1.
Christian music industry
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The Christian music industry is a small part of the larger music industry, that focuses on traditional Gospel music, Southern gospel, contemporary Christian music, and alternative Christian music. It is sometimes called the music industry, although this designation is not a limitation on the musical styles represented. Christian artists generally use secular styles, pairing them with lyrics that display faith, generally speaking, the industry is influenced by mainstream culture. Musical trends, for instance, follow those of the secular scene, the Christian music industry carries the distinction of being the only music subculture whose content is labeled by its lyrical dimension rather than its music. Still, music within the industry is sold by its musical style rather than lyrical content, Christian musics critics point to the divergent interests of commercialization and ministry, which have, according to some, polar opposite goals. Aspects of Christian music have long struggled to gain general acceptance, what some see as secularization and a lacking of direct theology, others see as artistic ministry. This opens up questions of the definition of Christian music that have lingered over the industry since its inception, the Christian music industry experienced tremendous growth in the 1990s. Christian music sales grew to exceed those for classical, jazz, even so, the Christian music industry has experienced the same issues as the general market in recent years. The contemporary Christian music industry has roots in the late 1960s and early 1970s Jesus Movement, 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. First, the Jesus movement produced a number of bands in a very short period. This was in due to a lack of appreciation for the ideology expressed by such artists. Finally, Jesus music artists tended toward mistrust of secular corporations, petra, for instance, struggled to find an audience for their hard rock sound, partially due to limited distribution to Christian bookstores. 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. Other music industry giants also got involved, CBS started a short-lived Christian label, Priority Records, while the Jesus movement had ended by the 1980s, the Christian music industry was maturing and transforming into a multi-million dollar enterprise. The early 1980s saw an increase Christian booksellers taking product, as a percentage of gross sales, Christian music rose from 9% in 1976 to 23% in 1985. By her 1982 release Amy Grant had saturated the Christian marketplace, Sandi Patti and Michael W. Smith also gained influence within Christian music, each playing significant roles in the development of the industry. Harder forms of Christian music, such as metal, also began to gain acceptance. This is largely credited to Stryper, who had begun making inroads into the market by 1985
2.
Nashville, Tennessee
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Nashville is the capital of the U. S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in the central part of the state. The city is a center for the music, healthcare, publishing, banking and transportation industries and it is known as a center of the country music industry, earning it the nickname Music City, U. S. A. Since 1963, Nashville has had a consolidated city-county government which includes six municipalities in a two-tier system. Nashville is governed by a mayor, vice-mayor, and 40-member Metropolitan Council, thirty-five of the members are elected from single-member districts, five are elected at-large. Reflecting the citys position in government, Nashville is home to the Tennessee Supreme Courts courthouse for Middle Tennessee. According to 2015 estimates from the U. S. Census Bureau, the balance population, which excludes semi-independent municipalities within Nashville, was 654,610. The 2015 population of the entire 13-county Nashville metropolitan area was 1,830,345, the 2015 population of the Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Columbia combined statistical area, a larger trade area, was 1,951,644. The town of Nashville was founded by James Robertson, John Donelson, and it was named for Francis Nash, the American Revolutionary War hero. Nashville quickly grew because of its location, accessibility as a port on the Cumberland River, a tributary of the Ohio River. By 1800, the city had 345 residents, including 136 African American slaves and 14 free blacks, in 1806, Nashville was incorporated as a city and became the county seat of Davidson County, Tennessee. In 1843, the city was named the permanent capital of the state of Tennessee, by 1860, when the first rumblings of secession began to be heard across the South, antebellum Nashville was a prosperous city. The citys significance as a port made it a desirable prize as a means of controlling important river. In February 1862, Nashville became the first state capital to fall to Union troops, the state was occupied by Union troops for the duration of the war. Within a few years after the Civil War, the Nashville chapter of the Ku Klux Klan was founded by Confederate veteran John W. Morton, meanwhile, the city had reclaimed its important shipping and trading position and developed a solid manufacturing base. The post–Civil War years of the late 19th century brought new prosperity to Nashville and these healthy economic times left the city with a legacy of grand classical-style buildings, which can still be seen around the downtown area. Circa 1950 the state approved a new city charter that provided for the election of city council members from single-member districts. This change was supported because at-large voting diluted the minority populations political power in the city and they could seldom gain a majority of the population to support a candidate of their choice
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Atlanta
