Christian music vs. Mainstream media

[Belthus]

I just bought for my mother a CD of violin concertos by Bach (http://www.amazon.com/Bach-Concertos-Johann-Sebastian/dp/B001IT74YW/). Does that count as Christian music?

[Belthus]

The reason you don't see Christian music promoted at the same scope as popular secular bands is because of the perception that if you are promoting the person and his/her music, you are promoting their message. I personally would like to change that, as it's a huge double standard that the U.S. strives for freedom of religion yet works so hard at excluding Christianity at every turn.

As I see it, the Christian entertainment industry is insular by design. The whole motivation for its creation was that fundamentalist/evangelical Christians consider the rest of the culture to be decadent and evil. It is part of a large scale withdrawal and self-segregation from the rest of society.

The notion that the music industry gives a sh-it about the content of the music, religious or otherwise, is absurd. It wants to make money and will produce CDs of tiger burps or iguana farts if it sees an opportunity for profit.

[jmizzle7]

Yes, that is the point of Christian music. It is because of this that it isn't promoted in the same way or on the same international scope as secular bands. Good musicians are featured all over the place, from movie soundtracks to TV shows to radio, and Christian musicians are left out of this loop. I personally would like to see a Christian artist invited to be on Saturday Night Live or the Jimmy Fallon show, for example, but I doubt this will happen. It's because of this that people such as yourself who know a lot of music are left out of the loop when it comes to Christian music, unless you look for it.

I just bought for my mother a CD of violin concertos by Bach (http://www.amazon.com/Bach-Concertos-Johann-Sebastian/dp/B001IT74YW/). Does that count as Christian music?

Haha! That's kinda funny. Technically yes, Bach was a Christian and signed every piece of music he wrote with "Soli Deo Gloria" (glory to God alone), but the concerto was a secular style that was not accepted by the church as sacred music. The contemporary definition I will use for Christian music is music written by Christians for God's glory.

[jmizzle7]

As I see it, the Christian entertainment industry is insular by design. The whole motivation for its creation was that fundamentalist/evangelical Christians consider the rest of the culture to be decadent and evil. It is part of a large scale withdrawal and self-segregation from the rest of society.

The notion that the music industry gives a sh-it about the content of the music, religious or otherwise, is absurd. It wants to make money and will produce CDs of tiger burps or iguana farts if it sees an opportunity for profit.

This is exactly my point. The success of many secular bands lies largely the quality of the music and less on the content of its lyrics. But, if a Christian musician/band were invited to play on a program like Saturday Night Live, the Jay Leno Show, or *gasp*, Oprah, then many non-Christians would believe that those hosting the musician approve of or promote the message of their lyrics. The point is I would like to see Christian musicians have access to the same venues as non-Christian musicians.

[jmizzle7]

I'm really surprised that there are so many people on this forum who listen to Christian music. Isn't it supposed to be really niche genre? Or is Elements a Christian flash game?

Out of all the hundreds of people I know personally, not a single one listens to any kind of religious music. Then again I'm from Europe so maybe it's different.

It's funny how I know a lot about music but I've never heard any of these names mentioned on this thread.

That's actually a common perception, SG. I was talking to the president of a new student organization on my college campus for student musicians, and when I told them that I was interested in Christian music, they responded, "Cool. There's really not a big market for that, though." That is just not true. The reason you don't see Christian music promoted at the same scope as popular secular bands is because of the perception that if you are promoting the person and his/her music, you are promoting their message. I personally would like to change that, as it's a huge double standard that the U.S. strives for freedom of religion yet works so hard at excluding Christianity at every turn.

[Scaredgirl]

The reason why you don't see Christian music on talk shows is because it's considered extremely "uncool" and "unsexy" by the general public. It's like the opposite of hip hop.

[Scaredgirl]

That's actually a common perception, SG. I was talking to the president of a new student organization on my college campus for student musicians, and when I told them that I was interested in Christian music, they responded, "Cool. There's really not a big market for that, though." That is just not true. The reason you don't see Christian music promoted at the same scope as popular secular bands is because of the perception that if you are promoting the person and his/her music, you are promoting their message. I personally would like to change that, as it's a huge double standard that the U.S. strives for freedom of religion yet works so hard at excluding Christianity at every turn.

Isn't that the whole point of Christian music though? Otherwise it wouldn't be called Christian music imo.

[Scaredgirl]

could we please get a mod to delete the posts that are off topic.....including this one.

Geez.. relax. My intention was not to bash your music. I was simply replying to what jmizzle7 said earlier. What I said in my previous post IS the reason why you don't see much Christian music in talk shows, and I thought it would be obvious. Being "cool" and "hot" are the most important things in the music business. Why do you think 99% of new female artist look like supermodels? Christian music doesn't offer this "cool factor" which is the reason why they are not getting a call from Jimmy Kimmel anytime soon.

As or off-topic posts.. this is an OFF-TOPIC forum so we have more freedom here. And it's not like I was talking about genetically enhanced carrots. I was talking about Christian music which IS the topic of this thread.

[Belthus]

I agree with Scaredgirl. Cool is trendsetting. To set a trend, you either have to be so plugged into the mainstream culture that you can feel what the next development is; or, you have to be so tuned out that your oddity, by coincidence, fills some emotional need not met by the current mainstream. An example of the second is when Gregorian chants had renewed interest several years ago.

Evangelical/fundamentalist Christians reject the standards and mores of the mainstream, so they are unlikely to be cool by the first route, except by selling out. They might become cool by the second route, but I suspect that E/F Christianity is familiar enough not to be a candidate.

[Belthus]

I never said that Christian music was stylistically self-made. Just that the music is created with a specific audience in mind and is marketed and sold accordingly. I would be very surprised to find any form of art or entertainment that had zero influence from any sources.

[Belthus]

My point above about self-segregation didn't get a reply. It's not a conspiracy against Christian music. What happened was that evangelical/fundamentalist Christians have partially withdrawn from the mainstream culture. They think that mainstream music is too sexual, too violent, not dedicated to Jesus, etc., so they created their own music (and other entertainment) to meet their own special requirements. They also have their own schools, their own summer camps, and so on. In a way, it's an admirable do-it-yourself spirit. On the other hand, it can be a bubble, in which some people are getting a very distorted view of those outside of the evangelical/fundamentalist Christian subculture.

[Belthus]

Re. an evangelical/fundamentalist Christian bubble, I found this article in Collide magazine interesting: The Death of Christian Media (http://www.collidemagazine.com/article/269/the-death-of-christian-media).