While Christian music existed in the 1960’s, it was not widely popular due to its hymn based tempo. Contemporary Christian music really took off in the 1970's from the countercultural Jesus Movement, which led to the multi-billion dollar industry that we know today.
There are many definitions for Christian music. Typically it can be categorized by its lyrics rather than musical style and from. Christian music comes in every musical style and genre. While Christian music is used to encourage believers, its main purpose is to evangelize.
Many concerns follow Christian music. During group presentations, Emily recognized Bono, lead singer from U2, as claiming that it is arrogant to play under a Christian label since people are of a sinful nature. There have been accusations made accusing contemporary Christian music of watering down the gospel. Many are concerned with the relationship between secular and Christian music as well. Many Christian artists such as Switchfoot and The Jonahs Brothers, that have crossed over to mainstream recording contracts to reach a larger demographic and for monetary reasons. "We've always called ourselves a rock band and tried to stay away from anything that would limit our audience. For me, my faith is a really personal, important part of my life, and it's bigger than a musical genre," said Switchfoot drummer, Chad Butler.
However there have been Christian bands that have kept both secular industry success as well as a solid Christian message. Artists such as Mercy Me, Brandon Heath and Casting Crowns have found fame in the mainstream market and yet have kept their message consistent. If fact, Ken Barnes with USA Today reported that Casing Crowns’ The Altar and the Door record debuted at number two, only being beat by High School Musical 2 by selling 129,000 units in its first week. Other examples like Word entertainment continue to grow now includes Word Label Group, Word Publishing, and Word Distribution. The Word Label Group includes Word, Fervent, Myrrh, and Canaan Records possessing over 40,000 copyrighted songs.
The Christian music industry has grown incredibly and is here to stay. The Christian/Gospel category of overall music sales is the sixth most popular genre according to Sound Scan's 2004 year-end report. Gospel music sales outpace sales of Latin, soundtracks, jazz, classical and new age genres. Billboard music charts often focus on Christian music due to the revenue that it is able to bring in. “Album sales are up, and digital sales continue to rise. Most importantly, the impact of the Gospel through music is reaching beyond even what our sales reveal. Everywhere you look, in books, games, TV and movies, music that is inspired by faith seems more prevalent than ever before,” said John W. Styll, president and CEO of the Gospel Music Association. “There may be many reasons why this is true, but I think chief among them is that people seem to be drawn to the inspiring and compassionate message of Gospel music amid uncertain times.”
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Becky Tirabassi spoke during the sixth session of the 73rd annual Torrey Conference. The conference was titled “Sex and the Soul.” She spoke on “the Fellowship of the Burning Hearts” on Thursday, October 23, 2008 at 11 am. Becky told a story of a woman that spoke a powerful message in 1947 on being expendable for God. The message especially impacted three men that later became known as the Fellowship of the Burning Hearts. The group of men held each other accountable for one hour of prayer a day, a goal of leading one person to Christ each year, and to sobriety. Becky’s goal is to continue the group’s mission for prayer, purpose, and purity. “How do I have a burning heart?” asked Becky, “I have a one hour appointment with the king.” Becky talked about how she was involved in a small group that meets on Friday mornings. The group has all committed to the same covenant, which is the same vow taken by the original Fellowship of the Burning Hearts.
Becky ended with a challenge for students to commit to the oath taken by what was known and is still called the Fellowship of the Burning Hearts. She challenged student to commit to sobriety, evangelizing, and spending an hour a day in prayer. Becky encouraged students to set aside time for “quiet time.” “My mountain top is my quiet time, “Becky exclaimed. Becky focuses on P.A.R.T. (praise, admit, request, and thanks) in a notebook during her quiet time. A majority of the attending students responded to her challenge. I however was frustrated by the quick and numerous responses. I felt pleasure to stand due to the over whelming numbers of students responding. I feel that there was not enough time to prayerfully consider the commitment which was not made to a speaker or other students but to God. While I am encouraged by my fellow students’ commitment, I fear that it was made in hast.
I do however; applaud Becky Tirabassi’s passion for prayer and her testimony to the power of prayer. “Prayer is a conversation between two people that love each other,” Becky simply explained. Benedict Carey reported in the New York Times on March 31, 2006 about a medical study that evaluated the power of prayer. The New York Times article quoted Mr. Marek, who works in a large medical center, as saying, "You hear tons of stories about the power of prayer, and I don't doubt them." I do not doubt the effectiveness of prayer of the impact of the fellowship’s commitment, but I do doubt the mass number and the quickness of so many people’s decision.
Becky concluded by challenging students to learn what it meant for them to be holy. “Holiness is not about you,” warned Becky. She reminded students that, “people want Jesus and that people need Jesus.” She reminded us that if we got Jesus then we need to open our mouth and share it. Becky Tirabassi was a wonderful, charismatic and influential speaker.
