Tom’s Big Picture

16 Responses to “Who Owns Contemporary Christian Music?”

1. brian Says:
   March 10th, 2007 at 2:12 pm

   Tom,

   I have to admit that I was somewhat apprehensive about following your thoughts here; usually when anyone voices a negative view of CCM, it’s something to the tune of “if you’re not listening to 18th century funereal hymns, you’re going to HELL!” I apologize; I should know better. But once bitten….

   You have some good points. I don’t usually think about “the message” because I have fairly strong discernment, but I guess I hadn’t really thought about our girls listening to ANYTHING without our direct involvement and supervision, though I guess it’ll have to happen sooner or later.

   Food for thought.

   On another note: I’m looking forward to your delayed musical post; Georgia and I have recently been looking into Suzuki training for our oldest (she’s 2-1/2 now).

2. Lindsay Says:
   March 11th, 2007 at 8:48 pm

   I guess I have to say, I disagree to a point. Basically, I’m not surprised. I’ve always seen myself as a “consumer” in this perspective - whether it’s secular music or Christian music I’m buying, I’m being marketed to, sold a product, and that makes me a consumer. Just because the music is labeled “Christian” has never made me think of that a different way.

   As an example, if Jeremy worked at Walmart and I boycotted Walmart, and therefore, because I a such a prominent influence in market cultures, Walmart closed, what would be the result? Jeremy would lose his job. In the same way, just because Casting Crowns is owned by Sony or whatever, if I boycott their music for that reason, Casting Crowns doesn’t get paid, which is what they’re in it for - it’s a job, a living, a way to provide for their families.

   I guess I’m just saying that I’m not really surprised that it’s bout the money. It always is. I’m just not sure that it’s a bad thing. Because, although you mentioned the ‘lowest common denominator’ spiritually, we do live in a free enterprise system, and people can’t sell what people won’t buy. That’s why songs like “I can Only Imagine” and others do so well - the consumers love it! =) Whether that’s good or bad, I guess, is too much for me to decide. =)

3. Tom Says:
   March 11th, 2007 at 11:05 pm

   I’m not taking a hard line on this issue, just providing the information, and not calling for a boycott certainly. It’s obvious you’re aware that it is a manufactured product. There’s nothing wrong with that in itself, but when secular companies control the pursestrings, the product will be distorted.

   Free enterprise doesn’t mean low quality, but mass-marketed free enterprise usually is- McDonald’s is lower quality, the lowest common denominator, than a more specialized player. And it’s very hard to get home-quality food in any restaurant environment- this is because restaurants appeal to our gluttony (grease is cheaper than fresh basil). Similarly, record companies, who only make a few dollars per album and with that money have to support bureaucracies of parasites who live off the artists (the artists usually only profit from touring, not album sales), MUST move massive amounts of product and the only way to do that is to appeal to a mass market- and mass markets (as opposed to niche markets) are usually the lowest common denominator of taste.

   Secular companies will appeal to other vices to move their product, even Christian music to the extent they can get away with it. And with discernment at an all-time low in the Christian community, it will be interesting to watch the CCM marketing over the next 10 years.

   iTunes and similar services offer a lot of hope to destroy the artificial mass-market oligopoly of the record companies.

4. Greg Says:
   March 12th, 2007 at 10:59 am

   Isn’t it true that all so call christian music is secular in nature. It all comes from peoples experiences or from the Bible, but none of it comes directly from God. I mean he does not wake these singers up in the middle of the night and give them the song, like he gave the ten commandments to Moses or sent an angel to tell Mary that she would be the mother of Jesus. If it is music it is music. Now I don’t necessarily want my kids listening to Ozzy or most of the groups that I grew up listening to and to a point still do. I heard a report the other day that there are only a couple of production companies left anyway. I certainly am not going to go out and research every musical group out there and the company that are signed with to make sure that they are a christian company, mostly because I think that is a waste of my time. Secoondly, if I like a particular group I’m going to listen to them no matter who their production company is or who they are signed with. That is just my two cents worth.

