26 Aug Matt McKeown and the NFL

Matt McKeown wears a few different hats. His title is associate pastor of of First UB church in Holly Hill, Fla. (where his father, Chuck, is senior pastor). He manages Sound Mind Studios, a recording studio which is a ministry of first UB. And on the side, he writes lots of music.

At the moment, Matt has written songs for (and is waiting on possible approval from) mainstream artists like Leona Lewis, Jennifer Hudson, Meatloaf, Jordin Sparks, Matthew Morrison (from Glee), Apocalyptica, and others. Nothing’s been picked up yet. He’s still mostly in the “trying to get my foot in the door” stage. But he’s been working hard at it.

Matt was delighted last week when a song he co-wrote played on an NFL promo on Fox. I asked him to tell me more.

“For the last 2 years I’ve been writing with a man named Billy Chapin. He has been in the business for years. He has written for and/or produced for a lot of mainstream pop acts like Backstreet Boys, O Town, and artists like Edwin McCain and Sister Hazel. He won an award for the song he wrote for the Christian group Avalon called “Undeniably You.” He has offers all the time from people looking for songs.

“I have submitted literally dozens of ideas for lots of different artists. I submitted a song called “Nothin’ but the Best.” It was passed on by the band. So we submitted it to a company that gets music placed in pro sports games. That’s when the NFL picked it up. It played last Thursday (August 19, 2010), the day of the pre-season Patriots/Falcons game in a promo for the NFL on FOX. We heard from the music company that got it to the NFL that they want more music. So, in the last week or so he and I have written 10 or so more ideas to submit.

“This first time is not going to mean anything big money-wise for me, but it was a way to get in the door. Now that I’m in, Hopefully there will be enough demand to insist on a nice paycheck. As we all know, being in ministry doesn’t pay a lot, but like tentmaker Paul, I can work with my hands and make some extra money.”

Earlier today, Matt reported on Facebook, “The media company that got my song placed on Fox for the NFL has picked up another one of my songs. Life is good.”

Way to go, Matt!