Contemporary Christian and gospel music sales grew by 18 percent in the first six months of 2002, an outcome that far exceeded the overall music industry, which reported a decline.
SoundScan reported that Christian music album unit sales from Jan. 1 to June 30 totaled 23,445,000, compared to 19,830,000 for the same period last year, the Christian Music Trade Association announced. SoundScan is the computerized network that collects sales data from retailers and compiles the results for industry reports.
The overall music industry reported a decline of 9 percent in the same period.
“The Christian and gospel music industry’s success so far this year is extraordinary in light of a soft economy and disappointing results in the overall music industry,” said Frank Breeden, president of the association.
“It is especially gratifying to see our sales spread among a wide diversity of albums and styles of music. Both established and new artists are benefiting from the current growth.”
General market retailers increased their sales of Christian and gospel music, accounting for 55 percent of the total sales. Christian retailers sold 44 percent of the genre’s albums in the first half of 2002.
CMTA credited marketing initiatives by retailers such as Target Corp. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. for contributing to the growth of sales in mainstream stores.
Each of the top 10 albums of Christian music have sold more than 200,000 units during 2002, compared to last year’s top 10 list, in which only half the albums sold that much in the same time period.
The top five albums are: 1. “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” by various artists; 2. “Satellite” by P.O.D.; 3. “Rebirth of Kirk Franklin” by Kirk Franklin; 4. “Worship” by Michael W. Smith; 5. “Almost There” by MercyMe.
(RNS)
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