Last week, Crossroads announced a re-launch of their website. Here’s the press release:
Crossroads Entertainment & Marketing has just launched a new web site and online store featuring thousands of Southern Gospel and Bluegrass songs and accompaniment tracks, available both as physical CD’s and digital downloads. Besides serving traditional CBA and secular retailers, Crossroads can now serve the needs of individual customers buying from the comfort of their own homes. The new site and store are the result of months of planning and implementation by Crossroads, one of Southern Gospel’s leading marketing companies. The website includes information about recording, track leasing, radio, labels and artists, and publishing, as well as the store. Crossroads serves as the record label to many of today’s leading Southern Gospel and Bluegrass artists as well as the distribution arm for several independent groups and partnering labels.
Crossroads executive Mickey Gamble and Sr. V.P. of Sales and Marketing, Scott Wagner have worked closely with programmers and designers to create a site that is visually inviting and simple to use. The digital download function of the store features the ability to purchase as full album releases or individual songs, and Singing News soundtracks as individual tracks. According to Gamble, “This is a first in the industry. Soundtrack users can listen to and purchase exactly the version and key they want for only $1.99, rather than having to buy the whole set at a much higher cost.”
According to Wagner, “The site is an evolving process that will constantly be updated with information and an ever expanding music library. Our goal to have a dynamic site so that people will visit often to see what’s new with our community and artists and, also, to know they can have an easy and secure shopping experience.”
“This is the beginning of a new era for Crossroads”, states Crossroads executive Chris White, “For the officers of the company, Mickey Gamble, Jeff and Vickie Collins, myself and all of our staff, this is something that makes us feel like we can finally service the world with our artists and our products, and in a matter of minutes. As we move from the world we’ve always known in our daily business, to the new world of technology, having these new pieces in our business ‘tool box’, will keep us and our music growing.”
Over the next few weeks and months, it is the company’s intention to make the online store Southern Gospel’s one-stop shopping for digital distribution, allowing other companies and independent artists the opportunity to present their products as digital downloads to a world wide market. In the August issue of the Singing News Magazine, Kenneth Kirksey will feature an article discussing how downloading music is becoming a standard in today’s world of purchasing products. The article will focus on the ease and safety of internet buying. To visit the new Crossroads site and store, simply log onto www.crossroadsmusic.com.
Enough labels and groups have started making downloads of current product available that making current releases available for download is nothing new. The news here is in their intent to eventually upload not only their own back catalog, but the back catalogs of other artists (table projects) and even labels. That’s a vision I’ve been hoping someone would catch for several years, and I’m glad to see Crossroads getting the idea and working to implement it.
