Tuesday
Nov292005
Lost on Christian Radio
Tuesday, November 29, 2005 at 02:19AM
Ok, so I'm sitting here watching the end of Conan, Brad Paisley's on and I was in orchestra in college with a couple of his band guys so I always like to watch him, and he's a great guitar player, and a commercial comes on. It's for "chat now with local singles." Totally lame and I always tune them out, but the girl on it was the girl from Lost, the one who plays Kate. How weird. Bet she's glad that one's still on.
All right, so this is something I've wanted to write about for a while, and now seems like as good a time as any. I was running a couple errands tonight and I decided to check out ol' Christian radio while I was driving around. The station here calls itself listener-supported, as do many christian stations around the country. These are the ones who do those call-in "share-a-thon's." And that's fine. I'm ok with that. Here's my thing.
This station plays commercials. But there's a catch. They call them "sponsorships," not "commercials." Companies, tonight's were a Lexus dealership, a mortgage lender, the doctor that delivered Ella, (that was weird) and one other I forgot, "donate" money to the station, then they do a "sponsor acknowledgement" where they talk about the business, give their phone number and address and what deals they're doing. They also make sure everybody knows that this business honors people with "values" and that their business has "values" too. Since Christianity is all about family values...
Listener-supported stations are tax-exempt, AND they don't have to pay nearly as much in artist royalties, some don't have to at all. Just in case you're wondering, this does mean that christian artists don't get paid when their songs are played on these stations as they would if it were any other station.
A few years ago I heard this stuff on the radio, got ticked off and called their 1-800 number livid. "I just heard a bunch of commercials!" I told the poor lady who answered, "you said you're commercial-free and listener-supported!" She's the one who told me that they consider them sponsorships. She said the difference is that on their station they don't tell you to go shop there, but just tell you about their services.
Honestly, I've thought about this for years, and my opinion on the necessity of christian radio has changed somewhat, but on this topic, I really disagree with her statement. I think this is dishonest and unfair, and it seems they are definitely taking advantage of a loophole in the system.
In all fairness, NPR does this too. Not nearly as much, but Nashville's christian radio is not the only place that does this. Still, just because it's legal doesn't mean it's right.
The stations are making money selling airtime to businesses who want to talk about their products. Because they play religious music AND take donations, they are able to not pay taxes or pay the artists whose product they operate with. To do this they have to bend the rules AND it sets these businesses up to try and sell themselves on their Christianity, not their product.
I just don't understand why this doesn't seem to rub anyone else the wrong way. Has anybody else ever heard this stuff and wondered about it? Am I over-reacting or just plain wrong? I'm open to changing my mind about this, but as I see it, the ends justify the means to the people involved so they ignore the fact that they're lying to the people they intend to be serving.
It used to make me really mad, and in a lot of ways it still does, but it also makes me sad for the people who do listen. I feel like they're being taken advantage of. I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong. I probably am. I get easily over-riled up about this kind of stuff. I just hate our culture's intermingling of God and money and how it has infiltrated so much of our Church. Even if stuff isn't wrong, it's hard for it to feel right sometimes.
So those have been some of my thoughts tonight, and it's something I've wanted to see what you guys think about. Feel free to leave a comment with any thoughts or reactions you may have, negative or positive. And honestly, I'm hoping for some positive views on this. It would do my heart good. If I offended anyone by this post, I apologize, and I hope I'm not wagging a finger but talking about change for the better. It is my hope and prayer that any media that promotes the name of Jesus would be above reproach, and that's why I'm so hard on this, and TBN and crazy Pat. (Robertson) These stations publicly stand for Christ and I want them to be honest and loving in all they do, as Christ did, but I need to allow that they're run by humans and not God, something I often fail to take into account.
Anyway, as always, thanks for reading and for supporting me and my music. Please leave a comment or a note hello, and I'll try and write again tomorrow. Good night.
All right, so this is something I've wanted to write about for a while, and now seems like as good a time as any. I was running a couple errands tonight and I decided to check out ol' Christian radio while I was driving around. The station here calls itself listener-supported, as do many christian stations around the country. These are the ones who do those call-in "share-a-thon's." And that's fine. I'm ok with that. Here's my thing.
