What's Up With Christian Radio?

[Michael]

I guess this article has the answer...?

[sue d.]

Interesting... I look forward to hearing the rest of the series.

I had to chuckle when I read the artist's reactions to hearing their song on the radio for the first time.

When "Lord Reign in Me" by II Guys from Petra played on WPFF for the first time - I felt the same way! I had to stop, crank up the radio....

"All right... airplay!! YEAH!" and then the phone rang and I had to get back to work.

[Edward]

Radio is radio is radio.

Listenership has dropped. MP3 and Podcasts have hit radio hard. This applies to ALL genres of music.

So, take that, add the fact that all Christians, if they are living biblically, have less income to play with, because they have the same earthly expenses that everyone else has, PLUS they fund the local church, the global church's missions projects, volunteer more (which takes away from the time that is used by others to get ahead and work), etc, etc. Then to ask said people to pay for a radio station? Forget THAT crap. MP3s are cheap, practically free and free, plus we can program our own music to OUR tastes, and not have to wait 3 hours for our favorite to repeat. Christian music radio is a joke, unless it is a mom and pop, promoting bands on the local level, promoting ministry on the local level.

The only REAL ministry in Christian radio is Christian TALK radio. While I am sure there are some obscure testimonies out there, of someone calling Johnny Rivers at K-Love, asking to be lead to the Lord, I doubt it happens often.

If you want to minister, then you have to be in front of the people that need it. That means letting radio be what it is to the average targeted soccer mom(background noise), or buying time on secular stations, where the sinners are. God chases man. Man does not seek God. So to think that we can attract people to God is nuts, especially when the preaching of the cross is foolishness to the world. And most music doesn't preach the full gospel, or detail that living for Christ is bunch of hard work. The songs only tell one side of the story from one person's persepctive (most of the time).

I will say this. I hope that this stupid broadcast fairness act passes. That may blow some Christians away. But again, Christian broadcasters and most preachers are being protective of their empires, instead of looking that what the potential ministry aspects are. If a station (radio or TV) broadcasts something that is controversial, then the same amount of time must be alloted for an opposing view. SWEET! Put Howard Stern back on! Line up all of the shock jocks. Show XXX bunnies, I don't care. Then give me Billy Graham, Lee Stroble and a couple of on-fire youth evangelists/apologeticists (sp?), and lets share the truth afterwards. It will literally KILL modern boradcasting as we know it, and cause such a stink in government, that there will be a REAL change in leadership.

BTW, Sirius is playing Petra on 66, with the oldies.

[biggestfan]

From the article: "Pioneers like Larry Norman, Randy Stonehill, and Phil Keaggy developed a style of music that was able to communicate messages of grace and love to the Woodstock generation."

Seems like a certain band is missing. Why is it the Petra never gets the credit they deserve?

[greenchili]

Quote from this article pretty much reflects why I do not even bother to listen to radio.

Radio playlists in general are restrictive because they have gotten smaller," notes Steve Strout, Director of National Promotion for Rocketown/RKT Records. "Stations have found that playing fewer songs more often results in higher cume ["cumulative audience," or how many people tune in for at least 5 minutes on a given day].

One time recently my wife were out on a long trip I just happened to not have my ipod with us. So she went ahead and turned on the radio. Out of seven songs there was one I did not recognize. The rest I heard probably 2 years before the last time we actually had the radio on.

I told her it's pretty sad when they are playing the same songs almost 2 years later.

Here is another pretty good quote. Which seems to ring fairly true.

This might be a welcome future for labels, who have noticed that radio is attracting people who want what they call "wallpaper music," but not people who are passionate about music. Those who desire background music don't buy CDs, so increasing the size of an audience does not always mean increasing the number of CD buyers.

[crossways]

I agree with you Edward, in terms of listenership falling. I don't know if I agree about Christian talk being the only real ministry, but that's just me.

I will tell you guys why I refuse to listen to our local station 88.3 WCQR in the Tri-Cities.

I don't know if this is true everywhere, but I CAN NOT stand the fact that this station is a NON-Profit company.

I think that Christian stations that are attempting to compete in the secular market should be competetive enough to go toe to toe with these other stations. In NE-TN the "church folk" greatly outnumber the "non-believers" so it would stand to reason that they have an audience out there with an open mind to their particular programming.

But instead they rely on donations. I'm sorry but I'm not going to support a business, soley because they are Christian. Because they do this they cater to the stay at home soccer moms, and really don't do anything ground breaking, because that demographic is going to buy the cds and listen to this music anyway.

I would NEVER have supported Petra when I first heard them if they weren't putting out a product comporable with or better than the secular market.

I don't expect anything less from radio.

[Edward]

I agree with you Edward, in terms of listenership falling. I don't know if I agree about Christian talk being the only real ministry, but that's just me.

I will tell you guys why I refuse to listen to our local station 88.3 WCQR in the Tri-Cities.

I don't know if this is true everywhere, but I CAN NOT stand the fact that this station is a NON-Profit company.

I think that Christian stations that are attempting to compete in the secular market should be competetive enough to go toe to toe with these other stations. In NE-TN the "church folk" greatly outnumber the "non-believers" so it would stand to reason that they have an audience out there with an open mind to their particular programming.

But instead they rely on donations. I'm sorry but I'm not going to support a business, soley because they are Christian. Because they do this they cater to the stay at home soccer moms, and really don't do anything ground breaking, because that demographic is going to buy the cds and listen to this music anyway.

I would NEVER have supported Petra when I first heard them if they weren't putting out a product comporable with or better than the secular market.

I don't expect anything less from radio.

The ironic thing is, CD sales are dropping, because record companies stopped selling singles. People are refusing to buy a whole CD for a couple of good songs. Plus MP3s are more convenient, thus downloads are increasing. Revenues to labels are down as a result. Retail CD sales are down. There are fewer brick and mortor retailers this year than last. Somebody better put two and two together and get a clue.

