Selling Out or Buying In? CCM Magazine and Anxieties over Commercial Priorities in Christian Music, 1980s–1990s

Abstract

In 1992, emi acquired Sparrow Records. At that time, emi was one of the “Big Six” (secular) major record labels; Sparrow was the largest and most successful label in the Christian record industry. As in other sectors of the music and entertainment industries, reactions to corporate consolidations are mixed. This issue is particularly fraught in the Christian industry, in which the relationship between financial and theological priorities was tense long before its incorporation into the secular industry. How did these discourses manifest in public? What significance did they have for fans, artists, and cultural intermediaries? ccm magazine and its sister publications, for decades the primary sources of information about and for the Christian market, provide a unique opportunity to observe and analyze these tensions leading up to these mergers and acquisitions. In this article I consider the role of ccm’s reporting and editorial content as a barometer of broader anxieties over commercial priorities and corporate consolidation.