By Allie Martin and Jenni Parker
Industry statistics indicate that Christian music is the sixth most popular category of music for consumers across the U.S., and a leader in the gospel music community is saying that trend is no fluke.
Gospel Music Association (GMA) president John Styll believes the popularity of Contemporary Christian Music, or CCM, is proof that consumers are looking for music with a message. He says today's Christian music resonates with a wide variety of people.
“Christian music is increasingly connecting with the culture at large, which I think indicates that people really have this God-shaped vacuum in their lives. And when something comes along that gives them some hope and some inspiration, they really grab onto it,” Styll says.
Styll compares Christian music to the work of translating the gospel. He says CCM artists use many different musical styles to communicate relevant themes to a diverse audience, sometimes even across cultural divides and language barriers.
“I think it's analogous to translating the scripture into the languages people speak. You can't force everyone to read a King James English Bible, [especially] if they live in a country that doesn't speak English. So musically we've translated these messages,” he says.
And Styll says by all indications, those messages are falling on eager ears. By early June of this year, more than 21 million units of Christian music had been sold nationwide. Also, a number of CCM artists have not only experienced popularity on the Christian charts, but have crossed over to secular radio airplay and chart success as well. (See Related Story)
Still, the GMA president does note that Christian music sales are down slightly from this time last year. But he says this can be attributed to file sharing on the Internet — certainly no indicator of decreased demand.
Styll says the listening audience is hungry for the wide variety of positive messages to be found in CCM, speaking truth, communicating hope, and pointing people to Christ.
“There are all kinds of messages — some that are about the gospel, and some that are just about our lives here in the world. But they all point back to a biblical worldview, and it's in every possible style of music. And you know it is impacting the culture,” he says.
(This article courtesy of Agape Press).
