A strategy and a system for publishing, distribution, release and content — so the music isn't carried by one person, or by one week of the year.
What we see
Free Chapel Music doesn't have a talent problem or a resource problem. It has a June 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, during Forward itself, off a two-week turnaround.
Every FCM release, 2021–2026
Release dates from Spotify, pulled 10 August 2026
Five release events in five years, all inside the last three weeks of June. That's not a release strategy — it's a conference deadline.
Meanwhile the platform underneath it keeps growing. Free Chapel runs seven campuses plus Online, with Destin planned. The Online campus reports 61,000 Sunday views. Forward is marketed at 10,000–13,000 attendees. Free Chapel's own channels carry roughly 918,000 followers between them.
The music sits on a different scale entirely.
5,335Spotify followers, Free Chapel Music
0editorial playlist placements
1release since June 2022
~918kFree Chapel followers across its own channels
That distance between the church's reach and the music's reach is the whole opportunity. Closing it doesn't take more resources. It takes a strategy and a system — not Aaron holding all of it himself.
What you've already decided
This isn't a blank page, and this proposal doesn't reopen it. FCM has already settled the questions most churches get stuck on:
Equal writer splits, rather than negotiating contribution percentages song by song
Free Chapel owns the copyrights; writers participate through a revenue split
Self-published, with 50/50 co-publishing
Song-by-song agreements, papered by Matt Anthony, with a first-offer mechanism if a writer is approached elsewhere
Tracy's direction to sign an administration deal and a distribution deal
Those are good decisions, and they're fair ones. What's missing isn't the philosophy — it's the machinery that makes the philosophy work without Aaron doing it by hand.
What's missing
No one collects the money
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 — it backdates roughly two years, so nothing has been lost — but the clock only helps if the structure actually gets built.
And the part Aaron has named as the thing he doesn't want: quarterly split statements, writer payments, registrations, credits. That work is real, recurring, and shouldn't land on the person also running A&R, marketing and release.
No relationships at the platforms
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.
No architecture above the songs
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.
No rhythm between Junes
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
Whichever level you choose, the opening period does the same work. No separate fee — this is what the engagement buys first.
Appoint a copyright administrator. We shortlist, negotiate and stand up an administrator who registers every composition and collects at all PROs and collection societies — and who issues the quarterly writer statements. This is the answer to the administrative burden: a vendor doing it properly, paid directly by Free Chapel, rather than Aaron doing it by hand or Good doing it by the hour.
Register the catalogue in one pass once the structure is set — PROs, mechanical, SoundExchange and CCLI, correctly attributed the first time.
Review the existing agreements for gaps, not to redo them. Specifically: what happens on an outside co-write, whether song-by-song should become blanket at some threshold, and how the first-offer mechanism is documented. Matt Anthony continues to paper it; we identify what needs papering.
Negotiate the distribution deal Tracy has already pointed at, on terms that still work at three times the current volume.
Build the release calendar and asset spec — twelve months, with the real decision points marked and what has to exist by when, so a two-week turnaround is never the process again.
Map the team. What comes off Aaron's plate first, who inside Free Chapel picks it up, and what — if anything — needs to be hired.
It lands as one operating document: structure, agreements, distribution, calendar and team, in a form Tracy and Jentezen can govern from.
Three levels of engagement
All month to month. No fixed term, no minimum, 30 days' notice either way.
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
Full involvement$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
Full accessRecommended$15,000 / month
Everything above, plus Good's industry relationships worked on FCM's behalf — and ownership of the content and social strategy.
Introductions and advocacy with editorial and partnerships teams at Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon and YouTube, in place of algorithmic pitching alone
Playlist pitching run and managed, including specialist pluggers where a release warrants it, 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
Introductions to agents, managers and artists — opening conversations about guest worship leaders for Free Chapel events, and about platforms for FCM's own people
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 relationships: an introduction gets FCM's music in front of the people who make the decisions, and advocacy from someone they already trust means it gets heard properly. No placement, playlist, radio add or booking can be guaranteed by anyone, and any proposal that implies otherwise should be treated with suspicion.
