The music manager who was portrayed by Trace Adkins in I Can Only Imagine says talent alone isn't enough to succeed in Christian music and that a singer's personality and character play bigger roles.
Scott Brickell, who helped MercyMe get its start and who has worked with the biggest names in the industry, told Christian Headlines that for every award handed out at the major shows, there are "so many more talented singers out there that just for whatever reason it didn't work."
Brickell's new book, The Business Behind the Storm, is a behind-the-scenes how-to manual for singers and artists navigating the music business.
"You gotta be the same person onstage as you are off stage. That's one of the things that is important to me," Brickell told Christian Headlines. "I don't subscribe to the, you know, [you] have an onstage persona, and [you're] somebody totally different offstage."
Sometimes, he said, artists are "amazingly talented," but they "can't get along with people" or they aren't a "good hang."
"Talent isn't number one, for sure," he said.
His company, Brickhouse Entertainment, currently manages MercyMe, Micah Tyler, Mitchell Lee and Micah Christopher. It previously managed and consulted with artists such as Audio Adrenaline, Switchfoot, Phil Wickham and Rend Collective.
His artists have reached more than 50 No. 1 singles.
Brickell graduated from Baylor with a bachelor's degree in business administration and got involved in the Christian music industry because of his passion for music.
"What I've learned is that there are a lot of people that come to town with the hopes and dreams of being an artist, being a songwriter, being a producer or being a studio musician or a background vocalist," he said. "And I don't have any of those aspirations. I'm just a business guy."
Music, he said, is a "key to your soul" that "nothing else can open."
"Songs are time machines. They can take you back to when you were a kid. They're almost a kind of scratch and sniff – you know, you can smell smells [from] when you were a kid, when you hear a song."
Christian music, Brickell said, has a unique power that other songs don't.
"I think hope is something that we all need," he said. "... Christian music can lift you up and kind of help you see around the corner where maybe you can't see, and help you get there to where you can see some daylight. That's what I've seen Christian music do for so many people."
Brickell and his company have experienced – and survived – massive changes in the music industry over the decades. When he started, CDs were the medium of choice. Even so, he said, the music industry remains largely the same.
"I get up every morning and ask God what I'm supposed to do today," he said.
The music industry, he said, is "hard work," just like it was when he started.
"It's getting up, it's busting your can," he said. "It's returning phone calls, returning emails, and being diligent. Don't let things fall through the cracks. Pursue every opportunity. And that requires hard work and diligence. That's what it's always been. And that's what it probably will always be."
Photo courtesy: ©Simon and Schuster, used with permission.
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.