In a report first published by EurWeb, we learned that Radio One has made the decision to take all Matthew Knowles related songs off the air.
Radio One is the largest distributor of Gospel music that broadcasts FM quality radio signals.
Radio One founder Cathy Hughes reportedly made the decision because of a on-going lawsuit associated with the Essence Music Festival.
Matthew Knowles chooses to take the high road in regards to his feelings on Cathy Hughes and Radio One, even going as far to say that “She’s a friend.”
Knowles will try to turn the ban into a positive by focusing on the AM stations he feels are overlooked in Gospel music.
“We didn’t as a company, we didn’t focus as much. And that was a mistake on our part as a label,” Knowles explained to EUR’s Lee Bailey. “It’s allowed us to give our focus to the entire radio community fully rather than just putting a lot of eggs in one basket. Not that we overlooked the other ones. We never would overlook them. It’s just that we didn’t focus as much as we should and we didn’t build those relationships as strongly as we should.”
“It’s an opportunity for us. In the 20 years, we’ve always thought outside the box and it’s been real successful for us,” he continued. “I’m so happy to be able to understand AM radio better and continue to build relationships with all gospel stations. So it’s been an opportunity for us.”
An anonymous Radio One employee shed light on the extent of the radio ban saying, “All Radio One personnel were told to pull all Music World artists out of rotation immediately and indefinitely! We were told that the mandate came straight from Ms. Hughes and that there would be ramifications for anyone playing or mentioning a Music World artist or song on air.” The Radio One employee spoke under the condition of anonymity.
The ban impacts some of the most successful Gospel artists that are under Knowles’ Music World Gospel imprint. Currently Music World Gospel boasts a roster that includes Trin-i-Tee 5:7, Brian Courtney Wilson, Juanita Bynum, Le’Andria Johnson, Micah Stampley, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, and Sunday Best winner Amber Bullock.
Additionally, all songs from Destiny’s Child have also been pulled. The ban does not include Knowles’ daughter Beyonce and Kelly Rowland’s latest solo albums since they were not under Matthew Knowles’ label at the time their music was released.
When asked about the ban, Mathew Knowles stated he doesn’t get into the “legal side of that.” “I leave that to attorneys to handle this part of it. I think for me and my 20 years in the music industry…whenever situations like this come, I look at them as opportunities, an opportunity that this has allowed for Music World Gospel to really understand better the landscape to build those relationships at radio with the other different affiliates, like Sheridan and Clear Channel and many others.”
“It’s allowed us to approach our business differently and it’s a great thing because the results have been overwhelming as we’ve approached our business differently instead of before,” he explained. “Ninety percent of all our artist radio promotions was done with Radio One. Now this allows us to view that whole landscape differently… We’ve done all of our promotions differently. We’ve done all of our advertising differently. So it’s bit of an opportunity.”
Knowles goes on to say, “I’ve been in gospel since 2002 with our first gold album. People just don’t know the history, unfortunately,” said Knowles, who confessed to Music World being totally focused on gospel and is proud to see his label still around in its 10th year in the gospel industry as the 5th largest gospel record label in America. “Our first number one was “The Fighting Temptations” soundtrack. Our second number one was 2003 Michelle Williams. People just don’t get the history. And I get that. We probably, at Music World, haven’t done a good enough job.”
It’s clear that Matthew Knowles plans to rise above the controversy, while refocusing his label and artists’ ministry.
“I’m happy to say I’m so proud for all the support we’re getting at Music World Gospel because our focus also is the ministry of the artist, and equally important, putting out great music.”
