Christian music industry

The Christian music industry is a small part of the larger music industry, that focuses on traditional Gospel music, Southern gospel, contemporary Christian music, and alternative Christian music. It is sometimes called the gospel music industry, although this designation is not a limitation on the musical styles represented.

Christian artists generally use secular styles, pairing them with lyrics that display faith and spirituality to varying degrees. Generally speaking, the industry is influenced by mainstream culture. Musical trends, for instance, follow those of the secular scene, though usually a few years behind. The Christian music industry carries the distinction of being the only music subculture whose content is labeled by its lyrical dimension rather than its music. Still, music within the industry is sold by its musical style rather than lyrical content.

Christian music's critics point to the divergent interests of commercialization and ministry, which have, according to some, polar opposite goals. Aspects of Christian music have long struggled to gain general acceptance, even within the Christian community. What some see as secularization and a lacking of direct theology, others see as artistic ministry. This opens up questions of the definition of "Christian music" that have lingered over the industry since its inception.

The Christian music industry experienced tremendous growth in the 1990s. Christian music sales grew to exceed those for classical, jazz, and new age music. Even so, the Christian music industry has experienced the same issues as the general market in recent years.

The contemporary Christian music industry has roots in the late 1960s and early 1970s Jesus Movement and its Jesus Music artists. The Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music points out three reasons that the Christian music industry developed as a parallel structure to the general music industry. First, the Jesus movement produced a large number of bands in a very short period, which the general market was unable and/or unwilling to absorb. This was in part due to a lack of appreciation for the ideology expressed by such artists. Finally, Jesus music artists tended toward mistrust of secular corporations. According to another critic, the industry in this period was defined by four characteristics: lack of audience acceptance for styles, inferior production, inefficient distribution, and lack of wide radio exposure.Petra, for instance, struggled to find an audience for their hard rock sound, partially due to limited distribution to Christian bookstores.

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