This station plays commercials. But there's a catch. They call them "sponsorships," not "commercials." Companies, tonight's were a Lexus dealership, a mortgage lender, the doctor that delivered Ella, (that was weird) and one other I forgot, "donate" money to the station, then they do a "sponsor acknowledgement" where they talk about the business, give their phone number and address and what deals they're doing. They also make sure everybody knows that this business honors people with "values" and that their business has "values" too. Since Christianity is all about family values...
Listener-supported stations are tax-exempt, AND they don't have to pay nearly as much in artist royalties, some don't have to at all. Just in case you're wondering, this does mean that christian artists don't get paid when their songs are played on these stations as they would if it were any other station.
A few years ago I heard this stuff on the radio, got ticked off and called their 1-800 number livid. "I just heard a bunch of commercials!" I told the poor lady who answered, "you said you're commercial-free and listener-supported!" She's the one who told me that they consider them sponsorships. She said the difference is that on their station they don't tell you to go shop there, but just tell you about their services.
Honestly, I've thought about this for years, and my opinion on the necessity of christian radio has changed somewhat, but on this topic, I really disagree with her statement. I think this is dishonest and unfair, and it seems they are definitely taking advantage of a loophole in the system.
In all fairness, NPR does this too. Not nearly as much, but Nashville's christian radio is not the only place that does this. Still, just because it's legal doesn't mean it's right.
The stations are making money selling airtime to businesses who want to talk about their products. Because they play religious music AND take donations, they are able to not pay taxes or pay the artists whose product they operate with. To do this they have to bend the rules AND it sets these businesses up to try and sell themselves on their Christianity, not their product.
I just don't understand why this doesn't seem to rub anyone else the wrong way. Has anybody else ever heard this stuff and wondered about it? Am I over-reacting or just plain wrong? I'm open to changing my mind about this, but as I see it, the ends justify the means to the people involved so they ignore the fact that they're lying to the people they intend to be serving.
It used to make me really mad, and in a lot of ways it still does, but it also makes me sad for the people who do listen. I feel like they're being taken advantage of. I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong. I probably am. I get easily over-riled up about this kind of stuff. I just hate our culture's intermingling of God and money and how it has infiltrated so much of our Church. Even if stuff isn't wrong, it's hard for it to feel right sometimes.
So those have been some of my thoughts tonight, and it's something I've wanted to see what you guys think about. Feel free to leave a comment with any thoughts or reactions you may have, negative or positive. And honestly, I'm hoping for some positive views on this. It would do my heart good. If I offended anyone by this post, I apologize, and I hope I'm not wagging a finger but talking about change for the better. It is my hope and prayer that any media that promotes the name of Jesus would be above reproach, and that's why I'm so hard on this, and TBN and crazy Pat. (Robertson) These stations publicly stand for Christ and I want them to be honest and loving in all they do, as Christ did, but I need to allow that they're run by humans and not God, something I often fail to take into account.
Anyway, as always, thanks for reading and for supporting me and my music. Please leave a comment or a note hello, and I'll try and write again tomorrow. Good night.
Reader Comments (28)
I'm right there with ya...all the way...that's why I've ditched Nashville Christian radio for Lightning 100...a more satisfying listen for me
Andy,
I have a few thoughts for you! For over half of my life, I was raised on Christian Radio. However, for the last 5 years I've maybe listened to it twice!
First, I think we need to ask ourselves what the main goal is........Spreading the gospel!!!!! Hands down, I believe that's our focus! I believe Christian music does that, but it would need to be played to bring people to Christ. Music is a powerful tool......commercials on the radio really aren't! We should be left with thoughts on living better instead of listening and not having a heart change but "hey, at least I know where to get the cheapest tires!!!"
If the radio stations don't step up and start looking out for the artist instead of the "SPONSORS", I strongly believe the music will go away! It's bad enough that the same songs get played on the radio, and the true artists suffer because their music doesn't fit in or have all acoustic versions, or the mix wasn't compressed enough for radio (you know, the labels just want it loud!). My prayer is that great music gets to the heart of the people, but we get to the heart through the ears!
I hope change comes, but until that time, keep on making great music!
Keith
I always think it odd when I see a fish symbol on a sign in front of a business. On one hand, that symbol on the sign probably brings in customers just because the business says it is Christian (which I see as marketing faith). On the other hand, I've seen them from work trucks on the way into national parks with coworkers for days at a time. During that time, I've had those coworkers bring up the symbol as a point of discussion, and it has provided some wonderful dialogue for me with them.
