What exactly is a music ministry incubator?
These two concepts we hold to be self-evident...
#1. The gospel of Jesus Christ communicated through a contemporary Christian musician is life-giving stuff.
#2. The business world has long recognized the unique value of small business incubators that provide the nurturing environment a young enterprise needs in its early stages.
Combine the two and what do you get? Incubator Creative Group. Incubator is the Pacific Northwest-based company that has been turning heads for nearly three decades with its innovative approach to supporting the emerging artist. Incubator combines artist development, recording, booking, management, and more to provide a warm and nurturing environment for "hatching the good stuff" that God is birthing in the hearts of Christian musicians. Incubator is not just about making a recording. It's about "incubating" the ministry vision God has given you. (more...)
Developing “Profitable” Prophets…
Like the 1,600+ other business incubators across the world, Incubator exists to provide the unique nurturing an enterprise needs during the formative years (Incubator is the Christian music industry's only incubator organization). Incubator has researched countless music ministries in a search for methods and techniques that work...and those that don't. As a result, we have developed detailed ministry "systems" that have proven effective when applied by an artist with a solid work ethic. Our systems approach to launching and expanding a music ministry provides turnkey ministry and business models for eliminating most of the pitfalls of the new and emerging artist. Utilizing Incubator’s proprietary revenue systems, most Incubator contract artists are showing a positive cash flow in their music ministry business within 180 days of contract signing (Incubator 4.0) – and typically continue to do so throughout the artist development process and the expansion of the ministry/business. The Incubator network of support provides an invaluable grid-work to sustain the ongoing growth of an artist’s ministry through part-time or full-time activity. (more...)
Incubator Multiplies with Divisions…
And you thought there’d be no math!
Incubator Creative Group is so named because it is made up of a strategic grouping of music industry vehicles. These vehicles integrate together to form the nurturing environment we're famous for. Incubator's two record labels ( Incubator Records and Cheshire Records) provide innovative recording options for roster artists. Incubator Music (ASCAP) serves as the music publishing arm of Incubator. Wing It Publishing serves the literature/product publishing arm that extends roster artists ministry into print and other products. The Artist Relations Division of Incubator provides artist development, artist management and booking support for its roster of artists. In addition to a number of proprietary ministry/business systems like the Finding Your Five Voices™, The Patron Funding System™, Songbabies Songwriting System™, HATCH! Booking System ™, and The Online Ministry Office™, roster artists are also supported with in-house creative services including photography, graphic arts, copywriting, video and audio production. (more...)
A Lil’ Bit O’ History
Founder and current President, Nathan L. Sakany, a 35+ year veteran in the field of artist development, established Incubator in 1989. The company quickly grew from a locally focused Seattle record label to a nationally recognized development company by the early 90's. After years of operating corporate offices in the Seattle area and artist relations in Eugene, Oregon (Santa Clara) the company consolidated both divisions into a single campus at the turn of the millenium. Located just 15 minutes from the Mahlon Sweet Municipal Airport in Eugene, Incubator's new home is part of an exclusive retreat center in the foothills of the Oregon coastal range. The 90's brought growth and evolution as Incubator developed into a company attuned to the unique needs of the local church ministry-place and the needs of the emerging Christian music artist. Since most of the music industry is founded on the concept of promoting the artist as a "somebody", Incubator's early decision to build a company championing the cause of the "nobody" was risky at best. The new millennium brought a deeper level of refinement to Incubator’s focus and systems, capitalizing on the burgeoning opportunities in niche marketing and new Internet technologies. Tempered with 25+ years experience as a company and thousands who have benefited from Incubator’s innovative leadership, the company is deep into its third decade of operation. (more...)
Not Your Garden Variety Record Label
Incubator is not your garden variety Christian record company. We are different by design. Our unique focus on the emerging artist and our focus to the ministry platform of local churches can be misunderstood... especially when viewed through the lenses of conventional music industry glasses. From Incubator's choice of guiding philosophy to its intentional location outside of the mainstream influences of Christian music's Nashville power center, Incubator is consistently unconventional. The pioneering spirit is still alive in the Pacific Northwest, and it infiltrates to the core of Incubator. Although much of the structure of the music industry is integrated into the network of Incubator, it is applied very differently and specifically in order to meet the real world needs of the emerging Christian artist Incubator serves. The company advances full funding for recording projects (with industry standard recoupment terms) on the flagship Incubator label and provides innovative partnership financing on other recording adventures. Although some Incubator products are available through retail outlets, the majority of our recordings and products are available and sold through exclusive direct distribution. Our marketing paradigm places a large emphasis on supporting the individual performance activity of roster artists (and their other unique ministry expressions).
