quote:

ORIGINAL: tafkam

I've been doing music for most of my adult life, but I never broke through in any big way. After a while, I had to simply accept the fact that it was not God's will for me to be the "next big thing" in Christian music, so I settled into a life of simply staying busy making music, without the perks that come with fame.

But I got to thinking...why WOULD you want to make it big in Christian music? Because when you consider it....Christian music is the one genre that virtually erases it's older artists from history.

Think about it....when I was in college in the late 80's, the biggest names in Christian music were bands like Petra, DeGarmo & Key, White Heart, Mylon LeFevre, etc. Ask any ten teenagers you care to find today about those bands, and if you're real lucky, one or two of them MIGHT have heard of Petra...and that's about it. Likewise for any of the artists popular back in the day. And as we get further away from the decade of the 90's, most of those artists have likewise fallen into oblivion.

Where is the "classic" Christian music? Why doesn't radio acknowledge these older groups or songs? Our local Christian FM refuses to play anything more than five years old, with the possible exception of "Awesome God" by Rich Mullins. And the closest Gospel Music Channel comes is in the form of short snippets of older performances on the "Best Of The Doves" program. Why don't the record labels re-release some of those titles from the 80's and 90's?

Like I said, why would you want to make it big in this business, when chances are you'll be forgotten in ten years (if that long)?

Sorry about the rant, I feel better now....

quote:

I ws fortunate enough to discover "Above All" a full two or three years before Smitty made it popular

I heard Paul Baloche sing it in 2000, a good four or five years before Smitty, in a church concert. I'm not even sure it had been recorded at that point.

There's a 25 year gap in the Christian music I know. I started listening to it when it was "Jesus rock", around '75 and '76, then picked up again in 2000 when I was born again again. In the early period there wasn't much except Keaggy, Stonehill, Larry Norman, 2nd Chapter, and Andre Crouch. Now? Wellll, you know.

quote:

ORIGINAL: tafkam

I've been doing music for most of my adult life, but I never broke through in any big way. After a while, I had to simply accept the fact that it was not God's will for me to be the "next big thing" in Christian music, so I settled into a life of simply staying busy making music, without the perks that come with fame.

But I got to thinking...why WOULD you want to make it big in Christian music? Because when you consider it....Christian music is the one genre that virtually erases it's older artists from history.

Think about it....when I was in college in the late 80's, the biggest names in Christian music were bands like Petra, DeGarmo & Key, White Heart, Mylon LeFevre, etc. Ask any ten teenagers you care to find today about those bands, and if you're real lucky, one or two of them MIGHT have heard of Petra...and that's about it. Likewise for any of the artists popular back in the day. And as we get further away from the decade of the 90's, most of those artists have likewise fallen into oblivion.

Where is the "classic" Christian music? Why doesn't radio acknowledge these older groups or songs? Our local Christian FM refuses to play anything more than five years old, with the possible exception of "Awesome God" by Rich Mullins. And the closest Gospel Music Channel comes is in the form of short snippets of older performances on the "Best Of The Doves" program. Why don't the record labels re-release some of those titles from the 80's and 90's?

Like I said, why would you want to make it big in this business, when chances are you'll be forgotten in ten years (if that long)?

Sorry about the rant, I feel better now....

quote:

ORIGINAL: tafkam

I've been doing music for most of my adult life, but I never broke through in any big way. After a while, I had to simply accept the fact that it was not God's will for me to be the "next big thing" in Christian music, so I settled into a life of simply staying busy making music, without the perks that come with fame.

But I got to thinking...why WOULD you want to make it big in Christian music? Because when you consider it....Christian music is the one genre that virtually erases it's older artists from history.

Think about it....when I was in college in the late 80's, the biggest names in Christian music were bands like Petra, DeGarmo & Key, White Heart, Mylon LeFevre, etc. Ask any ten teenagers you care to find today about those bands, and if you're real lucky, one or two of them MIGHT have heard of Petra...and that's about it. Likewise for any of the artists popular back in the day. And as we get further away from the decade of the 90's, most of those artists have likewise fallen into oblivion.

Where is the "classic" Christian music? Why doesn't radio acknowledge these older groups or songs? Our local Christian FM refuses to play anything more than five years old, with the possible exception of "Awesome God" by Rich Mullins. And the closest Gospel Music Channel comes is in the form of short snippets of older performances on the "Best Of The Doves" program. Why don't the record labels re-release some of those titles from the 80's and 90's?