The same is true of people. Producers, writers and engineers are engaged for projects in the ordinary way, and that part we can plan. Featured artists and guest worship leaders are different — we can introduce, advocate and open the conversation, but whether an artist says yes is always theirs to decide. What we commit to is that the work is presented, to the right people, on time, every cycle.
Where the work sits
Set out plainly up front, so everyone knows what they're carrying.
Project management. Free Chapel's team runs the schedule and keeps people moving. Good builds the calendars, trackers and templates they run on.
Content capture and posting. Free Chapel's team shoots and posts. Good briefs and directs.
Administration. Registrations, statements and filings are specified by Good and executed by the appointed administrator — not by Good, and not by Aaron.
Anything outside the agreed rhythm is scoped and quoted separately, so it's a decision rather than a surprise.
This engagement is deliberately not day-to-day management. If FCM needs someone carrying the daily load, that's an internal appointment — and helping define and recruit that role is part of the first 90 days.
How decisions get made
Most of what stalls a church music operation is an unclear decision path, so this is proposed explicitly and can be amended to fit how Free Chapel actually works.
Aaron
Day-to-day owner. Brings recommendations; holds the relationship with Good.
Tracy
Executive sponsor. Approves releases, scope and spend within budget; the decision point when Good and FCM disagree.
Jentezen
Final strategic, pastoral and budget approval. The decisions that genuinely need him are agreed in advance, so everything else keeps moving without waiting on his calendar.
Matt Anthony
All legal drafting. Good advises on structure and never replaces counsel.
Administrator
Registrations, collection, writer statements.
Free Chapel teams
Marketing, social, production and campus worship execute against agreed briefs and calendar.
Good
Strategy, structure, relationships and direction. No authority to sign, commit or contract on Free Chapel's behalf.
If Tracy is away
A named alternate approver, agreed at kickoff, so a release date never slips on availability.
How the money works
The fee
A flat monthly retainer for the selected level. No commission, no override, no participation, and no share of any revenue.
Ownership
Good acquires no interest in Free Chapel's masters, compositions or copyrights. Nothing in this engagement changes who owns anything.
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.
Approvals
Any spend Good recommends is approved by Free Chapel before it is committed. Single expenses over $500 in writing.
Royalties
Collected by the administrator into Free Chapel's account. Writers receive statements and payments quarterly on a published schedule.
Reporting
A quarterly review covering what was delivered, what it cost, what came in, and whether the level of engagement still fits.
Travel
At cost, no markup.
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:
An administrator and a distributor appointed, contracted and operating
Every composition registered and collecting
Writer statements issued quarterly without Aaron assembling them
An approved twelve-month release calendar, and releases hitting it
A defined roster, and a written schedule for what content gets made and posted around each release
A first writing camp planned and run — built around FCM's own writers, with outside writers and producers brought in at the Full access level
Every release submitted to DSPs, radio and church resource partners on schedule
A quarterly review against all of the above
Terms
Term
Month to month from the first of the month following signature. No fixed or minimum term.
Notice
30 days, either side, for any reason. No termination fee.
Changing level
Up or down by agreement, effective the first of the following month.
Scope review
Quarterly. Either side can raise a mismatch between what's delivered and what's paid, and it's corrected then.
Separately quoted
Writing camps at the first two levels, and any one-off project outside the selected level.
Confidentiality
Mutual. Neither party names the other publicly without consent.
Relationship
Independent contractor. Good is not an employee or agent of Free Chapel.
Status
This proposal is non-binding. A short definitive agreement would follow.
Who you'd be working with
Johnny Rays — co-founder. Previously at Hillsong Music. 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 — operating partner. 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.
Aodhan King and Ben Hastings played Forward 2026. We know the room, and we've been building this exact structure for a church very much like Free Chapel for the last three years.