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Atlanta is the capital of and the most populous city in the U. S. state of Georgia, with an estimated 2015 population of 463,878. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, home to 5,710,795 people, Atlanta is the county seat of Fulton County, and a small portion of the city extends eastward into DeKalb County. In 1837, Atlanta was founded at the intersection of two lines, and the city rose from the ashes of the American Civil War to become a national center of commerce. Atlantas economy is considered diverse, with dominant sectors that include logistics, professional and business services, media operations, Atlanta has topographic features that include rolling hills and dense tree coverage. Revitalization of Atlantas neighborhoods, initially spurred by the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, has intensified in the 21st century, altering the demographics, politics. Prior to the arrival of European settlers in north Georgia, Creek Indians inhabited the area, standing Peachtree, a Creek village located where Peachtree Creek flows into the Chattahoochee River, was the closest Indian settlement to what is now Atlanta. As part of the removal of Native Americans from northern Georgia from 1802 to 1825, the Creek ceded the area in 1821. In 1836, the Georgia General Assembly voted to build the Western, the initial route was to run southward from Chattanooga to a terminus east of the Chattahoochee River, which would then be linked to Savannah. After engineers surveyed various possible locations for the terminus, the zero milepost was driven into the ground in what is now Five Points. A year later, the area around the milepost had developed into a settlement, first known as Terminus, and later as Thrasherville after a merchant who built homes. By 1842, the town had six buildings and 30 residents and was renamed Marthasville to honor the Governors daughter, later, J. Edgar Thomson, Chief Engineer of the Georgia Railroad, suggested the town be renamed Atlantica-Pacifica, which was shortened to Atlanta. The residents approved, and the town was incorporated as Atlanta on December 29,1847, by 1860, Atlantas population had grown to 9,554. During the American Civil War, the nexus of multiple railroads in Atlanta made the city a hub for the distribution of military supplies, in 1864, the Union Army moved southward following the capture of Chattanooga and began its invasion of north Georgia. On the next day, Mayor James Calhoun surrendered Atlanta to the Union Army, on November 11,1864, Sherman prepared for the Union Armys March to the Sea by ordering Atlanta to be burned to the ground, sparing only the citys churches and hospitals. After the Civil War ended in 1865, Atlanta was gradually rebuilt, due to the citys superior rail transportation network, the state capital was moved from Milledgeville to Atlanta in 1868. In the 1880 Census, Atlanta surpassed Savannah as Georgias largest city, by 1885, the founding of the Georgia School of Technology and the citys black colleges had established Atlanta as a center for higher education. In 1895, Atlanta hosted the Cotton States and International Exposition, during the first decades of the 20th century, Atlanta experienced a period of unprecedented growth. In three decades time, Atlantas population tripled as the city expanded to include nearby streetcar suburbs
4.
Trinity Broadcasting Network
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The Trinity Broadcasting Network is an international Christian-based broadcast television network. Operating as an independent entity, TBN is also the worlds largest religious television network, TBN was headquartered in Costa Mesa, California until March 3,2017 when it sold its highly visible office park. The broadcaster will retain its Tustin facilities, auxiliary studio facilities are located in Irving, Texas, Hendersonville, Tennessee, Gadsden, Alabama, Decatur, Georgia, Miami, Florida, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Orlando, Florida, and New York City. TBN also offers a range of original programming, and faith-based films from various distributors. TBN owns and operates six broadcast networks, each reaching separate demographics, in addition to the main TBN network, TBN owns Hillsong Channel, Smile, TBN Enlace, TBN Salsa and JUCE TV. It also owns several other networks outside of the United States. Matt Crouch currently serves as TBNs president and head of operations, the Trinity Broadcasting Network was co-founded in 1973 by Paul Crouch, an Assemblies of God minister, and spouse Jan Crouch as KTBN. TBN began their activities by renting time on independent station KBSA in Ontario. After that station was sold, he began buying two hours a day of programming time on KLXA-TV in Fontana, California in early 1974 and that station was put up for sale shortly afterward. Paul Crouch then placed a bid to buy the station for $1 million, initially, the station ran Christian programs for about six hours a day. The fledgling network was so weak in its first days, that, according to Crouch in his autobiography and it almost went bankrupt after just two days on the air. TBN began national distribution through cable providers in 1978. The ministry, which known as the Trinity Broadcasting Network. The network was a member of the National Religious Broadcasters association until 1990, in 1977, the ministry purchased KPAZ-TV in Phoenix, Arizona, becoming its second television station property. TBNs availability eventually expanded to 95% of American households by early 2005, TBNs programming is available by default via a national feed distributed to cable and satellite providers in markets without a local TBN station. Worldwide, TBNs channels are broadcast on 70 satellites and over 18,000 television, the TBN networks are also streamed live on the internet globally, the network also provides select archived shows on demand, through the website and select IPTV services. During 2010, citing economic problems and a lack of donations, TBN closed down, of those,17 were sold to another Christian television network, Daystar. On April 13,2012, TBN sold 36 of its translators to Regal Media, a group headed by George Cooney
5.