If I had the cash, my Christian radio station would not be labeled Christian at all. It would be a secular station that attracted that audience by unconventional Christian ways. I would worked in Christian tunes that stand up to the secular counterparts, and then 1:45 nuggets for thought by today's top, legit, movers and shakers in the Christian world.

It would work, since most people that claim to be Christian, or religious, do not buy Christian music, do not listen to Christian radio, or buy Christian music at all. Christian males really don't listen to Christian radio much. What the majors are finding is that females are not the driving force for sales that they thought. There are many networks changing formats and or selling stations off as a result.

[sue d.]

I think that Christian stations that are attempting to compete in the secular market should be competetive enough to go toe to toe with these other stations.

So are you saying that being non-profit = sub-standard in comparison to the mainstream market?

Could it be more of a tax situation that these stations are non-profs, rather than it being a reflection on their quality?

I my area I have heard some rather cheesy Christian stations, and I have have heard some that could go neck-and-neck with any mainstream station out there. But they are all non-profs.

[Michael]

Interesting... I look forward to hearing the rest of the series.

It's an old article, I guess... there are links to the other parts right on the page.

From the article: "Pioneers like Larry Norman, Randy Stonehill, and Phil Keaggy developed a style of music that was able to communicate messages of grace and love to the Woodstock generation."

Seems like a certain band is missing. Why is it the Petra never gets the credit they deserve?

The three artists they mentioned predate Petra by a few years... Norman was making Christian rock by the late 60's, I believe, and Stonehill had his first Christian record in 1971. Keaggy was playing in Glass Harp in the 60's, and his first Christian album was in 1973.

[crossways]

I think that Christian stations that are attempting to compete in the secular market should be competetive enough to go toe to toe with these other stations.

So are you saying that being non-profit = sub-standard in comparison to the mainstream market?

Could it be more of a tax situation that these stations are non-profs, rather than it being a reflection on their quality?

I my area I have heard some rather cheesy Christian stations, and I have have heard some that could go neck-and-neck with any mainstream station out there. But they are all non-profs.

No, I don't think that non-profit nessecarily equals sub-standard. But it certainly puts you at a disadvantage when it comes to selling you product. IMO

I am 100% certain it has to do with taxes. This is another thing that drives me nuts. I am all for saving on taxes as much as possible, but I really think there are too many groups trying to get out of paying taxes altogether.

If you are basically the same entity as a secular rock station, but you are providing a different message, then why are you expecting a tax break. I mean I know you can and that it's legal. I don't know, I just think that Christians could put out a better product if they stopped worrying about finding every loophole, and tried to just be the BEST.

And then instead of expecting the churches to support them, because they are a Christian organization, THEY could support the churches through tithing from their profits.

[Mexican Spud]

I know money has a big part in this, non-prot or not, but to me the bottom line is the music. It seems to me that they are still afraid to play the Rock Music. They base everything on "Listerner Friendly" and what will sell. Unfornately that will always continue. I read at another message board that "XM" and "Sarius" both dropped there Christian Alternative Rock station and there was no explanation. There is alot of youth, young adults, and adults that are in love with Rock music, heck I saw a 65 year old grandma rocking out to a Petra concert a few years ago at Spirit West Coast. There has to be a radio station out there that has to stick to their guns and not give in to keep playing Christian Rock. Youth are very important and music is very important to them. To keep them on the straight and narrow they need these stations. There is nothing wrong with rock music that has a message behind it no matter if the band is popular or not. The MUSIC makes the station. The MUSIC gives the station personality. The MUSIC represents the station.

Thats just my opinion

[Edward]

I know money has a big part in this, non-prot or not, but to me the bottom line is the music. It seems to me that they are still afraid to play the Rock Music. They base everything on "Listerner Friendly" and what will sell. Unfornately that will always continue. I read at another message board that "XM" and "Sarius" both dropped there Christian Alternative Rock station and there was no explanation. There is alot of youth, young adults, and adults that are in love with Rock music, heck I saw a 65 year old grandma rocking out to a Petra concert a few years ago at Spirit West Coast. There has to be a radio station out there that has to stick to their guns and not give in to keep playing Christian Rock. Youth are very important and music is very important to them. To keep them on the straight and narrow they need these stations. There is nothing wrong with rock music that has a message behind it no matter if the band is popular or not. The MUSIC makes the station. The MUSIC gives the station personality. The MUSIC represents the station.

Thats just my opinion

My daughters, wife and I are all bumbed about the Sirius deal. We used to listen to it on our DSL. Oh well, more iPod listening now I guess. But it really makes sense. Who here buys their kids sat radios and pays the fees? It's cheaper to buy the MP3s and load them up into an existing iPod/player. Subscribers to sat radio are older than the punk/alt Christian listener. That's what 95% of alt Christian music is now, punk.

Broadcasting/radio is not a ministry. Ministries should USE the tool of broadcasting/radio to get the message/music out. There is a difference. Some of us think it is about the music, but the music is a means to increase market share, which makes it easier to sell advertising, which pays the bills.

Anyone remember the video channels where viewers paid to see their favorite video play on TV? That didn't last long either.

[Dan]

It would be interesting to get Brent's opinion on this topic

[executioner]

If any of you all have Directv you can get the Gospel Music Channel(ch.15) and also the XM radio channel 829 that plays Christian Rock only. Most of it is current groups but they do throw in some older 80's stuff some of the time. I've heard Petra, White Heart, Rez, Whitecross, D&K, and Servant on this channel all in the last couple of weeks.

[Edward]

It would be interesting to get Brent's opinion on this topic

He doesn't have opinion. He's too busy with Project Damage Control2