5. Lindsay Says:
   March 12th, 2007 at 12:12 pm

   The boycott thing was just an example; I totally understand we’re not issuing petitions or anything. =) It will be interesting to see what Christian consumers will put up with in the next few years. At this point in our society, it is so easy to get outside the ‘mainstream’ (via iTunes, or even YouTube, as you said), that I hope it will provide competition - which should INCREASE quality. Either way, consumers need to continue to be very selective - that’s why I enjoy being able to buy one or two songs off of an album, instead of buying the whole thing; when the truth is there are only two songs on the album worth listening to. (That’s true whether it’s Christian or secular.)

   I do appreciate the information.

6. Tom Says:
   March 12th, 2007 at 5:56 pm

   I actually think CCM has gotten better and worse at the same time over the years, mostly because as it has expanded it has offered more acts, both better and worse. And some of the new acts are doing creative stuff that exceeds their pop music counterparts.

   As I will explain in the coming post on music, CCM, like Captain Crunch, is part of a balanced diet. My concern in this area is two-fold: A) the encroachment of emotion-driven popular music, even if Christian, to the detriment of real worship music in church, which should focus more on the attributes of God than the subjective experience of the believer, and B) the possibility that Christians over-respond to the marketing of CCM as “their music” and thus lose the opportunity to experience their real musical heritage, which is the classical and folk music of our people. When I say folk, I don’t mean granola-crunching hippies in sandals with guitars, but the real folk music of our people, as found in some country/western music and bluegrass.

   CCM is rather limited to the pop/rock genre because so much of C&W and bluegrass is already Christian (and a lot of it isn’t as well, admittedly). One thing about C&W is that sin is always called a sin, even in a sin song- as in Hank Williams Jr.’s “Whiskey-Bent and Hell Bound”:

   I’ve got a good woman at home who thinks I do no wrong
   But sometimes lord, she just ain’t always around
   And you know that’s when I fall, I can’t help myself at all
   And I get whiskey bent and hell bound

7. brian Says:
   March 12th, 2007 at 7:04 pm

   I’d have to agree with mon frere: on further reflection, I have to say that CCM is certainly better than patently secular music, regardless of the focus. An example: today I was listening to an Alice In Chains tune that called out to Jesus Christ (on the classic rock station, no less — am I really that old?); this was, however, obviously not a Christian song. But I doubt that even secular-owned CCM will ever get to the point that it glorifies sin (as even sin-defining C&W does, you have to admit).

   And please, Tom, don’t forget that jazz and rock’n'roll are as American as the other two. And I think heavy metal has its roots very firmly in classical music — the synergy of sound components is hard to ignore (as a strong influence, if not a direct ancestor). To anyone that argues that blacks developed jazz from old Negro spiritual music — a very firm Christian base — I would argue that they received their religion in that instance from the influence of the — largely — Scots-Irish South. In other words, it didn’t appear in a vacuum.

   But, to my original point, I’d rather have my kids listen to CCM than something that wasn’t even nominally Christian. They will receive their spiritual training from me and the Holy Spirit, not from the radio.

8. Smitty Says:
   March 13th, 2007 at 1:52 am

   Having owned Christian Radio Stations and operated a Christian magazine group that focused on several Christian music genres, I would love to go through all that’s been said and discuss a number of items that seem to have been misunderstood or mislabeled. However, at this late hour, let me just address the original question of this blog, “Who Owns Contemporary Christian Music?”

   It’s true, there are a number of Christian Music Labels that are owned by secular media companies. Not all, but some. This happened in the last fifteen years as a result of Christian labels being unable to achieve the necessary distribution levels needed to maintain their profitability. So, as a number of Christian labels struggled, the bigger secular companies (who had fully developed distribution channels) saw an opportunity to reach a whole new audience they knew nothing about with a product they didn’t know how to create. They then came in and acquired a majority interest in these Christian companies in exchange for the distribution rights to their products. Most of them have stayed completely out of the creative end of the music…because they just don’t understand it. Instead, part of the deal was to retain the original owners, managers and writers to continue to develop the talent, etc…

   Other Christian labels found ways to survive with limited distribution, catalog mailings and infomercials. Some developed direct to consumer technology, while still others set-up distribution partnerships with larger secular companies that gave them the opportunity to bring Christian Music (Evangelize) to people who would other wise never have any exposure to it or it’s message. One great example is Integrity Music.

