Christian music industry

The Christian music industry is one aspect of the broader music industry, with a focus on Christian music and subgenres such as gospel music, southern gospel, contemporary Christian music, contemporary worship music, and even traditional church music. It is sometimes called the gospel music industry, a narrower term that does not encompass all the musical genres included here. Like its broader category, the Christian music industry consists of individuals and organizations that earn money through writing songs, producing recorded music, presenting concerts, and performances on Christian radio. The Christian market also includes some unique aspects, such as hymnal production and church music licensed for congregational singing. From its roots in the 1920s, the developing Christian music industry exhibited unique tensions between religious, musical, and commercial goals. While it was subject to the same economic and market forces as the entire music industry, the Christian subgenre was also subject to different aesthetic and social boundaries. This was often expressed as a tension between “secular” and “sacred” ideals. Recent scholarship explores why Christian music remained marginal to the general market, was largely critiqued by mainstream media, and was often criticized for being derivative.