Christian music industry

The Christian music industry is a small part of the larger music industry, that focuses on gospel music, contemporary Christian music and Christian rock music.

The majority of artists working and performing within the Christian music industry are isolated from the larger industry, to Christian radio, magazines and record stores. Some artists however are able to "cross over" to achieve success both within the Christian music industry and the larger, "mainstream" music industry.

The Christian music industry's roots are found in the late 1960s and early 1970s Jesus Movement and its Jesus Music artists.

The Christian music industry is made up of:

• singers
• songwriters
• musicians
• Musicians' Unions
• composers
• publishers
• Writers' rights organizations like ASCAP and BMI
• record producers
• record companies
• print music companies who create printed music and accompaniment recordings of contemporary Christian music, praise songs and traditional hymns
• record label
• record distributors
• band managers
• tour promoters
• bookers
• roadies
• and so on...

The Christian music industry also has its own Performing Rights Organization (PRO) specifically designed for royalty payments related to the use of Christian songs in church worship services: Christian Copyright Licensing International or CCLI - " class="external">http://www.ccli.com.

In the 21st Century, the advent of file sharing technologies may change the balance between record companies, song writers, and performing artists.

Christian music industry organizations:

• Gospel Music Association