   First of all, Sony BMG does not own Integrity Music. Integrity Music is owned by a group of godly men who prayerfully believe that their mission is to bring the body of Christ closer to God through music… primarily worship music. Integrity reached a worldwide distribution agreement with Sony in 1997 so that they could provide worship music to those who didn’t have access to, or didn’t feel comfortable going into an old Christian bookstore. (Frankly many Christian bookstores shunned CCM as their mark-up was so much smaller than on a Bible or study material) This agreement gave them access to the mass-market retailers and the big box stores that had refused to give them the time of day – due to the comparatively small number of units (CD’s) they could move.

   Originally, a WalMart would end up getting ten or twenty worship CD’s placed in the Sony order of 1,000 units of Country, Hip-Hop, Rock and Pop music CD’s they were putting on display. This was a brilliant move as artist like Third Day, Mercy Me, Casting Crowns, Building 429 etc. began to write songs that crossed over and were picked up by mainstream radio. Once listeners heard the song on a Country or Contemporary station, they learned they could actually find the music at the retailers they normally went to. This resulted in these stores then increasing the amount of Christian product they carried.

   I know that some people assume it’s all about money, but it’s not. No one I know in the Christian Music industry (and I know most of the label heads and many of those who started labels in the past) have gotten in the industry with the idea of making a million and retiring young and rich. They all got in the business to spread the Gospel. It doesn’t mean they were all perfect in what they did, just that they felt the Lord led them into this industry. In fact, I remember three years ago when we got excited because of the fact that the whole industry seemed to be picking up a little steam. My marketing director then pointed out that a back-up singer for P-Diddy (sp) had just released his first solo album that same week and had sold more CD’s than all the top 100 selling Christian artists combined… Simply incredible.

   Instead of criticizing all those involved in the CCM industry, please pray for them. They are trying to reach people – our kids in particular – who aren’t being reached any other way. Remember that when Jesus ate with the sinners, publicans and tax collectors the Pharisees got very upset with him. Jesus told them, “They that are whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick”. He then said, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance”. Moving that thought into this CCM debate: If Christian Music is only available at our churches and Christian bookstores, only Christians will be able to buy it.

9. Tom Says:
   March 13th, 2007 at 9:34 pm

   Good discussion.

   The people who read this space are unlikely to need my help with discernment in music, which kind of calls into question the purpose of this post

   However, it’s good for the resource to be out there for Google to reference.

   I am calling for balance and deliberateness, and specifically in the context of children. Let’s say a Christian teen is listening to 70% CCM and 30% secular pop music. I’d rather see a distribution of maybe 1/3 classical, 1/3 traditional folk music (healthy bluegrass and country, or Southern Gospel), and the remaining 1/3 “miscellaneous” whether that’s CCM, non-offensive secular pop, metal, 80’s, whatever. And Brian, I’d agree, that within the 1/3, CCM is better than pop.

   And frankly, esp. concerning boys, I see a lot of effiminate role models in CCM. I’m not gonna be impressed with some boy with hair past his earlobes dating my daughter, nor do I want this image impressed upon my daughter as something that’s acceptable:

   

   If not effiminate, then punk or ghetto, neither subcultures I want to promote in my children, even if the Christian version. C&W still teaches appropriate gender and cultural identities at least.

   That’s not to say that Christian gangsta rap doesn’t serve a purpose, esp. if it keeps some young man from listening to non-Christian gangsta rap. I just don’t want it displacing other children’s dosage of Beethoven because we can’t bring ourselves to admit that some music is inherently superior and preferable for a well-educated mind.

   Remember, it’s not about good or bad all the time- it’s between ok or good and better. Opportunity cost is the most profitable thing to think about in any area like this with lots of alternatives.