-chuck
p.s. Sweet that Ben and Amy are back in central Illinois.
Andy,
Yeah, I'm with you on this one. It's always irritated me when our Christian radio station (which I don't listen to much, but my wife does) calls itself "listener supported, commercial-free", but then plays these spots that are essentially ads for businesses.
I wasn't aware that by being non-profits they managed to pay a lot less for the music they play. That just doesn't seem right. Just another reason for me to keep buying CDs from the indie artists that I really like and ignore the rest of 'em. :-)
~Chris
Just another part of my already huge beef with the "Christian music industry"...
I gave up on CCM radio a few years ago. It's not worth listening to all the spiritual fluff and bad music to catch a little bit of quality when my ipod will play good stuff all the time.
The "commercials" they played always bothered me. I called a station on the whole "no commercials" line once and got the same response you did. I told them that there was no difference and that their "sponsorship announcements" and their "we're listener supported, so please send us money" pleas were more annoying than commercials.
In their defense (and you'll rarely find me defending anything in the CCM radio world), I doubt they go the non-profit route just to save money when it comes to paying royalties. That might be some way for them to lower expenses, but the real advantages for being "listener supported" are the tax breaks that come along with the non-profit status.
Avoiding those taxes, sure, we can do that...but not the royalties...a "Christian" station would never do that.
Your post leaves me with that same desire to go take a shower that I get when I walk through most Christian "bookstores". My guess is that there are a lot of proverbial tables that need to be overturned in modern Christian marketing.
You're not alone Andrew on this - I have felt the same way for years. And I learned a little about the fine line between ads and sponsorships by businesses. When I was trying to put an announcement about a CD Release party free concert I was having, I was told basically, if you are a non-profit, you can play your music in the background, and say whatever you want in the ad. But if you weren't non-profit status, you had limitations of what you could say. You couldn't play the music, mention any deals or pricing, or even competitive information (like why your music or product is better than someone elses' product). So there are some small differences, but I say they are still ads, just watered down enough to fit through the loophole!
When I was in college, I remember my philosophy teacher arguing against commercial TV stations and saying the only way around it was PBS type stations. My comment to him offended him and was that they don't have commercials, but they advertise their sponsors and beg and prod their listeners for donations all throughout the day.
Time and again, the commercial free subscription model has proven to be a worthwhile endeavor- look at cable TV, look at Satellite radio, etc.
Wow, thanks for all the comments, and for sharing them so quickly. It's great to know that people care about this.
My dad sent me an e-mail this morning after reading this post and had a couple good things to say...
"I just read you blog and have a couple of thoughts for you to explore.
One, I agree with you that many stations, such as WCIC up here, do just what you've described and I think it's annoying at best.
Secondly, how about the "Christian" stations that ARE doing what they say, such as WBNH up here - a Moody affiliate, and the Moody station in Nashville. WBNH does play Andy P stuff and I've heard Derek Webb's songs on the Moody part once in a while. How about encouraging your readers to listen to these kind and see what they think. Then they could legitimately give those stations feedback on what kind of music and teaching they really want to here.
In both cases, if enough listeners let the stations know what they think and why they do or do not listen, they may be able to make a difference. Part of that is by how the listeners financially and prayerfully support those stations. We quit supporting WCIC and moved all of that to WBNH and let both stations know why. I know we are not average, but if enough people did these things, who knows what the impact might be."
Thanks Dad, that brings up a good point. There are some stations striving for more than christian entertainment, but teaching and art, like the Moody stations, even if it may not all be to our alt-folk tastes.
And Dave Haupert, the commercial free subscription model does seem to make the most sense in some ways. I wonder what FM and AM will even look like in ten years...
Are we married? If I had a dollar for every time my husband expressed your exact thoughts, I could... well, I could be a 'supporter' of a christian radio station.
I'm with zeejaydee... why anyone in Nashville isn't always listening to L100 is beyond me.
My quandry is the concert/event promotion side of listener-supported radio. I work with a promoter that lays a lot of money out for radio spots. They sound like commercilas, they even hint at "come to this show, buy tickets at this place." They even cost lots of money and can be boought in 30-second spots just like we do on the "Pay for play" stations. The radio stations he uses are all across the West and beyond. they are owned by one company and that company runs two stations formats.
