Christian Music Gets Hip

Tuesday, December 03, 2002

By Marla Lehner



NEW YORK — The rhymes of Jay-Z and Eminem may be burning up the charts, but there's something else that's taking teens — and the business — by storm: Christian music.

"The line between Christian music and rock has shifted so much," said Charles Cross, a music critic and author of Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain. "Even a band like Creed ... They've been able to have mainstream success and a Christian following. It used to be that you couldn't have both."

Sales of mainstream music dropped three percent last year under the burden of sagging sales and rampant Internet piracy, while Christian music sales increased by 13.5 percent, according to the Christian Music Trade Association.

So what saved Christian music from the purgatory of youth group sing-alongs and church retreats? Experts say more accurate methods of tracking sales, a more devout public and, quite simply, better music.

"Most important was when we started participating in SoundScan in 1996," said Frank Breeden, the president of CMTA. "It was the first time our numbers were counted by the same association that counts the rest of music sales."

Christian music used to be almost exclusively available in specialty religious stores. Today, retailers like Kmart and Wal-Mart dedicate whole sections to the genre.

"Our sales were up close to 20 percent this year in Wal-Mart and Kmart," said Breeden. "It's reflective of who consumers in America are. Forty percent of the American population attends church."

The group POD has sold millions and is the poster child for popular crossover Christian bands. But other acts like 6 Pence None the Richer and Creed, which isn't explicitly religious, have caught on with secular teens who will listen to music with a spiritual bent.

"Style-wise, the music we do is like any kind of rock show," said Bart Millard, 29, the lead singer for the Christian band MercyMe. "It's pop rock like Dave Matthews or Matchbox 20."

The giveaway for bands like MercyMe comes when listening to the words of their songs, such as "There's a Reason," which openly praise God.

"As Christians, what consumes us is our relationship with Christ," said Millard, who writes most of the band's lyrics. "There may not be a big difference when you first see us (in concert) because there's not that much that differentiates the styles. But what does differentiate us is the lyrics."

And as mainstream labels started hearing the good news about God's music, the American public seemed to open up to the idea of Christian songs, according to Breeden.

"The culture has been more tolerant of religious subject matters," he said.

This summer the first Christian rock touring festival, called Inside Out Soul Festival, hit the U.S. Keith Bosland, 33, a youth pastor from New River Community Church in South Widsor, Conn., took several students to the show.

"There aren't people getting high or drunk, it's cool," he said.

Most of the students in Bosland's youth group don't listen to Christian rock, but he said he was surprised by the teen's interest in even the IOSC bands.

"I thought they wouldn't listen to certain bands," Bosland said. "When one of the guys said he wanted to see Michael W. Smith, which is basically worship and praise music, that was definitely a surprise to me."

But what do Christian musicians think of their mainstream competitors with less than heavenly lyrics?

"Eminem has a God-given talent that he's not using for God," said Millard. "I 100 percent don't agree with what he does, but he is amazingly talented."

Still, explicitly religious bands aren't about to land on Total Request Live or bump Eminem off the charts, said Cross. "Christian music is doing better, but whether its taking away from the secular segment, that's impossible to know."

However, he added that music that touches serious topics will always be popular.

"There's only so far any songwriter can go with girls and boys and cars," Cross said. "Big issues like life and death must be explored."

i think one of the main reasons that christian music is getting more popular is because major labels arent so afraid of it anymore. i mean look at blindside, their first release on a major label and they have a hit single...the same thing with POD. and its a good deal for the major labels since the bands already have their christian fans, they know there will be a guaranteed certain number of sales...and then if they have mainstream sales [which they almost always do]...even better

i remember a few years ago you had christian bands that were distributed by major labels...the choir were dist by A&M, Generation was on Metal Blade, Steve Taylor was on Warner Brothers...but it didnt have the same impact as it does now...i think because they were still marketing them strictly as 'christian artists' rather than just music in general. i think the first band to really make it big in the secular industry was probably either jars of clay or dc talk with newsboys close after.

well, if you never want to share your faith with anyone...i guess thats up to you....god may not like that much though.

Yes i know what ya mean about christian music in the secular world, alot of times the christian lyrics change to more worldly style, a few of christian bands have done that, actually alot of the time it is the music label that wants them to do a certain thing with the music, with labels alot can be on ratings, well money, and how many ppl will buy it, i think at times it can be so hard for christian bands to break out into secular, but look at The Newsboys they have made it really big in the US and haven't strayed away form their lyrics the message of christ is strong in their music, which is great( they came form my town here and my church).

But yeah our music is a part of bringing us closer to an intimate relationship with Jesus

i think if a band is good enough they can become popular in the secular scene without compromising their lyrics [ie: blindeside]

Even though Tash and Goodguy made good points, I agree with BM. You can reach a different audience by being picked up in the secular community, which helps your ministry. it is better to try to reach out to those who aren't Christians, than who are, right? (not saying if you listen to secular, you aren't Christian...)