Funded Scholarship
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-2023
Publication Title
Liturgy
Abstract
Since the introduction and expansion of the internet, the number of songs available to worship leaders has grown exponentially. Though the “industry” as such was nascent in the 1970s, there existed already a few popular performing groups and non-church entities that functioned as primary sources and conduits for new songs such as the Scripture in Song series (by Dave and Dale Garrett), the Maranatha! Praise albums, and by the mid-1980s, Integrity’s Hosanna! Music tape series. In fact, several regional and para-church-type organizations were founded in the 1970s and 1980s to help collect and codify a core repertory of new songs from among the seemingly limitless number that were pouring out of Pentecostal-charismatic churches touched by the praise and worship movement and its emphasis on local songwriting. Eventually, Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI) emerged (from its earlier instantiation as StarPraise Ministries out of Bible Temple in Portland, Oregon) as the primary service to solve copyright licensing and resource song leaders.
In a sense, the situation for today’s contemporary praise and worship music is much the same as that of prior generations: there are more songs than any one leader can manage to keep up with, and there exist some key musical entities (including CCLI) that help codify and popularize a core repertory of top songs. When we look back on the history of contemporary praise and worship songs, we see that only a relatively small number of all available songs rise to the highest levels of popularity and congregational use. Whose songs rise to the top, and how do they get there? Do the good songs simply rise to the top, as is colloquially assumed? Or is the music industry affecting how the public responds and thereby influencing worship itself?
On the surface, the situation today seems similar to that of years past. Yet there does seem to be something distinct about the present moment. The worship music industry has reached new levels of professionalization and profit through online music streaming, worship concert performances, and performance rights royalties (among other avenues). Because adding new materials is easier than removing them, the repertory of contemporary praise and worship is constantly expanding. These changes are, consequently, playing a new and different role in shaping congregational worship practices. Things only appear to be getting more complex for worship leaders navigating the industrial situation of contemporary praise and worship music.
In this essay, we begin to address some specific ways that this new situation within the contemporary praise and worship music industry is impacting the songs that are available to worship leaders. First, we explore how the vast majority of popular songs are connected to just a small handful of church groups. Second, we explore the recent mechanism of releasing songs as singles as a contributing factor to a song appearing on a top-song list.
Recommended Citation
Perez, A., Baker, S., Dummer, E., Jolicoeur, M., & Tapper, M. (2023). “Do It Again”: Chart-Topping Worship Songs and the Churches Behind Them. Liturgy, 38(4), 31–40. https://doi.org/10.1080/0458063X.2023.2259766
