In the first of a new series we look at different aspects of the Christian music industry.



Continued from page 1

To me, for two decades an avid radio listener, it seemed obtuse that Britain's Christian music record companies should be prepared to settle for so little from the primary means of exposing music to the public. In 1988 I had, I thought, an opportunity to do something about it. I joined as programme controller and presenter, a Bedford-based Christian radio station, Network Eleven.

Christian radio stations had of course been the cornerstone in the spectacular growth of contemporary Christian music in the USA. With America boasting over 2,000 religious radio stations, by the early 80's hundreds of these had established a contemporary Christian music format and therefore put in place the infrastructure to see CCM rise from less than 1% of America's album sales market to over 7% by the end of the 80s.

The UK is of course a very, very different cultural kettle of fish. Ours is not a society where a quarter or more of people claim a conversion experience and where Christianity, if often a sanitised and Americanised variant, is regularly toted from all forms of mass communication. Most frustratingly, and paradoxically when one considers Britain's constitution based squarely on Biblical principles, British churches and Christian organisations have for decades been barred from any ownership of radio stations. In the late 80s one enterprising Christian concern had found a loophole in the legislation. United Christian Broadcasters bought 'dead time' (in the early hours of the morning) from Manx Radio on the Isle Of Man (not covered by Britain's broadcasting legislation) and used the opportunity to broadcast a heady mixture of contemporary Christian music to the mainland (UCB's signal being picked up on a lengthy swathe along the west coast of Britain).

Network Eleven found another loophole. Satellite technology was not foreseen by the Broadcasting Act and a high-tech plan was hatched whereby programmes would be beamed up to a satellite where both satellite television and cable television stations would be given the opportunity to pull down Network Eleven's programming to place on a spare 'sound only' channel on viewer's televisions. The idea floundered, a small fortune was lost, but the venture did demonstrate the lengths earnest evangelicals are prepared to go to try and out manoeuvre the legislators that have for decades tried to keep specifically Christian radio stations off the airwaves.

In 1990 I started with a Birmingham printer Mark Golding, Cross Rhythms magazine. A number of that embattled band of religious radio presenters offered enthusiastic support, several interviewed me at Greenbelt and others tried to slip in an occasional plug for the magazine in their shows.

But religious shows playing contemporary Christian music are few on the airwaves and getting fewer as Sal Solo documents in the next article. I was privileged to be a guest on Sal Solo's show on Wiltshire's GWR in October of last year. It seemed too-good-to-be-true, a superlative selection of records with Sal's particular forte of 'inspirational dance' exposing some gems from the likes of D-Boy, Vernessa Mitchell and the Rap-Sures, an imaginative phone in quiz asking punters to complete simple Bible verses, and a slickly presented example of what could be achieved on religious radio if the God slots could be wrestled-away from well intentioned but inept vicars. But sadly that programme was Sal's last, not because the ratings were bad, but because GWR saw pure commercial sense in kicking all religion off their schedules now that they're no longer required by law to make even a token nod in the direction of religion.

Whatever the difficulties, I believe the Christian music world must find some way of climbing over the barriers put in its path by unsympathetic legislators and bread-head radio managements. It is utterly disgraceful that Christian music, which at its best can speak with such artistic integrity and whose lyrics can address themselves so relevantly to the spiritual needs of humanity, should be denied even token 'specialist' shows on the majority of radio stations in the UK.

Tony Cummings
Tony Cummings

Everyone involved in Britain's Christian music scene is partly to blame for this woeful situation, the record companies for their often miserly provision of review copies to presenters and producers; the Christian bookshops for their lack of liaison with the presenters that do play records they're selling; and most of all that lethargic grouping of evangelicals who go to an occasional concert, buy an occasional Martyn Joseph album but haven't yet perceived that writing to their local radio stations asking for contemporary Christian music to be played might be contributing far more both to the rock gospel scene and the spiritual life of their community than half a dozen Word Record Club purchases.

RADIO: AN INSIDER'S VIEW by Sal Solo

A year ago I was doing a Christian music show on Milton Keynes' new station, Horizon Radio, and as Word Records is situated in Milton Keynes, I featured them on one programme. I asked A & R manager Dave Bruce how their records were sold to the public, and he said primarily through the Word Record Club, where members are informed of new releases monthly in Premier magazine, describing the style of music, and any other relevant background information. We both agreed it's a tremendous disadvantage to try and sell music without being able to hear it first, but with Christian artists given no access to the media what alternative do Christian record labels have to break into the mainstream?

Many enormous hits have been totally slagged off by the music press, while their own fave raves have never even sniffed the charts, so can you imagine if all our record purchases were based on subjective write ups! Or still more bizarre, what if Radio One jocks told you "George Michael has a great new release - go and buy it, but we can't let you hear it!" I doubt it would do much for George's sales, but consider the implications for a totally unknown artist whose music you've never even heard before.

You may well say, "but we have Christian radio shows to hear Christian music, why do Christian artists need to get on Radio 1?" well how many Christian radio shows have you every heard that don't play Amy Grant and Sheila Walsh? It's not that Amy and Sheila are the only artists available, but simply that the vast majority of Christian radio presenters haven't heard the vast range of music available to them.

Before going further, and projecting the dismal future of Christian radio, it is important to establish one thing: THERE IS NO MONEY IN RELIGION IN THE UK. Certainly not the Christian religion anyway, and most definitely not in Christian music. Double the sales of Amy Grant, and you would still have a flop compared to any Top 40 hit, and dear Amy still outsells every other Christian artist. In the States of course it's different, with gospel, country, and every type of Christian musician but in the UK there is no indication that any of those things will ever appeal to a mass market any more than cars twice the length of a Ford Cortina!