6) and hymnals (7) that cover a
wide range of genres and languages.
 Additional supplements for chant, psalms,
and other support materials (CD
recordings, covers, etc.)
OCP Pros and Cons
 One-stop shopping
 Many options
 Quick updates to any liturgical
changes
 New compositions
 Multi-lingual resources
 Annual fees for mostly the same
music
 Environmental concerns
 “Watered down” theology in
some songs
 Much of the Spanish music
embraces liberation theology
GIA
Founded in 1941 as the Gregorian
Institute of America.
Headquartered in Chicago (originally
in Pittsburgh).
Rapid growth beginning in 1967 as a
result of the reforms of the 2nd Vatican
Council.
Offers resources for other
denominations.
Large portion of the company is
moving towards music education
resources for schools. Sioux City
Community Schools now utilizes GIA’s
curriculum.
 Uses the hard-bound hymnal model (no
yearly subscription for music).
 Offers annual missal for Sunday readings
and daily mass propers
 Hymnals are geared mainly towards
English-speaking congregations, with 1 bilingual (English/Spanish) hymnal and 1
hymnal for predominantly AfricanAmerican communities.
 Some of GIA’s hymnals are available in
Braille.
 LARGE selection of choral repertoire
categorized in various collections.
 Multiple collections of psalms for Sunday
masses
 Primary publisher of Taizé and Iona
community’s music.
GIA Pros and Cons
 One stop shopping
 Large initial investment
 No quarterly or annual throwing
away of music
 Locked into this resource for
several years
 Printed on quality paper in a
durable hard-bound binding
 Some theological problems in the
musical texts
 Attractive
 Readings are included (if you
want) but make the hymnal a bit
heavy.
 Single, familiar resource helps to
build familiarity with
congregation, thus (hopefully)
better singing.
 Somewhat limited bi-lingual
resources.
WLP
A division of the J. S. Paluch
Company, headquartered in the
Chicago, IL area.
Founded in 1950 by Omer Westendorf
Prints a wide variety of Missals and
hymnals
 Prints/publishes 43 missalettes or hardbound hymnals
 English or Spanish missals, with 1 bi-lingual.
 2 hardbound hymnals
 Pros and Cons are the same as OCP or
GIA
OTHER RESOURCES
 Liturgical Publications, Inc. – Collegeville, MN – associated with St. John’s
Abbey
 Adoremus Hymnal – Ignatius Press
 St. Michael Hymnal – St. Boniface Parish, Lafayette, IN
 Corpus Christi Watershed – online resource containing psalms and gospel
acclamations, some mass settings, a hard-bound hymnal, and a treasuretrove of Latin mass resources
 There are others too.
Budgets
The Church’s Liturgy is the center of
the whole Christian life for the Church
both universal and local, as well as for
each of the faithful individually.
(GIRM, 16.)
How does each local church’s budget
reflect this?
Is there a music budget in your
church?
How are musicians compensated (if at
all)?
If musicians are paid, are they
considered employees or
independent contractors?
Is the bulk of your parish’s music budget going
towards disposable missals? Let’s do the math!
OCP’s Breaking Bread
$17.26 per copy x 300 copies = $5,268
Approx. $300 for shipping
Supplements - $200 (psalms, keyboard
editions).
Total: $5, 768.00 x 10 years = $57,680
St. Michael Hymnal – $15.25 x 300 copies =
$4575.00
Approx. $300 for shipping
Supplemental $200
Total: $5, 075 – one time fee
Parishioners will donate a hymnal in memory of
a loved one, making the total amount even
less (usually by ½).
Copyright Issues
If you copy and paste anything into a worship aid for any service, then you must receive
permission from the publisher it must be reported to the publisher.
Legal Obligation
 Each copyrighted text or piece of
music must be reported.
 Failing to do so can result in fines
to the church.
 Copyright notice must be placed
in the worship aid per the
publishers requirements (usually
listed on their website).
 Either a one-time print license or
an annual re-print license will
need to be purchased
Moral Obligation
 Failing to report deprives the
composer, author, or publisher just
compensation for their creations
and hard work.
 It’s the same as stealing.
INSTRUMENT MAINTENANCE
 Churches need to plan (and budget) on having their instruments
maintained on a regular basis
 Pipe organ tuning and repair can cost anywhere between $600-$1200 for a
routine visit, more if additional work is to be done.
 Plan on a major overhaul of pipe organs every 35-50 years, depending on quality
of builder and environmental conditions.
 Seek an outside consultant before accepting any bids.
 Piano tuning should be done at least twice per year at a cost of $100 per
visit.
 Electric organs/keyboards should have a visit from the maintenance person
at least once per year.
Remember, it’s about ministry
 Pray regularly and often.
 Ask the church to fund your participation in at least one church music
related conference or convention per year.
 Look for opportunities to be a team player with your clergy and parish staff
and volunteers.
 You’re never going to please everyone, but that doesn’t mean you have to
be unpleasant.
 Practice, practice, practice.