Proposal · August 2026

Free Chapel Music

A strategy and a system for publishing, distribution, release and content, so the music isn't carried by one person.

What we see

Free Chapel Music doesn't have a talent problem. It has a system problem.

Every release in FCM's history has landed inside a Forward window. Three singles and an album in June 2021, one single in June 2022, then nothing for nearly four years, until The Well on 26 June 2026. That one released during Forward itself, off a two-week turnaround.

Every FCM release, 2021–2026

Release dates from Spotify, pulled 10 August 2026

Free Chapel Music release timeline, 2021 to 2026 Three releases in June 2021 and one in June 2022, then a gap of 47 months, then one release in June 2026. All five fall in the last three weeks of June. 47 months, no releases 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 11 Jun 2021 Baptism Song · 18 Jun 2021 I Worship · 25 Jun 2021 From the Heart (album) Jun 2021 · 3 releases incl. From the Heart 24 Jun 2022 My Love (with Sean Matta) Jun 2022 · My Love 26 Jun 2026 The Well, released during Forward Jun 2026 · The Well released during Forward
Five release events in five years, all inside the last three weeks of June, every one of them tied to Forward.

What happened when they did release is the part worth noticing. The Well has done 115,915 streams worldwide in its first six weeks, on a two-week turnaround with no release plan, no pitching and no editorial support. It held level for three weeks before it started to decay, which is not what a launch spike does. People were finding it, and nothing was built to catch them.

The platform underneath it keeps growing. Seven campuses plus Online, with Destin planned, and Forward fills an arena every June.

The audience already in the house

YouTube subscribers, read from each channel on 11 August 2026

YouTube subscribers across Free Chapel's channels Jentezen Franklin has 949,000 subscribers and the Free Chapel church channel 508,000. The Free Chapel Music channel has 9,920. Jentezen Franklin 949,000 Free Chapel 508,000 Free Chapel Music 9,920
The music reaches about one in every fifty people the church already reaches on its own channel, and one in a hundred of Jentezen's.

Where the music sits today

115,915streams for The Well, first six weeks
5,335Free Chapel Music, Spotify followers
0editorial playlist placements
1release since June 2022

That distance between Free Chapel's reach and the music's reach is a huge opportunity. Closing it doesn't take more resources. It takes a strategy and a system.

Where the others were at this point

Total releases to date, counted from each ministry's own first releaseYears each ministry took to reach its Nth release

Cumulative releases by years since first release Through year four, Free Chapel Music tracks alongside Elevation Worship, Gateway Worship and Passion. From year five the others keep compounding; Free Chapel Music flattens. 0 10 20 30 40 FCM is here Bethel Music Elevation Worship Gateway Worship Passion Free Chapel Music 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 Years since first release
Years taken to reach each release At its fifth release Free Chapel Music sits mid-pack: quicker than Gateway Worship reached five, slower than Passion, Elevation Worship and Bethel Music. 0 3 6 9 12 FCM is here Bethel Music Elevation Worship Passion Gateway Worship Free Chapel Music 1 3 5 7 9 11 Release number
Nobody starts fast. Through year four FCM was ahead of where Elevation, Gateway and Passion each were, and it reached its fifth release sooner than Gateway reached theirs. Year five is where these curves separate, and it is exactly where FCM is standing.

What you've already decided

From our conversations so far, FCM has settled a number of the questions churches frequently get stuck on:

Those are good decisions, and fair ones. What's missing isn't the philosophy. It's the machinery underneath it.

The immediate opportunity

Collections

The compositions aren't registered anywhere that pays: no PRO registrations, no mechanical collection, no SoundExchange, no CCLI. Holding CCLI until the structure is set was the right call, because it backdates roughly two years, so nothing has been lost. But the clock only helps if the structure actually gets built.

Underneath that sits the recurring work: quarterly split statements, writer payments, registrations, credits. Real, repeating, and the wrong job for whoever is also running A&R, marketing and release.

Relationships

FCM has never had a conversation with a DSP. The Well went out through algorithmic pitching alone and holds no editorial playlist placements. In the industry data layer, FCM's primary genre is currently classified as German worship. A small thing, and a sign of how little hand the catalogue has had on it.

Architecture

Free Chapel Music, Free Chapel Worship, Free Chapel Youth. The trifecta is a good instinct, but right now there's no definition of what each is for, who belongs to which, or who approves what. Worship leaders across campuses are starting to raise their hands, and there's no structure for them to be raised into.

