What Type of Services Does Incubator Provide?

Incubator's ministry development services are not available to the general public. For clients selected through the Application Process (or members of Incubator's invitation-only Music Ministry Accelerator ™, Incubator provides a full range of services and resources to assist the early stage music ministry to grow to the thriving level. The selection and application of services and resources is coordinated through Incubator's management advice in order to maximize the benefit of each service and to seamlessly integrate them for each artist. Although the Incubator model is firmly rooted in proven systems and methods to reduce the 'wheel reinvention process', services and resources are custom tailored to the personality and unique circumstances of an individual artist. Many of Incubator's services and resources are encapsulated in proprietary ministry and business 'systems' that have been refined and proven effective from years of research and/or company experience. Incubator emphasizes an 'integrated' approach to services rather than 'a la carte'. The Incubator catalog of services is an ever-growing and constantly improving collection of thousands of items. Below is an overview of the general categories with a partial list of service systems provided to qualified Incubator clients.

Ministry Management Systems.  Incubator emphasizes a fundamental focus on management. Rather than a traditional music business approach to management, Incubator provides enlightened small business perspective that addresses the unique needs of the emerging and early stage artist.  This provides the necessary objectivity and accountability early stage ministries need to identify problems and challenges, invent solutions, and innovate procedures to stay on track. The scope of management resources begins with basics like evaluation, critique, honest feedback and extends to mentoring, accountability, and general artist development. Management services are rendered through print, audio, video, interactive formats, live and telephone consultations, proprietary ministry management software, and group and private sessions. Major objectives include the clear definition of a ministry purpose/mission, identifying core elements that create marketplace demand, goal setting and planning, career and full-time ministry considerations, and developing resilience to adapt to business changes. Proprietary systems like Artist Development Boot Camp, Finding Your Five Voices™,  Action Labs,  and custom reporting systems integrate into a comprehensive management system uniquely tailored to the early stage music ministry.

Booking System.  Incubator’s proprietary HATCH! Booking System provides nuts and bolts tools for the establishment of a refined booking and marketing system for the artist.  Training includes marketing fundamentals, business acumen, and applications tailored to the individual artist.  A company contact database (25,000+) is augmented by the organic connections made through the network of Incubator artists across the globe. Honorarium/Fee structure guidelines, Artist Subsidy Funds, and  Incubator’s proprietary 4-Way Accountability system offer help in some of the touchiest areas faced by the early stage Christian musician.

Financial Systems.  One of the biggest challenges to the early stage music ministry is developing a sustainable financial base to support a growing enterprise.  Incubator’s Five-Fold Funding™ system presents multiple income streams for the artist’s enterprise. The first funding stream typically puts an early stage music ministry into a positive cash flow position within 90 days of contract signing with Incubator.  Also addressed in the Incubator program are overall enterprise capitalization, bookkeeping, tax planning and development of an appropriate business model for sustainability. Incubator's proprietary Ministry Entrepreneur System ™ offers a unique environment that carefully balances the heart of ministry with practical business underpinnings.

Stage Performance Systems.  A proprietary “Seven Stages of Stage Performance” system builds the artist's stage program from the ground up.  Founded in the unique life-story and musical stylins of the artist, the system includes full stage performance coaching, building infrastructure, selection of repertoire, public image, communication and humor styles, call to actions, stage movement, zoning, and blocking.  The seventh stage of development includes an intense Performance Camp experience that applies the final touches and lays the groundwork for expanding the program into other ministry expressions beyond the concert stage.

Administration Systems. Incubator provides a number of practical administrative systems and resources.  An online virtual office space for each client facilitates communication and interaction with Incubator. Together with the online office, a proprietary off-line software system provides music business administration modules to assist the artist in the day-to-day operation of their enterprise.  Other administration services include the Incubator Web Secretary, Incubator Office Hours system, website construction and maintenance, domain name registration/renewals and web hosting.

Promotions/Marketing Systems.  Incubator clients are served with marketing support for press and promotional materials, posters, print productions, websites, photography, video productions, and other materials. A range of marketing services provides innovations, strategies, and implementation help to artists for building and maintaining a strong niche market for their music ministry. A Routine Marketing System (RMS) is developed and constantly upgraded for each Incubator artist. The RMS provides a clear daily/weekly plan for spending time on the critical activities that produce revenues and create a ministry that can be sustained for decades rather than just months or years.

Recording Systems.  As an artist’s ministry begins to flourish, Incubator develops recording projects suited to the size and scope of the artist’s performance activity. Incubator labels work on the premise of ‘market definition recordings’ that are sensibly planned in relation to the development of the artist’s actual marketplace and business growth.  Production services include arranging, pre-production, mixing, complete product development, digital distribution, and marketing systems custom designed for the artist and their marketplace. A large emphasis of the Production Division of Incubator is the development of an artist’s unique signature sound through recordings that showcase their vocal strengths. In addition, vocal coaching under the guidance of Juilliard trained, Dr. L. Scott Martin both in-advance of and in-studio help an artist build strong vocal production skills. Incubator’s objective feedback is a valuable resource to the early stage artist providing an honest and much needed sounding board for creative development and growth. Funding for recording projects is typically advanced by Incubator and recouped through product sales.

Songwriting Systems. Another strong emphasis of Incubator is nurturing the development of solid songwriting skills in its artists. Songwriting education, coaching, critique, and collaboration are hallmarks of the Incubator program.  The proprietary Songbabies ™ Songwriting System helps to jump-start the writing process for beginning and early stage songwriters.  More experienced writers benefit from pointed critiques and ongoing education in the craft of songwriting. Incubator’s publishing division provides an in-house music-publishing arm for Incubator and serves to connect non-writers with material. Incubator's goal is to insure that its artist either write or have material written for them that expresses the unique mission statement themes of the artist. 

Product Development Systems.  A central aspect of Incubator’s ministry development model is the concept of Multiple Ministry Expressions (MME). Once an accurate mission foundation is established, a variety of methods can be utilized to express the core mission. This opens avenues to create services and products for an artist’s ministry that extend beyond just the concert stage/albums. Product Development Systems provide support to conceptualize, invent, develop and release these ministry expressions (recorded and print items, seminars, workshops, online delivery systems, etc).  Incubator services assist the artist to create “back of the room” products for sale at live events and through the niche marketing systems established for each artist. Additionally, extensive support is provided to artists through the Ministry Entrepreneur System ™ to create a catalog of ministry content items to serve their growing niche audience.