Larry Norman: The Growth Of The Christian Music Industry

Wednesday 11th October 2006

In the first part of a personal history, LARRY NORMAN, Christian music pioneer, charts the rise of Christian music from its roots and, based on his experiences, gives his own perspective on the collision between creativity and commerce.



Continued from page 5

If reform is needed then I'm ready and willing to head up a committee of like-minded, concerned Christian artists to expose the record industry!

No, not really. I'm being facetious. Lest I be misquoted in my levity, let me reiterate: I am NOT willing to be involved in ANY REFORMATION of the industry. WHY? Because God doesn't even NEED a music industry.

Larry Norman:  The Growth Of The Christian Music Industry

God doesn't need leaders, He seeks followers. God is looking for a willing servant, like a young boy with baskets of loaves and fishes who only needs to say "yes" to God and he will use the smallest of gifts or talents or abilities to the greatest effect to carry out and fulfil His work.

Additionally, why reform a business structure into a sleeker, more trustworthy model if this just inures a more sophisticated kind of thievery? Anyway, the most assured scenario is that nothing will ever happen in this regard. No artist will have the courage to jeopardise his recording contract or his standing in the community by speaking up, especially over money issues. And this is somewhat laudable. Money shouldn't matter to a Christian if it is God who promises to supply one's needs.

But then, also, an increased profit margin shouldn't matter to a gospel label if it is only accomplished through theft. Artists should be willing to "suffer for their art." They should make tents like Paul, make furniture like Joseph, sweep office buildings if they have to. But this should be voluntary, not enforced labour caused by the outright theft of their daily bread.

Artists should be willing to minister without payment when led to. They should give freely what they have received freely. Travel to China, go to Liberia, journey to India and don't charge anything for your ministry there. Sing in a prison. Do six nights in a nightclub for minimum union wage instead of the usual $10,000 you get in a church concert. But if artists should be willing to forgo their usual wages, so should record executives. Explain to the stockholders that not everything needs to be done for profit. What happened to the idea of ministering, "as unto the Lord"? Is the only measurement of God's involvement and approval the mammon of the secular? Because God rewards us with a coin of another realm.

In the New Testament, we are told not to go into court against our brother. I don't know if the secular corporations, which now control the majority share of the gospel recording industry, can be esteemed as "Christian brothers" - but a certified public accountant quietly burrowing through tangled, obfuscated royalty statements is not equivalent to inveighing against the injustice of a brother in the arena of an open courtroom.

SoundScan reportedly stipulates that no person other than a subscriber can look at the national sales figures. So if an artist ever wanted to verify his record sales at the desk of the president who signed him, he apparently could not do it through SoundScan - without first paying thousands of dollars to become a SoundScan subscriber.

Ineluctably, and perhaps unknowingly, artists were already courting decline in the '80s when they tried to "cross over" into the secular mainstream. Songs about Jesus usually omitted the personal nouns "Jesus" and "Christ" in favour of a more universal "you". Lyrics like "I need you in my life" and "I want to be with you forever" could serve as a love song to non-believers and encoded statement of faith to the converts. A few of the gospel labels even set in place their own strategic in-house promotion teams to court the favour of industry mags, use their expense accounts to provide dinner and drinks for important connections and relentlessly pursuing national hits on secular radio. And when MTV emerged, the clumsy shuffle toward tube-time was absolutely peripatetic within the gospel industry.

If it appeared to me that some artists and companies were willing to "sell out" by hiding more and more of their light under bushels, I also had faith that in small towns all over the world, practising in garages and basements, young musicians with a fiery spirit and open heart were being watered in the garden of God and would soon blossom and spring forth. New music would appear. New hope and evangelistic zeal would administrate a change. Two steps backwards, but three steps ahead. God is not defeated by the double-minded believers. His message may often be tarnished by a messenger, but the Truth within His message is incorruptible.

Institutions, like civilizations, often fall apart rather slowly and there are many indicators in the rise and fall of both. I was in a restaurant one night in the late '70s when a young man leaned over the back of his booth announcing his presence with great enthusiasm and excitement.

He told me, "I've decided to start a Christian Billboard magazine, like Cash Box and Record World. It will have monthly charts. It will have record reviews. It will be a trade magazine but it will also have a few interviews and articles so that young people will want to read it. What do you think of my idea?" (I am paraphrasing - but this entails the manner and matter of his greeting.)

I did not really know him but scanned my memory banks, looking for the file marked "opinions and cultural analysis." And then I wound up for the pitch and said (again, paraphrased): "Well, I think it's a destructive idea. Right now records sell according to how each community feels about an artist. There are records that sell in one part of the country and nowhere else. I think that's healthy. Store owners refuse to put my records in their Bible bookstores because they don't like what they hear and they want to protect their community from what I am doing. I think that's healthy, too. If I owned a store I would be selective, too. If I respected my customers, I would want to protect them, not exploit them.

