Contemporary Christian music

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File:Lovesong.jpg
Love Song

Contemporary Christian music (CCM), or Christian pop music, is a sub-genre of Christian music. It is called "contemporary" because it is distinct from traditional Christian gospel music and southern gospel music. Because it can be difficult to define what is and what is not considered Contemporary Christian Music, the Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music (2002) defines it as "music that appeals to self-identified fans of contemporary Christian music on account of a perceived connection to what they regard as Christianity".

History

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Amy Grant and Gary Chapman

Contemporary Christian music first came onto the scene of popular music during the Jesus movement revival of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Musically, it was birthed out of rock and roll. Some of the first artists of this "Jesus music" included 2nd Chapter of Acts, Andre Crouch and the Disciples, Children of the Day, Phil Keaggy, Love Song, Barry McGuire, and Larry Norman.

The term "Contemporary Christian Music" originated in 1976 when artist and album reviewer Ron Moore used it to describe an album by Richie Furay. The industry itself began to emerge as early as 1975, when Myrrh Records started signing Christian rock acts. In the late 1970s publisher John Styll began a magazine which focused on the genre, appropriately called Contemporary Christian Music Magazine.

By the 1980s, this small culture of Jesus music had expanded into a multimillion-dollar industry. With much more varied styles of music, and better quality songwriting and recording, artists like Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Petra, DeGarmo and Key, and Stryper were successfully raising the standards in the CCM industry. Unfortunately, however, most of them had difficulty finding mainstream radio airplay, even when singing about nonreligious subject matter. In most cases, if the radio stations knew that the artists were Christians, they were simply passed over. A major criticism was that CCM merely copied whatever was going on in the mainstream market at the time.

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P.O.D.

By the 1990s, though, many Christian artists rebelled against the imposed stereotypes of the industry. Artists such as the Lost Dogs, Starflyer 59, Vigilantes of Love, and joy Electric were creating compellingly original music, and some artists were even leading the pack in certain genres (third wave ska and rapcore, for example). Also, beginning in the mid-90s with releases from Amy Grant, dc Talk, and Jars of Clay, the lines between CCM and mainstream music were beginning to blur. Several artists found "crossover" success and received Top 40 radio play. Now, in the 21st century, Contemporary Christian Music is more popular than ever, and artists such as P.O.D., Sixpence None The Richer, and MercyMe are finding success in the mainstream music industry, while more traditional CCM acts like Michael W Smith are still selling millions of albums.

Notable CCM Artists

See also: Contemporary music

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