   Smitty, you are indeed correct about Integrity- it appears they are in a distribution agreement with Sony, not owned. So CCM is only 70% owned by secular corporations.

   However, I have to disagree with your assertion that criticism of CCM’s sellout is inappropriate because A) the people involved had good intentions and B) the music got greater distribution. First, intentions are meaningless in determining if something is objectively good or bad. Well-meaning, good Christian people do both wise and foolish things all the time.

   Robert Kyosaki, the Rich Dad Poor Dad author, talks about why real estate and businesses are better places for your capital than the stock market- the main reason is the element of control. That’s why land and businesses, or even publicly traded companies are worth more when a 51% share can be acquired- ownership or participation without control is meaningless. If I grant that CCM is still managed by good people, as you claim, then that just means that there hasn’t been a conflict yet between profits and message. When the inevitable conflict arises, what do you think will happen when those good CCM people, now employees instead of owners, try to protest a directive from corporate? Whose way will it turn out, and who will have to comprimise or hit the highway?

   As a businessman, there’s no way in heck I would trade my role as owner to be someone else’s employee, no matter what opportunity it involved. Control is everything- to paraphrase Christ, what does it profit CCM to gain massive worldwide distribution if the price is its soul? As we know, one of the way Satan tempts is to offer installment plans on souls, temporary success before he takes control. Just because the devil has not come to claim his due yet does not mean that day will never come.

   I’m probably least out of the mainstream with this last argument, with many insiders in CCM also complaining about unequal yoking with the world:

   http://www.worship.com/steve_camp_107_theses.htm

10. No Offense Says:
    March 14th, 2007 at 11:33 am

    It’s easy to get your message out as a CCM artist, as long as your song is about love, peace, God’s mercy, etc.

    What would happen to a Sony/BMG owned CCM label that had a song written which condemned homosexuality as being an abomination?

    I would speculate that conflict would be right around the corner, and I don’t see the active homosexual lobby as the ones that end up backing off.

11. brian Says:
    March 14th, 2007 at 9:15 pm

    If I may:

    Something I’ve really been mulling over is your dismissal of “emotional” CCM. Obviously, you feel differently, but for me, wordhip is a very emotional thing. In fact, ANY time I really think about what it means that the Creator came to Earth as a man and allowed Himself to die a criminal’s death for me — not for US, but for ME — that He doesn’t just love all of us, but He loves EACH of us, the realization of that just brings me to my knees — literally — with an overwhelming tide of gratitude, humility, and joy.

    I know, Tom, that you have indicated you are not comfortable dealing with many things on other than an intellectual level (as indicated by your description of “reason” and “intellect” as “higher” levels, and your discussion of the “autism continuum”); I, however, think that God in his infinite wisdom has equipped us all with wonderfully diverse skill sets and abilities, each equally vital to the furthering of His Kingdom.

    Don’t mistake me as saying that we’re all equal and equally special. I’m just saing that you probably need to examine judiciously any paradigm, that is not directly extracted from the Word, of which you — or your skills and abilities — as a fallible human are always the highest expression. I’m just offering this as advice from a Christian brother.

    As for my daughters’ future suitors, I couldn’t care less whether they show up with hair for days and more piercings than your average granny’s pin cushion. (My lovely wife will, of course, vehemently disagree with me here) But any boy who comes a-calling will have to demonstrate — exhaustively — his character, his responsibility, and his worth — to ME — before he is allowed to court (and I mean court, not date) my daughter. As I will require any future sons God might give us to do with their prospective fathers-in-law. But I say all that to say that I think “keeping up appearances” is works-based and un-Biblical on its face. I do my dead-level to avoid doing that.

    My apologies; I’ve gone far afield tonight. But one more thing: Don’t be dissin’ Reliant K!

12. Tom Says:
    March 15th, 2007 at 9:10 am

    I suppose I adhere to an older standard of the role of emotions. As my wife’s BSF leader said so succinctly: FACTS, then Faith, then emotions. Emotions are the icing on the cake, not the substance.

