Sojourn Signs Record Deal For “Over The Grave”!

Sojourn Worship & Arts Pastor Mike Cosper announces our new record deal:

A few weeks ago, we made the announcement on sojournmusic.com that after many months of conversations and prayer, Sojourn Music had walked away from a record deal.  It was a difficult decision for many reasons. We were about to release Over the Grave, and we really believed that the album had great potential. It’s been one of our hopes at Sojourn Music that our songs could have wide-ranging impact on the church, providing communities like ours a resource for gospel-saturated songs that were both theologically rich and musically interesting. The label we’d been in conversation with saw great potential in the record as well, and came to the table trying to make something work for the both of us.

As mentioned several weeks ago, we had some concerns that we protect Sojourn’s interests in the records, and that the investment that the church made in the project would be returned. As those conversations wrapped up, we came to believe that the best thing for us was to walk away. But just as we announced that decision, a surprising opportunity opened up that changed everything.

While the details of record contracts are both boring and part of non-disclosure requirements, it’s sufficient to say that the committee that overseas Sojourn Music’s budget and direction unanimously agreed that this was a beautiful opportunity. Our legal counsel - who specializes in entertainment law - also agreed, and there was nothing left to do but sign the contract.

The contracts were signed last week and it’s official - Sojourn Music is now part of Bonded Records, which is part of the Universal Music family. Being with Bonded means that we have a partner now who will be putting energy into helping our records get out there into broader market - through the engines that Universal has in place. It’s like having the benefits of both a small independent label and a major.

In the short term, it doesn’t change any of our plans. The record will still release at our party on June 19th and be made available to the broader public here at sojournmusic.com. Then, sometime in late summer or fall, the record will release through Bonded/Universal on iTunes and through retail outlets like Christian book stores and music stores.

Exactly what’s it all going to look like? We’re as eager to see as anyone. Hopefully the songs will be a testimony to something that God has done here - a grassroots, gospel-centered creative renewal in a local church. Hopefully God will allow us to be part of a broad movement of that kind of renewal. Hopefully we can be a blessing and a servant to the church around the country.

Whatever comes ahead, we ask for your continued prayers and support as we seek to do whatever the Lord has for us in the road ahead.