Editing Christian music industry (section)

==="Ghetto" assertion===
Christian music is sometimes cited as a "ghetto,"<ref name="RPCinA"/><ref name="JMIA"/><ref name="AoR1999"/> meaning that the majority of artists in the industry are pigeonholed to operate solely in it. These artists are isolated from the mainstream public, to [[Christian media]], including radio, magazines, and book stores. For many this is a conscious choice, however others, not content to stay in an isolated industry segment, attempt to "cross over" and gain acceptance in the general market. For many artists, being called Christian becomes a [[wiktionary:stigma|stigma]].<ref name="Hendershot2002">{{harvnb|Hendershot|2004|loc=pp. 39–84}}</ref>

{{bar box
|float=right
|title=Name recognition in Christian music
|titlebar=#AAF
|left1=Artist
|right1=Familiarity
|width=300px
|bars=
{{bar percent 2|[[Amy Grant]]||green|70||red|67}}
{{bar percent 2|[[BeBe Winans|BeBe]] and [[CeCe Winans]]||green|43||red|13}}
{{bar percent 2|[[Sandi Patty]]||green|42||red|13}}
{{bar percent 2|[[Carman (singer)|Carman]]||green|33||red|9}}
{{bar percent 2|[[Michael W. Smith]]||green|30||red|10}}
{{bar percent 2|[[dc Talk]]||green|26||red|11}}
{{bar percent 2|[[Steven Curtis Chapman]]||green|26||red|6}}
|caption=A 1997 survey looked at familiarity with "well-known" Christian artists. Self-identified Christian music listeners in are shown in green, and the general public in red.<ref name="CCMU_19970526_s"/>
}}

A 1997 study revealed that a self-identified audience of "Christian music listeners" had what was considered a lacking recognition of Christian artists.<ref name="CCMU_19970526_s">{{cite journal |title=Consumer Survey Reveals Potential Markets for Christian Music |journal=CCM Update |date=May 26, 1997|oclc=22937802 }}</ref> The survey was commissioned by the [[Christian Music Trade Association]] and [[Z Music Television]]. The study looked at several artists including [[Amy Grant]], [[BeBe Winans|BeBe]] and [[CeCe Winans]], [[Carman (singer)|Carman]], [[Steven Curtis Chapman]], [[dc Talk]], [[Sandi Patty]], and [[Michael W. Smith]]. At the time of the survey, each of these artists was active in Christian music and had been so for at least nine years, was a multiple [[Dove Award]] and/or [[Grammy Award]] winner, and had albums [[RIAA certification|certified]] Gold or higher.

Even so, the survey found that the Christian music audience was no more familiar with artists in the field than they were with [[Hootie & The Blowfish]], a popular act at that time. The study concluded that the word "Christian" was the problem, causing a stigma. "It's the label, not the music, that dissuades," one Christian music executive was quoted as saying, agreeing with the survey.<ref name="CCMU_19970526_s"/>

Another aspect of the "ghetto" is that some artists have trouble gaining audience with Christians due to their non-conservative image.<ref name="Kyle_2006">{{harvnb|Kyle|2006|loc="If You Can't Beat 'em Join 'em" pp. 281–286}}</ref> [[Stryper]] is a well-known example. Stryper received large amounts of criticism from groups on the Christian right, who argue (among other things) that their image as rock stars contradict their espoused faith. One critic wrote that the marriage of secular and religious elements in "Christian music" "violates all that God has commanded in the Bible about [[Doctrine of separation|separation]]."<ref name="Truth85">{{cite book |last=Pyle |first=Hugh |title=The Truth About Rock Music |publisher=Sword of the Lord Publishers |location=[[Murfreesboro, Tennessee]] |year=1985 |isbn=0-87398-839-6}}</ref>

The "ghetto" has several effects, critics point out that the audience of such artists are often already Christians, thus limiting the impact of any supposed "evangelism."<ref name="JoAC_15_3">{{cite journal |doi=10.1111/j.1542-734X.1992.t01-1-00079.x |last=Romanowski |first=William D. |title=Roll Over Beethoven, Tell Martin Luther The News: American Evangelicals and Rock Music |pages=79–82 |journal=Journal of American Culture |volume=15 |issue=3 |date=Fall 1992 |publisher=[[Bowling Green State University]] }}</ref> Another is that artists sometimes have trouble appealing to and maintaining both secular and religious audiences. For example:

