The roots of Gospel music can be traced through several popular genres. And the direction of Gospel music, specifically, has steadily evolved over time. One person who can get a lot of credit for its modern revolution is Kirk Franklin.
Making his musical debut in 1993 with the album, “Kirk Franklin and The Family,” the Texas native has been blazing the charts and airwaves with faith-based hits meant to inspire those who encounter his music.
However, the acclaim of his first album did not yield the monetary returns that typically come with a successful project.
During an episode of Shannon Sharpe’s podcast “Club Shay Shay,” Franklin explained that the record deal he received for his first album left him without a percentage of the publishing revenue.
“My very first recording contract at 23 years old, the label I signed with, they took a hundred percent of my publishing,” Franklin shared. “The people that had represented me didn’t know; it was new for everyone.”
Franklin admitted that, initially, he didn’t know he needed an entertainment attorney. Additionally, during that time in Texas, the entertainment landscape wasn’t as robust as it is today, so many people were just dedicated to the art of making music and not adequately focused on the business decisions that needed to be made.
“The attorney that I had was probably like a real estate attorney,” Franklin said. “I didn’t really know who to reach out to. This was 1993. I’m living in Texas. It’s not an entertainment space.”
Added to the context of being new and uninformed, Franklin also noted that the Gospel music industry, overall, did not have any specific template for how business should be handled.
“That’s not the ecosystem that gospel music has always matriculated through,” he said. “And so we didn’t have a lot of professionals in our space to be able to try to gather information, and [the label] took a hundred percent of my publishing.”
While that was a significant lesson learned, Franklin has continued to create and produce music, and he is now receiving publishing from the initial deal 30 years later.
“I’m old enough now where [according to] a lot of the copyright laws, they [the publishing] revert back to me,” Franklin explained.
Further details about how or when those rights will revert back were not provided in the interview.
Lover of Culture. Curator of Motivation. Advocate for Equity.
Josh Rodgers is a writer and content creator originally from Memphis, TN. Along with AfroTech, Josh’s work can be seen on Blavity News, Travel Noire, Shadow & Act, and Buzzfeed. When he isn’t writing, he can be found on the mic as the co-host and founder of The Jigsaw Podcast – a platform dedicated to helping Black millennials attempt to navigate the craziest puzzle piece ever created, life.
