Has the Billboard Hot 100 caught the Holy Ghost? : NPR

For the first time, multiple Christian musicians are charting on the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time — and staying there for weeks. Has the mainstream music industry found Jesus Christ?

Brittany talks with University of Michigan-Dearborn Professor Emerita Dr. Deborah Smith Pollard and Christianity Today reporter Kelsey Kramer McGinnis to understand the multi-million dollar machine behind the Christian Contemporary Music genre. They unpack who gets shut out, and why this holy crusade on the charts has the potential to impact your listening habits.

Episode Highlights:

What exactly is Christian contemporary music, or CCM?

KELSEY KRAMER MCGINNIS: I tend to talk about it like an industry. So CCM is not a genre so much as it is a media ecosystem that really became popular in the 1980s and 1990s, at least popular in the way that it is now. So this music mirrors what you’d hear on mainstream radio in terms of style and characteristics. But you wouldn’t have the objectionable content. So think, you know, no sex, no drugs, those kinds of things.

DEBORAH SMITH POLLARD: Certainly, and when we look at Maverick City Music and Elevation Worship, when we look at CeCe Winans and Dante Bowe, we see that there are African Americans who sing both gospel and CCM.

What kind of CCM is hitting on the charts right now?

KRAMER MCGINNIS: I call it Barstool conversion rock. It’s sort of this interesting web of things between masculinity, kind of conservative politics, and country [music]. I mean, you even have Jelly Roll, Shaboozey, Alex Warren, a whole collection of, I would add, primarily male artists making this kind of faith-flavored music and really making breakthroughs with it.

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How do these big megachurches, like Hillsong or Bethel, play into the economy of this worship music?

KRAMER MCGINNIS: For at least 20 years or so now, that megachurch experience has been driving the style, format and intended effect of a lot of CCM, what I would call contemporary worship music. You can find resources we call multitracks or stems that are created for churches to basically plug and play. There is a whole industry underneath this music that exists purely to help churches recreate the experience of being at one of these megachurches as closely as they can. Even if I go to a church of, you know, a hundred and fifty people on a Sunday morning, if I don’t have 20 musicians on stage, I can buy a couple synth parts. I can buy an electric guitar part. I can buy background vocals. I can buy choir effect.

I have the ability to purchase lighting that will bring the atmosphere closer to what you would experience when watching a recording by Bethel.

How can we identify the type of music played in churches?

According to Christian Copyright Licensing International, the music used in churches is monitored. The music in white churches is predominantly used, while there is less representation of music regularly used in Black churches. This dynamic influences the Christian music industry and shapes the sounds of popular Christian music as we witness these developments.

Is there the same financial opportunity in gospel music as there is in Contemporary worship music?

In my experience, I have not encountered lyrics displayed on screens in Black churches, except for hymns or Negro spirituals. This suggests that the majority of them do not have to pay for using such music through CCLI.

Why is it important for those outside of Christianity to understand the current Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) boom?

Many of the music in CCM is created by men and often has a country influence. This raises questions about why this music resonates with audiences and what it reflects about masculinity, conservative politics, and the pursuit of faith in today’s society. The current administration’s stance on combating anti-Christian bias, coupled with the prominence of Christian music on platforms like “American Idol,” indicates a significant moment for a segment of evangelicals who feel empowered by this cultural shift.