About 101Faith

Our Mission: To be the ultimate online platform for faith-based music.

Our Vision: That the world of positive, faith-based music grows and thrives as an inspired art form, reaching all people with an ever encouraging message.

101Faith is all about positive, faith-based music - its creation, its distribution, its enjoyment. We're a comprehensive, diverse platform for faith-based artists, consumers, labels, and ministries. We understand the power of faith-based music to affect people's lives and the world for good. It is our undying commitment to perpetuate the creation and dissemination of this inspired art form. 101Faith is where faith-based artists, independent or signed, of ALL genres post and sell their music, videos, and merchandise; where consumers come to explore new music, and listen to and purchase their favorite albums and tracks; and 101Faith is where ministries support their own artists and the world of faith-based music while networking with other music producing ministries.

In simple terms 101Faith.com is a faith-based music portal. Consumers browse, buy, and coming soon, create playlists and stream music from 101Faith.com. Music artists go to our "For Artists" page and create an account where they upload their projects (LPs, EPs, & singles). 101Faith then posts the artist's work on the 101Faith.com website as well as distributing the artist's work to third party retailers like iTunes and Amazon. What's great for the artist is that they keep 100% of the net sales royalties. What's even better, is that consumer purchases made from the 101Faith.com website allow the artist to keep 100% of the retail sales price of their content, no cut paid to third party retailers. And it really adds up. Artists get fairly compensated for selling the music they worked so hard to create.

For ministries, 101Faith.com is where they support their own artists, and all faith-based content creators by getting behind them and their creation of faith-based music. Ministries empower artists and perpetuate clean, positive, message-focused music through their membership at 101Faith. We encourage all faith-based organizations to support at least one artist among them, and we provide ministries with the tools they need to support their artists. From our "For Ministries" page, they set up an account and become an instant member of the 101Faith Ministry Members Network and an active participant in supporting faith-based music. The Network is a national and local association of ministry members who are actively producing music content and provides members access to webinars by 101Faith executives and industry insiders, and local cells of ministry members that meet regularly for peer support on projects they're producing.

For more on 101Faith.com and what we are to the changing face of the music business read on...

101Faith.com is the ministry division of 101 Distribution, an established Phoenix, Arizona-based company. Starting in 1998 as an artist consulting group, 101Distribution has grown into a full-service solution now used to manage the digital, mobile, retail, and mail order sales for thousands of actively selling titles. It's an innovative platform, where artists simply pay a flat fee to centralize and manage all aspects of their digital and physical sales. With 101, artists receive 100% of all net retail, mail order, download, mobile and merchandise sales. We estimate that within the first 90 days of signing with 101 on a Pro account, 60% of all artists see a complete return of their investment.

101Faith is a blueprint for artists and labels navigating a declining economy and fragmented marketplace. We're pulling together all genres of faith-based music in one place, a place where artists and consumers alike meet to share their passion for faith-based music in a safe, positive, encouraging environment. Along with music, 101Faith leverages its proprietary mobile platform to make selling and promoting ringtones,merchandise, mobile downloads and video user friendly. 101's all-encompassing artist and label services help to bolster our reputation as the ultimate online platform for faith-based music and the first place serious musicians and labels come to sell music. Through our parent company, 101Distribution, we maintain a perfect A+ rating with the BBB.

STAY INDEPENDENT.

We are not opposed to the valuable services offered by and the opportunities that exist for artists with record labels, from majors to niche players. However, there are labels and distributors that do not operate above board and do not offer fair and balanced deals to artists. Many traditional major label recording contracts best illustrate how even the most well-known and commercially successful music artists can lose complete control of music licensing, copyright ownership, and ultimately ALL the profit generated from the sale of the music they produce. We say this as a caution for any artist seeking to get "signed" to a "record deal". The 'artist advance' and other creative accounting practices that define the endless cycle of Recoupable Expenses allow unscrupulous labels  to pocket upwards of 90% of the royalties generated from their artist rosters. While production, marketing and promotion costs are understandably considered recoupable expenses, these functions are normally performed by salaried employees, retained consultants, or interns and are typically billed back against artist earnings at 100% above actual cost. Most breaking/new artists make less than $.75 per album sold in retail (In many cases artists are not paid for digital song or album downloads). This is also the rate at which artist advances, production, marketing and promotion costs are recouped. We encourage all artists to read Donald Passman's book "All You Need To Know About The Music Business." And any artist considering a record deal should seek experienced, independent legal counsel and have a complete accounting evaluation of the proposed agreements prior to signing any contract. The Future of Music Coalition (www.futureofmusic.org) provides a more detailed overview of major-label artist agreements.

In many respects this is the age of the independent artist. The ability to produce high quality product has never been easier. Artists and indie labels have within their grasps the means to do for themselves many of the tasks major labels used to do. It's about creation, production, distribution, marketing, promotion, and ultimately sales. Of course major labels and distributors provide these services on a grand scale for artists they select and should be compensated fairly for the services they provide. When artists partner with majors for 360 or similar deals, the agreements should be balanced and fair. For us at 101Faith it's our desire to see independent and signed artists thriving so that the creative fires stay lit, and great music continues to flow from those individuals so blessed with the talents to produce it.

Below is an example of a record deal that's not so good for the artist.

A Simple Explanation:

Let's say that major label X signs New Band Y to a three-album recording contract that includes a $300,000 advance for production and promotion on the first release.

1. -	Band Y signs away all ownership rights into perpetuity and agrees to receive $0.75 per unit sold in retail for the first release- the terms of releases 2 and 3 are contingent upon the success of the first album.
2. -	Before the first studio session is even booked, Band Y must sell 400,000 copies in order to recoup the initial $300,000 'label investment' (400,000 x $0.75 per unit=$300,000).
3. -	After recording, mixing and mastering is complete, 2,000 promotional copies are manufactured by Label X for handouts, PR and radio giveaways. This additional expense is also charged back to Band Y at wholesale cost (not production cost) which is the price retail stores pay for the product they sell to consumers. In this example, we'll value the promotional pieces at a wholesale cost of $8. Band Y must now sell an additional 21,333 units at the rate of $0.75 to recoup the $16,000 invested by Label X for promotional units. At this point, Band Y must now sell a total of 421,333 albums to repay Label X $316,000, or the cost to break even.
4. -	Let's now factor in the costs for management (also assigned by Label X) and legal counsel. Normally a manager will take a percentage of the initial advance and a standard 10% commission on all gross revenue generated from sales and performances. Though Band Y will make no tangible profit from the 421,333 units sold that will repay the investment from Label X, these sales will still be qualified as gross revenue. So, if 421,333 is breaking even for Label X, 10% of the $316,000 or $31,600 is owed to the manager. Not including legal fees (which could fall in the range of $15,000 to $30,000) an additional 42,133 units must now be sold just to cover the costs of management ($.75 x 42, 133= $31, 599.75). In total, Band Y must sell the equivalent of 463,466 to fulfill all of its contractual obligations.

What's the real irony in all of this? About the time Band Y breaks even and is in position to make a $.75 profit from each unit sold, Label X shifts its promotional focus on the next new artist. Band Y becomes a soon-to-be forgotten one hit wonder.

In Summary:

421,333 units sold= $3,370,664 for Label X

42,133 units sold= $31,600 for Management

Legal Fees= $15,000

463,466 total units sold= $0 for Band Y