"Right now, communities are being uplifted by music they consider relevant and spiritually on-target, and they remain isolated from the music which lies outside their cultural needs and moral ambience. But if you create a national sales chart you will create a Normative Standard and store owners will be pressured to buy music that they've never heard because if they're being told it is selling everywhere else, they will assume that it must be sanctified and safe and they will order it without fist listening to it. I believe that censorship is a healthy part of how culture is formed. If Jesus rock music causes controversy in a little town, and doesn't get any radio airplay, I think that's fine. Then the cultural pressure builds up as individuals discover the censored music until it explodes from its own force.

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Reader Comments

Posted by Andrea Encinas in London @ 11:05 on Nov 1 2011

Thank you for this enlightening and insightful article; one that reminds me of the real purpose of Christian music.



Posted by meme in washington @ 03:50 on Feb 21 2009

Powerful, and well said!



Posted by Mike Westendorf in Milwaukee, WI @ 18:59 on Oct 13 2008

I'm very thankful that Larry had the experience and opportunity to share his insights. I know of many people who can feel a discord in wanting to pursue a music career and a ministry career. Seeing the hype that is the industry and being able to walk away and trust God to move is sorely needed in Christian music today. Indie with Excellence can be done today, let's pray that many more will take up that call.



Posted by Brad Reynolds in Nashville, TN @ 19:39 on Oct 12 2008

Amen Larry. That was very inspiring... It comes down to simply loving God enough to trust and obey his prompting in each and every moment. Not for the sake of personal gain, but for the sake of sharing the love of Christ with one person at a time. This article was fuel for my soul. Thanks.



Posted by Keith Mohr in Franklin, TN @ 16:36 on Oct 12 2008

An amazing article. Larry nails it.
He was a true pioneer and visionary.
Keith Mohr
Indieheaven





Posted by Justice in Wheaton, IL @ 15:13 on May 13 2008

A friend sent me this link, a man I call "a Writer of Writers". As a writer and graphics professional who now teaches in the local jail and is a caregiver, because of my love for Jesus Christ, I could not put my feelings into words about my large church's Contemporary Worship.

It is fine - and the leader is a wonderful and gracious leader - but the sanctuary must be darkened to be able to see the lyrics on the screen. The stained glass windows must be covered up. Is this a subtle hint from God? He DOES love irony, I have noted.

I guess what I perceived innately that Larry expressed so well is how the church follows what is popular, and common. I am sadly not so much of an Artist as an Artisan, though I hope writing Chrisitan SF will enable a breakthrough in that area.

I know the thrill of witnessing first hand and of preaching the Good News. I also know the pain of having the un-creative, un-dynamic use the "tools of the trade". It is human nature to try and find the "pattern" that works.

What works is boldness, courage, and a great love for Jesus Christ. Larry took it all Jesus' teachings to heart. What amazes me is how well he speaks of what happened to him without acrimony and bitterness. I mean that very sincerely. I would be raging mad. He makes his points wisely and without rancor.

Thank God for Larry Norman. I look forward to meeting him.

My takeaway: be an Artist. Plenty of Artisans will follow.



Posted by David in Tokyo @ 04:17 on Jan 6 2007

Underlying the dumbing down, copycatting and incessant pitching are the technologies enabling the information explosion and market globalization. Its pervasive and relentless.
The church never stands completely outside culture. Inevitably, we are going to get the balance wrong. Thank God that he prevents us from the worst excesses.



Posted by James in Eastbourne, UK @ 01:03 on Nov 24 2006

Larry at his most articulate and insightful best.



Posted by Jon in Birmingham @ 12:51 on Nov 15 2006

Evangelicals have been struggling with the concept of art for decades. Great artists may share much gifting with prophets - and that means we frequently don't recognise them. We've now got 40 years of experience of popular culture and it's become clear that the greatest Christian talents of say the 70s were little recognised at the time and were frequently derided as "out of date" and "not relevant". Now vinyl by Water into Wine Band or Caedmon is trading for upwards of 1,000 dollars. And, yes, one factor was the CCM commercialism that swamped the British market.



Posted by Jon in Knightsbridge @ 00:45 on Nov 5 2006

Wow! Refreshing Larry. Is this encroaching into the Church? 'Bands' are forming, the 'leaders of the musicians' are turning into 'Lead Worshippers' & seem to have a monopoly on' worship'. The noise levels are rising to that of the world's. Children are frightened by this, widows are in distress & we are poluted (James). What's God's favourite instrument? The congregation. Remember that when you do a sound check!



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