    My comments on this blog do not reflect my entire life experience, but again I adhere to the older standard of context-sensitive expressions of emotions, instead of the Oprahfied public confessional of modern experience.

    I am not against emotions in worship or any other human endeavor- they are part of what makes us human. However, I don’t think I’m off the mark by saying that many Christians today seek an emotional worship experience for its own sake, and the qualitative change in worship music reflects that preference. So the question is, were our ancestors emotionally stunted in their worship, or is our generation emotionally indulgent? I take the latter view.

    We’re getting way off-topic now, but body mutilation by a young man, in the form of extensive piercings, etc, indicates mental unfitness for a suitor of my daughter. These things don’t occur in a vacuum- they’re conscious choices that speak volumes about the person’s outlook on life.  Of course, if it’s just a stage they’re going through and they come out the other end okay (and before they want to date my daughter), then obviously someone should be credited for where they are than where they’ve been.

    And my business parter, E., agrees- if some of those Reliant K boys showed up to date his daughter, they’d need to visit the barber shop first.

    I mean, if Jacob had to work seven years for Leah and Rachel, they can cut their hair.

    I think it’s a fallacy to say: I don’t care about X in a potential mate for my children, all I care about is their walk with God, etc. To me, a Christian faith is a minimum standard to start with- I can add to that as a father based on what I think is best for my family and descendents’ adaptive fitness. Strategically, of course, it’s much better to raise children on the front-end to prefer a certain kind of mate, than to use veto power on the backend as the father to prevent undesirable pairings.

13. Tom Says:
    March 15th, 2007 at 10:25 am

    Of course, good people can disagree on these issues. I see no great comparative priority to take sides in the worship wars at this juncture, beyond just my own opinions for my family.

14. brian Says:
    March 15th, 2007 at 10:28 am

    Okay, I’ll back off the peircings thing… I’m guilty of hyperbole there. My point was that strength of character, not appearance, is more important to me (and, yes, Christian faith is presupposed). The hair thing, at a minimum, is immaterial to me; E. may or may not be (my wife was) shocked to know that I used to have longer hair than that. I keep it short now because — and only because — my bride prefers it that way.

    I guess one of my problems in these discussions is that I make certain assumptions about the foundations my children will be raised upon — a direct result of our plans to homeschool, and all that entails — that don’t always make it explicitly into my arguments. I guess I shold elucidate more.

    I now see your point about CCM and emotional worship. I’d agree that an emotional experience for the sake of an emotional experience is not what it’s all about; I misunderstood your meaning. Mormons teach to respond to the “burning in your breast,” and don’t go any further than that; and I’m sure you know that Mormonism is a non- (read: anti-) Christian cult. (Not the Christian denomination it tries to pass itself off as). I guess I think we Christians should have some sort of synergistic balance — a reasoned emotional response in faith, if you will — not necessarily the heirarchy the BSF leader described.

    But there are people that IMO go too far to the other extreme, as well. I recall a recent conversation with my father in which he pined for the “good old days” when people in church were quiet and reserved (and silent, stark and emotionless), with no raising of hands or calling out. I’m not entirely convinced that they weren’t at least a little emotionally repressed — or stunted, to use your word.

    At any rate, I have to wonder when I see either extreme — congregants who look like they’re attending either a funeral or a pep rally. But I guess we should take a libertarian view of that. But in music or in worship, or in daily life, as long as the foundation is “grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone,” everything else is really just stage dressing, isn’t it?

15. Cliff Says:
    March 21st, 2007 at 2:44 pm

    I must be out of tune with CCm, When did they start using stadium names—Reliant K ?
    Where are the days when you could tell an artist by their sound, Today they all sound the same, ofcourse that just may be my age showing thru–Give me some Petra and lets Go.

16. Lindsay Says:
    March 26th, 2007 at 10:55 am

    I think every generation has this conflict, don’t you? What’s ‘good’ music, ‘real’ music, etc.? There are some types of music that have proven themselves through many generations. However, many types of music styles and tastes change throughout the generations.

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