Christian rock
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Christian rock is a form of rock music that promotes Jesus and is typically performed by self-proclaimed Christian individuals and bands whose members focus the lyrics on matters of Christian faith. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Christian varies between bands, many bands who perform Christian rock have ties to the contemporary Christian music labels, media outlets, and festivals, while other bands are independent. In 1952 Archibald Davison, a Harvard professor, summed up the sound of traditional Christian music, based upon Archibald Davisons statement it is easy to see how different these two genres of music are. Religious people in regions of the United States did not want their children exposed to music with unruly, impassioned vocals, loud guitar riffs and jarring. Rock and roll differed from the norm, and thus it was seen as a threat, often the music was overtly sexual in nature, as in the case of Elvis Presley, who became controversial and massively popular partly for his suggestive stage antics and dancing. However, Elvis was a person who even released a gospel album. Individual Christians may have listened to or even performed rock music in many cases and he Touched Me was a 1972 gospel music album by Elvis Presley which sold over 1 million copies in the US alone and earned Presley his second of three Grammy Awards. Not counting compilations, it was his third and final album devoted exclusively to gospel music, the song He Touched Me was written in 1963 by Bill Gaither, an American singer and songwriter of southern gospel and Contemporary Christian music. In the 1960s, rock music developed artistically, attained popularity and became associated with the radical counterculture. This further increased the Christian opposition to rock music, moreover, many saw the music as promoting a lifestyle of promiscuous sex, drugs and rock and roll, also reflected in the behavior of many rock stars. However, there was growing recognition of the musical and ideological potential of rock. One of his songs, Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music, summarized his attitude and his quest to pioneer Christian rock music. Another Christian rock pioneer, Randy Stonehill, released his first album in 1971, in the most common pressing of the album, side one is entirely a live performance. Another early Christian rock album was Mylon by Mylon LeFevre, son of members of the gospel group The LeFevres. He recorded the album with members of Classics IV and released it through Cotillion Records in 1970, petra and Resurrection Band, two of the bands who brought harder rock into the early CCM community, had their origins in the early to mid-1970s. They reached their height in popularity in the late eighties alongside other Christian-identifying hard rock such as Stryper. The latter had played on MTV, one being To Hell with the Devil. Christian rock has proved successful in the UK and Europe, although such artists as Bryn Haworth have found commercial success by combining blues
6.
