Popular gospel singer and songwriter, Dr Panam Percy Paul, has disclosed that he rejected a £24million record deal in 1995 because it demanded that he limit the number of times he mentioned “Jesus” in his music.
Speaking in an interview with Pastor Emmanuel Iren, Panam Persy disclosed that the three-year contract, worth approximately N7 billion at the time, came with conditions that would have compromised his faith.
The record label suggested he use alternative names such as “Righteous One” or “Greatest Lover” instead of explicitly mentioning ‘Jesus’.
“The catch was, ‘Can you reduce the number of times you call the name Jesus in your songs?’
“One of them even said to me, ‘You actually don’t need to mention the name Jesus. You can call Him other names.’
“I was shocked, so I told them, ‘You can keep the money while I keep the name,” Panam Persy Paul narrated.
He also expressed concern over the increasing rate of commercialisation of gospel music, stating that record labels and marketers now dictate how artists create their music.
“Today, the extreme is that the music ministry has now become a music industry,” Panam Persy Paul lamented. “The industry now dictates to the ministers what to do, how to sing, and when to sing.”
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