Editing Christian music industry (section)

==History==
The contemporary Christian music industry has roots in the late 1960s and early 1970s [[Jesus movement]] and its [[Jesus music]] artists. The ''Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music'' points out three reasons that the Christian music industry developed as a parallel structure to the general music industry.<ref name="Powell_Fe_intro">{{Harvnb|Powell|2002|loc="Introduction" pp. 9–13.}}</ref> First, the Jesus movement produced a large number of bands in a very short period, which the general market was unable and/or unwilling to absorb.<ref name="Powell_Fe_intro"/> This was in part due to a lack of appreciation for the ideology expressed by such artists.<ref name="Powell_Fe_intro"/> Finally, Jesus music artists tended toward mistrust of secular corporations.<ref name="Powell_Fe_intro"/> According to another critic, the industry in this period was defined by four characteristics: lack of audience acceptance for styles, inferior production, inefficient distribution, and lack of wide radio exposure.<ref name="RPCinA"/> [[Petra (band)|Petra]], for instance, struggled to find an audience for their hard rock sound, partially due to limited distribution to Christian bookstores.<ref name="Cusic_PART4">{{harvnb|Cusic|2002|loc=Part Four, pp. 279–386}}</ref>

Even so, the 1970s saw established corporations become involved in the Christian music market. [[Word Records]], founded in 1951, was bought in 1976 by [[ABC Records|ABC]].<ref name="Mount_Web">{{cite book|last=Mount |first=Daniel J. |title=A City on a Hilltop? The History of Contemporary Christian Music |year=2005 |url=http://www.danielmount.net/ccm.html |access-date=2007-02-12 |page=50 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070203163712/http://www.danielmount.net/ccm.html |archive-date=February 3, 2007 }}</ref> Other music industry giants also got involved, [[Columbia Records|CBS]] started a short-lived Christian label, Priority Records, and [[MCA Records|MCA]] also fielded a label, Songbird Records, for a time.

While the Jesus movement had ended by the 1980s, the Christian music industry was maturing and transforming into a multimillion-dollar enterprise. The early 1980s saw an increase Christian booksellers taking product, and an increase in sales followed, despite [[Domestic policy of the Reagan administration#"Reaganomics" and the economy|the recession]].<ref name="Cusic_PART4"/> As a percentage of gross sales, Christian music rose from 9% in 1976 to 23% in 1985.<ref name="Cusic_PART4"/> By [[Age to Age|her 1982 release]] [[Amy Grant]] had saturated the Christian marketplace and made significant inroads into the general market.<ref name="Cusic_PART4"/> [[Sandi Patti]] and [[Michael W. Smith]] also gained influence within Christian music, each playing significant roles in the development of the industry.<ref name="Cusic_PART4"/>