Like I said, why would you want to make it big in this business, when chances are you'll be forgotten in ten years (if that long)?

Sorry about the rant, I feel better now....

quote:

I guess $$$$$ rules even in the Christian music world!

quote:

ORIGINAL: musicboss11

Wow! 'Yall have some pretty big paint brushes there.

quote:

ORIGINAL: uncabeeil

I have no idea where the money goes, but I know it ain't to purchase decent music. Makes me wonder how much they're paying those awful dj's.

quote:

ORIGINAL: freakofnature

I don't know that it is about the money necessarily, maybe in part, it is the business side, as takfam has stated it is tough business and not mucho dinero. But I think it is about demographics, I have pointed out in various other threads the demographics that CCM chases after, include the less educated, poor, female, southern individuals, that is, yes, the business side and the attempt to make money, and yes I have provided the stats and charts as prepared by the CCM industry. This comes from the Christian music machine trying to produce music that is more like ear-candy and short-term gratification much like the top 40 stations that play the more recent music such as Fergie, Flo-Rida, Souljah boy and trying to appeal to the segment of the population that tries to follow trends. However! I don't think they are trying to sell to the "musically advanced!" What we need in the church is a renaissance to bring up the standards of musicianship and appreciation of artistic ability. I think we Christians perpetuate the idea that Christians are substandard in the way of artistic appreciation by our lack of support for the arts. I am actually in the works now to start that renaissance here in my home town by trying to start a music school supported by our church but not just for church attenders, I would like to expand that into painting and dance and other various areas of artistic expression. The church has lost it's soul because it no longer supports the arts. We have lost that segment of our world because we have shunned the artist.

quote:

Of course , this is CA, the pagan's paradise.

Until 4 or 5 years ago we didn't have a full time Christian music station either. We had one FM station, and they played music for two or three hours in the afternoon. Then they announced a new format, all music. I was psyched! Until they actually started broadcasting. "Family Safe" radio. They had more variety and better music when they were limited to a couple of hours. What's really sad is four years later they're still billing themselves as the "new sound of Star 99 FM". Um, excuse me, but nothing is new after 4 years. We've got a soccer mom from 10 to 2, then a dad who airs his kids almost as much as music from 2 to 6. And those are the two best dj's in the lineup.

But hey, it's better than nothing??

quote:

ORIGINAL: uncabeeil

Until they actually started broadcasting. "Family Safe" radio. They had more variety and better music when they were limited to a couple of hours. What's really sad is four years later they're still billing themselves as the "new sound of Star 99 FM". Um, excuse me, but nothing is new after 4 years. We've got a soccer mom from 10 to 2, then a dad who airs his kids almost as much as music from 2 to 6. And those are the two best dj's in the lineup.

But hey, it's better than nothing??

quote:

ORIGINAL: Rufas2000

The Christian music industry's apathy toward its own history is disappointing.

quote:

ORIGINAL: mapachito13
Back on topic: LA never had a Christian radio station when I was a young pup. It was KMET or KLOS for us rockers and KNAC for us metalheads. Now, for Christian music, our choices are AIR-1, AIR-1 and AIR-1. Whose signal is as crummy as most of the music they play. There are more Christian talk stations than those that play music.

Of course , this is CA, the pagan's paradise.

quote:

ORIGINAL: uncabeeil

One reason: $$$$$$$
Another reason - Those artists were just that, artists. Today's Christian music excels in the art of mediocrity. With very few exceptions, the most popular acts in Christian music today are bland, corporate sponsored, and not capable of producing a decent song. How does Matthew West get so much airplay when he can't sing. play, or write, while a truly gifted songwriter like Jon Troast labors in near obscurity. How does Michael W. Smith continue to sell millions of cd's singing somebody else's worship songs while most people don't even know who Paul Baloche is? Ask 10 thirty or younger people who wrote the song Above All and eight will tell you MWS. WRONNNNGGG!!! How can a group like Caedmon's Call not have a gold record to their credit but Mercy Me can sell 10 million?

Because Christian music is all about being "safe" and "for everybody" instead of rewarding true talent.

That ends my rant, for now.