The music industry takes sales as gospel
For the music industry, it's a good time to be in the God business.
With each passing year, the hand-wringing over the downturn in record sales becomes a little more desperate. But one genre continues to experience steady growth: gospel and Christian music.
In July, the Gospel Music Association -- which tracks artists who express Christian ideals in their music and hands out the Dove Awards, gospel's Grammy equivalent -- reported that sales were up a hallelujah-inducing 11.6 percent over last year.
Consumers aren't the only ones who have increasingly embraced a gospel message in recent years. It's become a growing trend for mainstream artists known strictly for secular music to release albums singing His praises.
This year alone, superstar country acts Alan Jackson and Alabama, R&B stars Patti LaBelle and Kelly Price, and blues-rock guitarist Jonny Lang entered the sanctuary.
These latest worshipers join a new-millennium flock that includes "American Idol" winner Ruben Studdard, Michelle Williams of Destiny's Child, Gladys Knight, Aaron Neville, and Smokey Robinson, as well as country veteran Randy Travis.
They're building on a longstanding tradition, of course: Country and soul artists, from Dolly Parton to Aretha Franklin, have long either sprung from the church choir or periodically joined up with it.
"The old joke in country music was that you couldn't die and go to heaven unless you did at least one gospel album," says Wade Jessen, director of Christian and gospel charts for Billboard and Radio & Records.
But now these discs are selling exceptionally well -- Jackson's "Precious Memories" went platinum, a rarity in gospel.
"The people who are philosophically aligned with that [Christian] point of view are a very large minority in this country," says John Styll, president of the Gospel Music Association. "So it shouldn't really be a big surprise that when you take that message and combine it with music that people like, like country or pop, that it's popular."
Still, most in the industry, including the artists themselves, say the movement toward praise and worship by mainstream artists has more to do with divine coincidence than financial motivation -- though the latter is a factor.
Veteran gospel singer-songwriter Freda Battle released the acclaimed "Here Is Our Praise" this past summer and serves as minister of music at Jubilee Christian Church in Boston. "If your career isn't really doing the greatest in terms of mainstream music, coming back to gospel or Christian music gives you the chance to be the big fish in the little pond," she points out.
That said, she believes most artists are sincere in their beliefs. "A lot of them have basic roots in being raised in church or being raised listening to gospel or Christian music," she says.
Styll agrees. "I think that this is something that the artists believe in and want to do to some extent regardless of commercial success. Despite the good news on sales, this is still a niche market. I don't see anybody saying let's go after this niche market in hopes of making a killing."
Randy Owen, lead singer of Alabama, says financial success was the furthest thing from his mind when his group recorded "Songs of Inspiration," a project that had been brewing for 15 years. "I had no idea that the music that I grew up listening to and that my mom and dad and my grandparents all used to sing would be so important to the world," he says of the album's success on both the country and Christian charts.
LaBelle, who has long included a gospel segment in her live show, released "The Gospel According to Patti LaBelle" last week. But even if it sells to high heaven, she won't see a dime. "I'm definitely not in it for the money for me," says LaBelle with a laugh. She's donating all the proceeds to cancer-related charities. (The disease claimed the lives of her three sisters and her longtime music director.) "So they can't say that I jumped on the gospel train to make money. You know how it is, honey, they'll say, 'Oh, she wasn't doing so good with secular so she went gospel.' No, I've been gospel!"
But perhaps these artists are drifting toward this music now for the same reasons listeners have been drawn to it over the past few years, amid troubled times.
"I think there's just absolutely no way to have this discussion without going back to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001," says Billboard's Jessen. "That really was a turning point in a lot of people's lives in this country. Five years ago there was a lot of noise in the consumer press about how after the terrorist attacks a lot of people were rediscovering their spiritual roots, going back to church."
"I think it has a lot to do with war and with the hurricanes and the tsunami and everything that's been happening," says LaBelle. "People have to cling to something, and you know [gospel music] is a wonderful place to cling."
Now more than ever fans can cling to a style that suits them. Whether one is a fan of mellow adult contemporary music, hard rock, soul, hip-hop, or country, there is a Christian music option for every flavor -- be it the earnestness of Michael W. Smith, the blaring guitars of Relient K, the rootsiness of Casting Crowns , or the ecstatic grooves of R&B sister act Mary, Mary.
"People ask about the future of gospel music, and I say it's great, because it's any kind of music that you like," says Styll.
Jessen also points out that major labels such as
But what about illegal downloading? It's often cited as an explanation for dwindling record sales. Could the rise in gospel numbers be connected to Christian ethical concerns about file sharing?
No, according to Eric Garland, CEO of Big Champagne Online Media Measurement, which tracks both legal and illegal downloading. Apparently the "thou shalt not steal" commandment is being overridden by a spread-the-gospel fervor.
"There's no question that younger Christian music fans are downloading free MP3s at a record pace," Garland says, citing alternative-skewing bands such as Relient K and Switchfoot as favorites. But, he says, in respondent research -- when Big Champagne sits down to talk to the kids -- they're torn over their behavior but justify it by saying they're spreading the word, their ultimate mission as Christians.
In part, gospel sales may be rising because more of them are being documented. The mainstream acts crossing over "have had an impact because they count [as gospel] according to SoundScan," says Styll. "But even if you took Alan Jackson out of the mix, we would still be up."
Jessen believes that plenty of music still eludes the SoundScan radar. "When you look at how it sells, you realize there is still a tremendous amount of recorded music product that is actually sold at venues, in churches, and out of the backs of cars that doesn't get counted. I think if we knew the truth about religious music, it would be an eye-opener for a lot of people."
Be it at the hands of longtime artists or disciples-come-lately, those in the industry are thankful for the current prosperity and hopeful about what is to come.
"I'm always blown away at the audiences beyond the church doors," says Battle, who receives a joyous reception from fans of all ages and denominations at college campuses and community centers. "People, whether they've never heard gospel or they've heard it all their lives, the response is always the same. I think sometimes you just want to hear something positive."