*One [[Jesus music]] artist, [[Randy Matthews]], ran into trouble at an early Christian music festival after announcing an upcoming tour with [[Lynyrd Skynyrd]] and [[ZZ Top]].<ref name="Powell_Fe_RM">{{Harvnb|Powell|2002|loc="Randy Matthews" pp. 566–569.}}</ref> The crowd, also reacting to his electric musical style, chased him off the stage, pronouncing him to be [[Demonic possession|demon]] or [[Drug abuse|drug]] possessed.<ref name="Powell_Fe_RM"/><ref name="CCM_3_6">{{cite journal |last=Rabey |first=Steve |date=December 1980 |title=Randy Matthews... The Long Road To Now |journal=[[CCM Magazine]] |issn=1524-7848 |volume=3 |issue=6 |page=14 }}</ref> Matthews was later dropped from the tour.
*After [[Bob Dylan]] announced his conversion to Christianity in 1979, he released three albums widely cited as being based on his newfound faith.<ref name="Powell_Fe_bdylan">{{Harvnb|Powell|2002|loc="Bob Dylan" pp. 277 – 286.}}</ref> Dylan spent several years touring and preaching from stage, though he never became a part of the "Christian music subculture."<ref name="Powell_Fe_bdylan"/> The result, as one critic bluntly puts it, was that "It didn't work. Christian music fans were characteristically suspicious of Dylan's failure to leave the world behind and become a part of their little ghetto, and the world at large tired quickly of paying money to hear him sing about religion."<ref name="Powell_Fe_bdylan"/> By 1981, Dylan had dropped the explicit religious references; both critics and audiences returned his music to acclaim.
*While commonly cited as the father of Christian rock, [[Larry Norman]] struggled to gain acceptance from the Christian music industry, and was largely estranged from it for his career.<ref name="Powell_Fe_LNorman">{{Harvnb|Powell|2002|loc="Larry Norman" pp. 633–641.}}</ref><ref name="CYTY_52_4">{{cite journal |title=Christian Rock's 'Father' Dies: icon Larry Norman was often estranged from the industry |journal=[[Christianity Today]] |date=April 2008 |volume=52 |issue=4 |page=13 |issn=0009-5753 }}</ref> His 1969 solo album, ''[[Upon This Rock (Larry Norman album)|Upon This Rock]]'', has been described by secular observers as "perhaps the first truly accomplished and relevant Christian rock testimony ever recorded,"<ref name="AllMusic_LN_1969">{{cite web | url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r90988|pure_url=yes}} | website=Allmusic | access-date=2009-04-26 |first=Vincent | last=Jeffries | title=''Upon This Rock''}}</ref> and 1972's ''[[Only Visiting This Planet]]'' became one of the most revered albums of all time in Christian music. Even so, Norman became, according to ''CCM'' "so far outside the mainstream that most of today's Christian music fans have no idea who Larry Norman is."<ref name="CCM_30_9_LN">{{cite journal |last=Thompson |first=John J. |author-link=John J. Thompson |date=April 2008 |title=Remembering Larry Norman |journal=[[CCM Magazine]] |issn=1524-7848 |volume=24 |issue=9 |page=42 }}</ref>

The problem, as summed by one critic, was that the music was too religious for secular audience, while simultaneously too aggressive for religious audiences.<ref name="JMIA"/><ref name="AoR1999"/> One critic describes the situation, stating that for a band "to be taken seriously outside the Christian scene, a band must stay far, far away from that scene."<ref name="CTTY_06_06">{{cite journal |last=Moll |first=Rob |title=Rock Un-Solid: When Christian bands bite the hands that praised them |journal=[[Christianity Today]] |url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/june/28.62.html |date=June 2006 }}</ref>

[[Mutemath]], for instance sued their record label with the goal of removing their product from the Christian market. [[Reset (Mute Math EP)|Their first release]] sold almost 30,000 copies, with "bulk of sales coming from the Christian market," according to ''Billboard''.<ref name="BB_118_10">{{cite journal |last=Martens |first=Todd |title=A question of faith: buzz band Mutemath, preferring secular rock, sues Warner |journal=[[Billboard Magazine]] |date=March 11, 2006 |volume=118 |issue=11 }}</ref> The band had been placed in the Christian market by their record label largely because their lead singer, [[Paul Meany]], was previously with the band [[Earthsuit]], whose [[Kaleidoscope Superior|only major label release]] was released on [[Sparrow Records|a Christian label]].

This caused the band to not get taken seriously by music critics, and by the release of [[Mutemath (album)|their full-length album]] the band began expressing discontent with their situation.<ref name="TW_Mutemath">{{cite news |last=Holub |first=Annie |url=http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/church-and-state/Content?oid=1083036 |title=Church and State: Mutemath fights the machine at Warner Bros |work=[[Tucson Weekly]] |date=January 19, 2006}}</ref> Meany told ''Tucson Weekly'' "...we began to see ourselves getting pigeonholed into this particular world that we weren't necessarily proud to be associated with... We're not trying to preach through our music; we don't have some kind of [[evangelistic]] agenda with what we're doing... You know, you don't want to be ashamed of your faith and your beliefs, but you don't want to be marketed by that, either."<ref name="TW_Mutemath"/>

On the other hand, some artists operate solely within the "ghetto" of Christian music, and find great success in doing so.