It drives me crazy to think that this company is running "commecials," although I'm sure it may be legal and within FCC rules. But it sure feels wrong.
The problem for us is these stations have delivered us our target audience. We have no better way to reach that audience by radio (or in print for that matter).
Subscription models are best for the listener. But the few advertisers that need that audience will need to be prepared for the shift that is coming.
Andy, are you sure about the "little or no royalties" thing for listener-supported radio? you shared those thougths with me before, and it got me riled up so i asked someone who worked at our local radio station and was told it wasnt the case. I'm not calling either of you liars, because i trust you both, but someone has bad info.
anyone else know details about this? are there reduced royalites, or even royalty exemptions for listener-supported stations?
and yeah, the 'commercials' greatly annoy me. "WJTL would like to thank our business listeners out there like Weaver Auto Body, 555-6666..." Weaver's is giving money in exchange for recognition, and WJTL is promising getting their name on the radio in exchange for money. isnt that the definition of a commercial? and besides, how can a business be a listener? does a business have ears? what next, you're going to tell me a business is a 'christian business'? does it have a soul too?
Dad Osenga makes a good point. Is there some web site list somewhere titled "These Christian radio stations don't suck"? ...I know there are some, but they're pretty rare.
Great post. These are issues that constantly bug me, and until now, I hadn't found anyone willing to voice their beef with Christian radio - even cooler is hearing a musician's opinion that is not the usual Bull Durham-like cliche.
First off, the major Christian radio station in Dallas is not listener supported, but secularly owned, and so instead of deceptive advertising, they are boldly advertising things they should not (ie Benny Hinn conferences, remotes at questionable "churches", radio adds for television shows that are not quite as "family friendly" as they are adversiting.) That might have been the longest sentence I've ever typed.
Secondly, this said Christian station, which received the 2005 Marconi Gospel Station of the Year, refuses to use the 'J' word nor even pray on air. I asked a buddy of mine who was the graveyard shift DJ of this station why they wouldn't say "Jesus" on air, and he told me that the station did not want to offend any of their listeners or their beliefs. This, I don't understand, and truly feel is deceptive as a radio station riding the fence for the almighty dollar.
On a positive note, KSBJ in Houston is listener supported, and they have no commercials, do indeed use the 'J' word, and even pray on air. They mostly do it right, and I love listeneing to them when I'm in town.
Hey there! I stumbled across your blog by way of Nashville is Talking and your topic intrigued me. Moving here from Los Angeles last year, I was just excited to have more than one Christian radio station. That they played new music (not music that's been out for several years already) and were within good reception range were added bonuses. We had one fantastic station in LA for nearly 10 years before it was bought out, and then moved to another frequency and management and wasn't as good. In both cases, it was located in Orange County and reception was iffy. So I feel blessed to have several stations within good reception range that I can choose from.
But yes, I've noticed that "commercial free" stations really aren't commercial free. I don't care what you call them, they're still commercials. However, I did not know about the tax-free status being tied to being commercial free, or about the royalties issue.
I've noticed that the Nashville Christian community in particular is consumed with this debate on "Christian music". The main themes being should there even be "Christian" music, and what is its purpose?
Someone above mentioned that Christian music's main goal is spreading the Gospel. I disgree with that (for which I'll probably quartered and shot). We as followers of Christ have a command from Jesus to make disciples. That's our job as people, and not one we can pawn off to Christian music, or to musicians and songwriters alone.
Christian music -- that is, music with lyrics centered and oriented around God and following Jesus -- is a tool which has many uses and purposes. It leads us into worship of God. It reminds us of all that is praiseworthy about Him. It encourages us to keep going when we are down or struggling. It comforts us when we mourn or are hurting. It challenges us to continue to grow, and to give our lives away for the cause of Christ.
I'm convinced that Christian music is for the follower of Jesus, NOT the ones who aren't following Him. They listen to Lightning 100, or 95.5 or something else. They don't listen to Christian radio.
That's not to say that not-yet-followers don't scan the "dial" and come upon a Christian song that touches the deepest parts of their soul. I'm sure they have, and do, and will. But that's an added blessing, not the purpose of the music itself. It seems to me that some things we as followers are gifted to do are about serving the body so the body can fulfill its call to make disciples.