Harder forms of Christian music, such as [[metal music|heavy metal]], also began to gain acceptance. This is largely credited to [[Stryper]], who had begun making inroads into the general market by 1985.<ref name="Hale_93">{{cite book |last=Hale |first=Mark |title=Headbangers |year=1993 |publisher=Popular Culture, Ink. |location=[[Ann Arbor, Michigan]] |edition=First edition, second printing |isbn=1-56075-029-4 |chapter=2869 |page=336}}</ref> Still, rock and [[Christian alternative rock|alternative]] acts faced a longer battle for acceptance than [[Contemporary Christian music|contemporary]] acts, as the form was opposed by prominent religious leaders such as [[Jimmy Swaggart]] and others on the [[Christian right]].<ref name="CCM_28_5">{{cite journal |date=June 1985 |title=Christian Rock Wars: Evangelist [[Jimmy Swaggart]] Tells Why He Hates Today's Christian Rock |journal=[[CCM Magazine]] |issn=1524-7848 |volume=7 |issue=12 |pages=14–17 }}</ref><ref name="DTT_CROCK">{{cite web |url=http://www.av1611.org/articles.html#Crock |title=Articles / Christian Music |publisher=Dial-the-Truth Ministries}}</ref> While in 1981 total gospel music industry revenues were approximately $180&nbsp;million, only ten years later they would total $680&nbsp;million, according to ''CCM Magazine''.<ref name="CCM_14_6">{{cite journal |last=Gascon |first=Ana |date=December 1991 |title=A Music Video Network That Needs To Be Zeen |journal=[[CCM Magazine]] |issn=1524-7848 |volume=14 |issue=6 |page=12 }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="float:right; text-align:center;"
|+RIAA sales, 1995–2000
! Year
! %
! $
! class="unsortable" | Source
|-
| 1995
| 3.1
| 381
|<ref name="CCMU_19971222">{{cite journal |last=Warren |first=Lindy |title=Top 15 Impact-makers in 1997 |journal=CCM Update |date=December 22, 1997|oclc=22937802 }}</ref>
|-
| 1996
| 4.3
| 538
|<ref name="CCMU_19971222"/>
|-
| 1997
| 4.5
| 549
|<ref name="CCMU_19990329"/>
|-
| 1998
| 6.3
| 836
|<ref name="CCMU_19990329">{{cite journal |last=Gillespie |first=Natalie Nichols |title=Gospel Music Sees Record-setting RIAA Numbers |journal=CCM Update |date=March 29, 1999|oclc=22937802 }}</ref>
|-
| 1999
| 5.1
| 744
|<ref name="CCMU_20010319"/>
|-
| 2000
| 4.8
| 688
|<ref name="CCMU_20010319">{{cite journal |last=Warren |first=Lindy |title=RIAA Consumer Report: Christian Music Marketshare Declines in 2000 |journal=CCM Update |date=March 19, 2001|oclc=22937802 }}</ref>
|- class="sortbottom"
| colspan="4"  style="font-size:80%; text-align:left; margin:0; padding:0; vertical-align:top;"|
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed"  style="float:top; width:100%;"
|-
! Notes
|-
|
*Percentage figures out of<br /> total music market.
*Dollar figures in millions.
*[[Recording Industry Association of America|RIAA]] figures often differ<br />from those reported<br />by [[Nielsen SoundScan]].
*These figures represent<br />only revenue from album sales,<br />and exclude other sources.
|}
|}

According to RIAA data, market share for sales of Christian music albums more than doubled between 1993 and 1997.<ref name="CCMU_19970317"/> In the 1990s the Christian music industry became the fastest growing segment of the music industry.<ref name="CCMU_19970317">{{cite journal |last=Gillespie |first=Natalie Nichols |title=Gospel Is Fastest-Growing Genre |journal=CCM Update |date=March 17, 1997|oclc=22937802 }}</ref> This was due to several factors, including consolidation of record labels, and independent Christian bookstores into chains.<ref name="Cusic_PART4"/>

The Christian music industry began adopting SoundScan in 1995, although implementation was spotty even into the millennium. Even so, the adoption caused the visibility of Christian artists to increase significantly, and brought credibility to the industry as Christian albums became integrated into all [[Billboard charts|''Billboard'' charts]].<ref name="Cusic_PART4"/><ref name="CCMU_19990712">{{cite journal |last=Brasher |first=Joan |title=Christian Music's Mid-Year Sales Jump 21 Percent |journal=CCM Update |date=July 12, 1999|oclc=22937802 }}</ref><ref name="CCMU_1995_Review">{{cite journal |last=Akins |first=Debra |title=The Year in Review: 1995 Broke New Ground for Christian Music |journal=CCM Update |year=1995|oclc=22937802 }}</ref>

In 1985, 90% of Christian music sales originated at Christian bookstores. By 1995, that number had dropped to 64%, with general retailers taking 21%, and the remainder accountable through other methods, such as direct mail.<ref name="Cusic_PART4"/> At that same time, the industry was estimated to gross $750&nbsp;million, with $381&nbsp;million in album sales.<ref name="Econ_1995-08-19">{{cite news|title=God's Own Country|newspaper=The Economist|volume=336|issue=7928|date=August 19, 1995}}</ref> In the late 1990s, general market retailers, especially big box stores such as [[Best Buy]], [[Walmart]], [[Target Corporation|Target]], and [[Blockbuster Inc.|Blockbuster]] began carrying a wider selection of Christian music products.<ref name="CCMU_19980126">{{cite journal |last=Warren |first=Lindy |title=CMTA Launches Dove Retail, Radio Campaign, Wal-Mart to expand Christian music sections |journal=CCM Update |date=January 26, 1998|oclc=22937802 }}</ref> By 2000 those stores had surpassed Christian retail in terms of the number of Christian albums sold, according to [[Soundscan]] numbers.<ref name="CCMU_20020107">{{cite journal |last=Connor |first=Lizza |title=Christian Music Sales Set Record for 2001: Gap between general-market and Christian retailers widest in SoundScan history |journal=CCM Update |date=January 7, 2002|oclc=22937802 }}</ref><ref name="CCMU_20011119">{{cite journal |last=Warren |first=Lindy |title=General-market Competition Focus for CBA Expo 2002 |journal=CCM Update |date=November 19, 2001|oclc=22937802 }}</ref> This phenomenon was partially responsible for crossover successes. [[P.O.D.]], for example, sold 1.4&nbsp;million albums in 2001, although sales at Christian retail outlets accounted for only 10%.<ref name="CCMU_20020107"/>