Rhythm

Songs exist in draft with no production lane to finish them. Content is captured reactively. Camps are an intention, not a calendar. Every release becomes a scramble because nothing sits between the conferences.

The first 90 days

It lands as one operating document: structure, agreements, distribution, calendar and team, in a form Tracy and Jentezen can govern from.

Who you'd be working with

Johnny Rays

Co-founder

Previously at Hillsong Music, where his work included Hillsong UNITED, Taya and Brooke Ligertwood. Built Woodlands Worship's publishing, distribution and release structure end to end, from no structure at all to a functioning operation. Leads structure, publishing, distribution, deal work, paid digital and industry relationships.

Abbey Nordberg

Co-founder

Leads release operations, campaign execution and coordination with artists and partners.

Good Management currently works with Hillsong United and Joel Houston, Aodhan King, Ben Tan and Woodlands Worship.

Three levels of engagement

All month to month. No minimum, no fixed term.

Strategy and structure $7,500 / month

Good advises. Free Chapel executes.

  • Music strategy set alongside Aaron and the team
  • Ongoing structural advice as writers, releases and deals come up
  • Producers, writers and mix and mastering engineers recommended for each project
  • Input on song selection, release timing and supporting assets
  • Digital strategy advised and reviewed
  • Calls every two weeks; on site twice a year
Strategy and delivery $9,500 / month

Everything above, executed by Good rather than advised on.

  • Producers, writers and engineers briefed and managed directly through a project, not just recommended
  • Distribution partner relationship managed day to day
  • Paid digital run by Good: creative direction, copy, targeting, performance review
  • Marketing and asset direction across the release cycle
  • Calls every two weeks; on site quarterly
Strategy, delivery and relationships $15,000 / month

Everything above, plus Good's industry relationships worked on FCM's behalf, plus ownership of the content and social strategy.

  • Playlist pitching run and managed by Good across Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon and YouTube, in place of algorithmic pitching alone, with specialist pluggers brought in where a release warrants it and at no additional fee
  • Independent Christian radio: song selection with promoters and pitching to stations
  • Church resource partners such as MultiTracks, worked actively so worship teams can play FCM's songs
  • Writing camps: casting the room and bringing in writers and producers from outside FCM's current circle
  • Organic social and content strategy: platform approach, content pillars, cadence, briefs and shot lists, positioning, and review against benchmarks each cycle
  • Weekly call, quarterly planning session; on site every two months

On pitching: getting FCM's music in front of the people who make these decisions is work Good does on every release, properly and on time. No placement, playlist add, radio add or booking can be guaranteed by anyone, and any proposal that implies otherwise should be treated with suspicion. Producers, writers and engineers are engaged for projects in the ordinary way, and that part we can plan.

What we'd hold ourselves to

Streams, placements and chart positions aren't promises anyone can honestly make. These are the outputs we'd be accountable for in the first year:

Terms

The fee
A flat monthly retainer for the selected level. No commission, no override, no participation, and no share of any revenue.
Term
Month to month from the first of the month following signature. No minimum, no fixed term. Either side can end it on 30 days' notice, with no termination fee.
Changing level
Up or down by agreement, effective the first of the following month.
Ownership
Good acquires no interest in Free Chapel's masters, compositions or copyrights. Nothing in this engagement changes who owns anything.
Royalties
Collected by the administrator into Free Chapel's account. Writers receive statements and payments quarterly on a published schedule.
Third-party costs
Legal, administration, distribution, advertising, production, pluggers and promoters are contracted and paid by Free Chapel directly. Good never fronts costs and takes no margin on them. Travel is at cost.
Approvals
Any spend Good recommends is approved by Free Chapel before it is committed, and single expenses over $500 in writing. Good has no authority to sign, commit or contract on Free Chapel's behalf.
What sits where
Good advises, directs and builds the systems. Free Chapel's team and the appointed administrator run them. This engagement is not day-to-day management; if FCM needs someone carrying the daily load, that is an internal appointment, and helping define and recruit it is part of the first 90 days.
Separately quoted
Writing camps at the first two levels, and any one-off project outside the selected level.
Reporting
A quarterly review covering what was delivered, what it cost, what came in, and whether the level still fits. Either side can raise a mismatch between what's delivered and what's being paid for, and it gets corrected there.
Relationship
Independent contractor. Good is not an employee or agent of Free Chapel. Confidentiality is mutual, and neither party names the other publicly without consent.
Status
This proposal is non-binding. A short definitive agreement would follow.