Music

Christian Music and Christian

Retail: A Worthwhile

Partnership

A Christian-industry music veteran tells why Christian retail

is key to the success of gospel music.

By John W. Styll

ONE OF THE TRUTHS ABOUT life is the more things change, the more things stay the same. It’s been more than 30 years since I held my first job in Christian music, working at a radio station in Southern California. I was around for the first boom, during the Jesus Movement of the early

70s, when mainstream artists were finding God and bringing their spiritual revolution to music. From my publisher’s chair at CCM Magazine, I watched the 80s usher in the rise of the Christian pop artist, led by Amy Grant and the first mil-lion-selling artist record in Christian music. As member of the Gospel Music Assoc. (GMA) board of directors in the 90s, I watched as Nielsen SoundScan began counting Christian record sales, and the rest of the world suddenly discovered Michael W. Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman, dc Talk, and BeBe and CeCe Winans. Since I’ve been in my role as president of GMA and Christian Music Trade Assoc. (CMTA), I’ve witnessed the emergence of new kinds of “crossover” artists like Switchfoot and P. O.D. fueling the ongoing debate about what makes Christian music “Christian.” And while each and every decade seemed to bring a new and/or different level of attention to Christian music, what has never wavered has been the constancy of the Christian Retail Channel and its value to music suppliers.

CHRISTIAN RETAIL: A VITAL PARTNER Today, it’s no secret to any Christian retailer that a little more than half of all gospel music sales come from general-market retailers. In addition, with digital downloads getting so much press, it may seem as though Christian retail’s steadfastness has been taken for granted and betrayed for the glamour of mainstream and digital success. And perhaps for some, it’s

40 | AspiringRetail | November2006

caused you to downsize your expectation and strategies for selling Christian music in your own stores.

Well, I’m here to remind you why, together, the gospel music industry and Christian retail have many reasons to be optimistic about the future. And I want you to particularly get excited as we enter the final stretch of 2006, and move into the infamous fourth quarter, when retailers expect to see their strongest sales of the year.

Let’s start with this foundational statement. Christian retail is crucial to the success of gospel music, and we want to be as invested in your future as we want you to be invested in ours. GMA and, more specifically, CMTA are dedicated to keeping Christian retail as a vital partner in our mission to expose and promote the good news of the Gospel through music.

Not sure it’s true we care about Christian retail? For evidence, you need only come to Nashville every April for GMA Music Week to experience a track exclusively for Christian retail (now called CMRC)—it’s been around since the 80s. And, even as the general market increased its percentage of our sales, we’ve not strayed from that commitment to Christian retailers and have kept this track CBA focused.

In the past year, GMA and CMTA have also been working with CBA, with renewed fervor, to actually expand our involvement with Christian retail. You may have seen confirmation of that at this year’s International Christian Retail Show in Denver where GMA helped host “The Power of Music” event to open the convention. Behind the scenes, we’ve held numerous gatherings of music executives and retailers to develop strategies for working together, including a “music summit” held in September in Nashville.

We’ve always felt a strong relationship with CBA and Christian retail, but I can say that as a result of these recent meetings, the spirit of cooperation between retail and the music industry has never been more evident. Christian re-

The Official Magazine of CBA