The new millennium has brought [[2000s in music industry|challenges for the record industry]] as a whole, and these have affected the Christian music industry as well.<ref name="CYTY_09_Recession">{{cite journal |last=Geil |first=Mark |title=Music in Recession |journal=[[Christianity Today]] |date=June 2, 2009|issn=0009-5753 |url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/music/commentaries/2009/musicinrecession.html }}</ref> [[Contemporary worship music]], a long time staple of the industry, began to gain significant [[market share]] in about the year 2000.<ref name="CR_46_8">{{cite journal |last=Feinberg |first=Margaret |author-link=Margaret Feinberg |title=Modern Worship Is Exploding |journal=Christian Retailing |date=April 15, 2000 |pages=45–56 |volume=46 |issue=8 }}</ref><ref name="CBAJ_32_7">{{cite journal |last=McCabe |first=Ginny |title=Praise & Worship Music Changing for the Millennium |journal=CBA Marketplace |date=July 1999 |volume=32 |issue=7 |page=222 }}</ref> By focusing on marketing worship music to youth culture, this genre became a growth driver despite the downturn in the general music industry.<ref name="BB_111_18">{{cite magazine |last=Price |first=Deborah Evans |date=May 1, 1999 |title=Worship Music Targets Youth |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |issn=0006-2510 |volume=111 |issue=18 }}</ref><ref name="BB_118_13"/><ref name="BB_115_07">{{cite magazine |last=Price |first=Deborah Evans |date=February 15, 2003 |title=Praise and Worship Genre Blessed With Global Growth |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |issn=0006-2510 |volume=115 |issue=7 }}</ref><ref name="CCMU_20000529">{{cite journal |last=Riddle |first=Melissa |title=Modern Worship Music Booms: Labels scramble to meet demand |journal=CCM Update |date=May 29, 2000|oclc=22937802 }}</ref>

{{Quote box|quote="The money is just drying up.<br />And it's not being replaced."|source=John W. Styll, president, [[Gospel Music Association]] and longtime ''[[CCM Magazine|CCM]]'' publisher<ref name="CYTY_09_Recession"/>|width=25%}}

Growth continued until about 2003,<ref name="BB_118_13">{{cite magazine |date=April 1, 2006 |title=Gospel and Christian |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |issn=0006-2510 |volume=118 |issue=13 |pages=35–37 }}</ref> but has generally followed the trends of the larger music industry since that point. In 2009 a ''[[New York Times]]'' [[op-ed]] placed the entire music industry on a "deathwatch,"<ref>{{cite news |first=Charles M. |last=Blow |author-link=Charles M. Blow |title=Swan Songs? |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=2009-09-23 |page=A17 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/01/opinion/01blow.html |date=July 31, 2009}}</ref> pointing out that new forms of media, piracy, and new pricing options are driving gross sales down. In another example of parallelism, the Christian music industry has experienced largely the same phenomenon. In the Christian marketplace, music consumption has risen by as much as 30% since 2005, but overall album sales have dropped to about half of their 1999 levels.<ref name="CYTY_09_Recession"/> However, some critics point out that the current downturn may have long term positive effects for the industry. [[John J. Thompson]] told ''[[Christianity Today]]'' that "The lack of monetary benefit has filtered out some of the people who should not have been doing this in the first place. If the people who are in it for the money are gone, it leaves more turf for those who had something a little bit loftier in mind."<ref name="CYTY_09_Recession"/>