If the purpose of Christian music is to spread the Gospel, then we need to get rid of Christian radio, retail and labels, and the label "Christian music" altogether. Christian artists then need to compete in the main marketplace of their own musical genres - rap, pop, rock, etc., else it, the music, will NEVER fulfill its purpose. If the gospel-spreading music of Christians isn't heard by someone other than followers of Christ, who will hear that NEEDS to hear?
Am I making any sense here? I know what I'm trying to say, I just don't know if its coming out right....
I am not an avid listener of Christian radio. However, if I happen to be passing by it, and a song that I enjoy and that speaks to me is on, then I will stop. I enjoy Christian music that requires me to think, I mean REALLY THINK, about my relationship with God and His Church. In my opinion, Christian radio is good for worship music and that's about it. Now if you like listening to that all the time, and you enjoy hearing the same 10 songs over and over and over again, by all means go for it.
Anyway, if the station says it's commercial free and they're not, they should be reprimanded. If it bothers you enough, call the FCC.
Sorry for the rambling........later
This is Robert from Bloomington, IL. This is my first ever post through an RSS!!
The new Christian Radio Station in Blm/Normal is good. Anytime you can here some U2 on a Christian Station is a plus.
Beside the radio issue, Christian retailers are also an annoyance. Mints called "Testamints"...come on!!
there is much truth to songwriters getting paid considerably less royalties. i used to work with someone a couple of years ago whos husband had a huge song on christian radio that went #1. she told me that while a #1 country song can generate between 500k-700k in radio performance royalties, christian radio #1's only get around $21k in performance royalties.
Really appreciated your thoughts, Andrew, largely because I never knew most of that stuff before. It is a bit shocking. And I bet most people don't know that stuff - like the artists not getting royalities, etc. And "share-a-thons" are just about the most annoying thing ever. But I do enjoy hearing Christian music on the radio (when it's good and not cheesy and overplayed) and I don't think you were trying to turn everyone against Christian radio, but... very valid points that are good to know.
Honestly... I haven't listened to Christian radio in over 3 or 4 years. The Internet has replaced radio for any need that I have to find out about new music and my iPod provides music when I'm in the car. I just don't have any desire to be advertised at anymore. I'll find out about new music my own way.
Some thoughts from my Dad who is a concert promoter:
"Very interesting points. The only thing I would add from a concert promoter perspective (which is a part of making an artist successful and keeping food on their table) is that listener-supported is much more affordable for a promoter to "promote" or "advertise" an event. Commercial radio is way out of budget range for most promoters. So without the listener-supported stations, many concerts would not get any radio promotion coverage."
You bring up some interesting points that I have never given much thought about. My taste are generally fairly eclectic, so I get bored fairly easy with the radio, so I tend more to play Cd's in the car.
I used to listen to the public radio stations and enjoyed the diverse programming and views.
I second the thumbs up for KSBJ in Houston. I does give me a radio station that I can listen to in the car with the kids and not have to worry about what they might say or play. The also help promote various "Christian" acts and have "free" brown bag concerts.
Here is the probable path of how I came to listen to Andrew Osenga. KSBJ probably played Andrew Peterson's "Nothing to Say". Girl hears song, likes song, buys CD. Girl meets guy at Church. Girl and boy start dating. Girl has boy over at house. Boy over at girls house, stop her mid sentence to ask what CD is playing. Boy borrows Andrew Peterson's CD. Enjoys the CD. Goes out and buys Andrew Peterson CD's. Checks out his website. Finds link to Andrew Osenga's websites. Listen to "free single" download. Buys Andrew Osenga's CD's. Buy's the Normal CD's. All this possibly as the result of commercial free, listener sponsored radio.
Now I am depressed I have band rehearsal for a Christmas Concert on the 10th and I will miss Caedmon's Call at Fellowship of the Woodlands, presumely with Andrew Osenga.
[...] I read a great article on Andrew Osenga’s blog about CCM radio stations. Maybe you share his frustration. I sure do. [...]
[...] A post by Steven Russell directing me to a couple of posts by Andrew Osenga — one about Christian radio, and one about contemporary Christian music in general — got me to thinking. [...]
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