Contemporary Christian music
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Contemporary Christian music is a genre of modern popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith. Today, the term is used to refer to pop, rock. Top-selling CCM artists will also appear on the Billboard 200, in the iTunes Store, the genre is represented as part of the Christian and gospel genre. The growing popularity in the styles of Rock n Roll music in the 1950s was initially dismissed by the church because it was believed to encourage sinfulness. Yet as evangelical churches adapted to appeal to people, the musical styles used in worship changed as well by adopting the sounds of this popular style. The genre became known as contemporary Christian music as a result of the Jesus movement revival in the latter 1960s and early 1970s, about that time, many young people from the sixties counterculture professed to believe in Jesus. Convinced of the bareness of a lifestyle based on drugs, free sex, however, there were people who felt that Jesus was another trip. It was during the 1970s Jesus movement that Christian music started to become an industry within itself, Jesus Music started by playing instruments and singing songs about love and peace, which then translated into love of God. Paul Wohlegemuth, who wrote the book Rethinking Church Music, said 1970s will see a marked acceptance of rock-influenced music in all levels of church music. The rock style will become familiar to all people, its rhythmic excesses will become refined. Larry Norman is often remembered as the father of Christian rock and he is remembered as the artist who first combined rock n roll with Christian lyrics in the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. Unlike traditional or southern gospel music, this new Jesus music was birthed out of rock, pioneers of this movement also included Keith Green, 2nd Chapter of Acts, Barry McGuire, Andraé Crouch and the Disciples, Evie, Benny Hester, and The Imperials, among others. The small Jesus music culture had expanded into an industry by the 1980s. Many CCM artists such as Benny Hester, Amy Grant, DC Talk, Michael W. Smith, Stryper, the genre emerged and became prevalent in the 1970s and 1980s. Beginning in July 1978, CCM Magazine began covering Contemporary Christian Music artists and it has certain themes and messages behind the songs and their lyrics including Praise and worship, faith, encouragement, and prayer. These songs also focus on themes of devotion, inspiration, redemption, reconciliation, many people listen to contemporary Christian music for comfort through tough times. The lyrics and messages conveyed in CCM songs are aimed to evangelize, one of the earliest goals of CCM was to spread the news of Jesus to non-Christians. In addition, contemporary Christian music also strengthens the faith of believers, Contemporary Christian music has influences from folk, gospel, pop and rock music
7.
Christian hip hop
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Christian hip hop is hip hop music characterized by a Christian worldview, with the general purposes of evangelization, edifying some members of the church and/or simply entertaining. It emphasizes the use of positive and uplifting messages to promote faith, Christian hip hop, blending rhythmic music and faith-based lyrics, first emerged on record in 1982 with a track entitled Jesus Christ by Queens, New York artist McSweet. The first full-length, Christian hip hop album, Bible Break, other early Christian hip recording artists from the mid-1980s included P. I. D. who recorded to funky rock rhythms, as well as JC & the Boys and Michael Peace. The first notable full album released was Stephen Wileys Bible Break, written by Wiley, in the same year by David Guzman founded JC & The Boyz. Some of Americas premiere Christian rappers, such as, Michael Peace, SFC, Dynamic Twins, MC Peace, a more commercially successful crew known as P. I. D. Michael Peace is an American rapper and one of Christian raps first solo artists, in the late 1980s, other crews emerged, including dc Talk, E. T. W. and S. F. C. ETW was led by producer/artist Mike Hill who went on to one of the largest inner city youth groups in the country out of Tulsa Oklahoma. S. F. C. was led by Chris Cooper who originally rapped as Super C and later became Sup the Chemist, Christian emcee Danny D-Boy Rodriguez was another well-known early Gospel rap artist, but was murdered in 1990 in Texas. She would go on to release an album in 1991. The 1990s saw the trend of funky rap artists blending faith and rap, such as D. O. C. who emerged from Oklahoma as well as the Gospel Gangstaz from Compton. In 1991, JC Crew emerged featuring Maximillian and T-Bone, other Christian rap artists include Dynamic Twins, Freedom of Soul, IDOL King, Apocalypse, 12th Tribe, and Holy Alliance. 12th Tribe and Holy Alliance were produced by Scott Blackwell of MYX Records, S. F. C. s 1992 album Phase III was DJed and produced by DJ Dove, whose credits also include the Gang Affiliated, Gospel Gangstas 1993 debut album. Around the same time as Phase III, Dynamic Twins came out with their 1993 album No Room To Breathe, Freedom of Soul followed with their second album, The Second Coming, also their last album as a group. The label was among the first to market the Contemporary Christian music market through distribution at Christian bookstores and playing on Christian radio. This trend continued with other such as Tooth & Nails Uprok Records and others that gave an outlet to hip hop artists who identified themselves as Christian. Recently, a number of artists and labels such as Reach Records, Grace and Peace Records, Kirk Franklin joined with the 1 Nation Crew in the album Kirk Franklin Presents 1NC. In September 2009, the Higherground Record Pool and One Accord DJ Alliance held their first Gospel DJ Conference at the Crowne Plaza, Queens, the first known Gospel DJs were honored at the event. Kingdom Affiliates Record Pool also was represented at the conference, most recently Christian rap artists like Lecrae and his label-mates from Reach Records have been setting records with sales and award-winning albums
48th GMA Dove Awards