Becky ended with a challenge for students to commit to the oath taken by what was known and is still called the Fellowship of the Burning Hearts. She challenged student to commit to sobriety, evangelizing, and spending an hour a day in prayer. Becky encouraged students to set aside time for “quiet time.” “My mountain top is my quiet time, “Becky exclaimed. Becky focuses on P.A.R.T. (praise, admit, request, and thanks) in a notebook during her quiet time. A majority of the attending students responded to her challenge. I however was frustrated by the quick and numerous responses. I felt pleasure to stand due to the over whelming numbers of students responding. I feel that there was not enough time to prayerfully consider the commitment which was not made to a speaker or other students but to God. While I am encouraged by my fellow students’ commitment, I fear that it was made in hast.
I do however; applaud Becky Tirabassi’s passion for prayer and her testimony to the power of prayer. “Prayer is a conversation between two people that love each other,” Becky simply explained. Benedict Carey reported in the New York Times on March 31, 2006 about a medical study that evaluated the power of prayer. The New York Times article quoted Mr. Marek, who works in a large medical center, as saying, "You hear tons of stories about the power of prayer, and I don't doubt them." I do not doubt the effectiveness of prayer of the impact of the fellowship’s commitment, but I do doubt the mass number and the quickness of so many people’s decision.
Becky concluded by challenging students to learn what it meant for them to be holy. “Holiness is not about you,” warned Becky. She reminded students that, “people want Jesus and that people need Jesus.” She reminded us that if we got Jesus then we need to open our mouth and share it. Becky Tirabassi was a wonderful, charismatic and influential speaker.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Metrolink Crash
The following blog is based on an assignment that builds a news story using collective writing.
Katie Wrote:
On the morning of September 13, 2008, Joel Rubin, Ann M. Simmons, and Mitchell Landsberg of the Los Angeles Times reported that Metrolink’s passenger train 111, carrying 225 people, had collided at 4:23 p.m. on Friday with a Union Pacific freight train. The two trains hit on a 45-degree bend in Chatsworth. At the time there were 17 people killed and 135 injured. The LA Times called it, “one of the worst train crashes in Southern California history.” Metrolink officials said they could not explain why warning systems failed to prevent such a catastrophic collision. The engine of the freight train embedded itself in the front of the passenger train. Both trains derailed. The Associated Press reported 250 fire department personnel and 200 police officers on the scene Saturday morning.
Amanda Wrote:
Denise Tyrrell, the Metrolink spokeswoman, told reporters on Saturday that Metrolink's engineer caused the crash the day before by missing a red signal that should have told him to stop the train, reported the LA Times. Since this extreme statement couldn’t have held much truth, seeing as less than 24 hours had passed before Tyrrell started playing the blame game, Ron Roberts, chairman of the Metrolink board followed up on that statement Sunday. He said Metrolink's board hadn’t been informed that Tyrrell was planning to say Metrolink was at fault for the accident. "It's not up to us to decide why this has happened; that's up to the NTSB," he said, according to the LA Times.
Katie Wrote:
Julie Shuler, a 23 year old resident of Orange County and senior at Biola University, was riding the Metrolink on September 12, 2008. Julie was on her third ride on a train when she was informed about the crash by a friend’s text message. At the time Julie was not alarmed due to her lack of knowledge of the severity of the crash. When Julie learned more about the crash she felt, “disappointed in the rail system that someone was careless enough to text message while driving.” However Julie explained that she doesn’t feel the crash will affect her decision to ride the train in the future. Julie said, “She will be riding the train again in a few weeks. It is a good form of public
Erik Wrote:
On September 25th, the LA times online edition staff writers Steve Hymon and Rich Connell reported that Los Angeles city and county officials are beginning to lobby for new train safety measures. The safety measures include, according to the LAtimes.com, “to add a second engineer to its locomotives, to install anti-collision technology and to place an additional video camera in the cab of its engines to monitor train drivers, according to a motion supported by several Los Angeles city and county officials.” However, it has not been voiced by Metrolink officials if they are willing to comply with the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (MTA) safety measures. However, an official for the MTA named Richard Katz feels that the Metrolink officials should be more inclined to act quickly on implementing or at least discussing these measures.
Amanda Wrote:
A second chance proves fatal to Gregory Lintner, 48, who survived the Glendale crash in 2005, but unfortunately lost his life along with 24 other people in the Metrolink 111 crash on Sept. 12. Hidden beneath these numbers lies people. Atul Vyas, 20, was already interviewing for grad school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard. Paul Long, 54, was coming back from his mother’s funeral. Christopher Aiken, 38, had just started a new life, getting married and going back to college to finish his degree, according to the LA Times. So many lives cut short in an instant, it’s easy to mold them into one round number, but these aren’t just numbers, these are people.
Erick Wrote:
Max Henderson, a sophomore from Biola University, takes the train to his home in Washington during school breaks. The train takes the same San Fernando route as did the Metrolink train that crashed last Friday. “I still feel fine about taking the train, I mean you don't hear about an accident like this often...it was kind of a freak accident,” says Mr. Henderson. When asked about how he feels about the proposed lobby by the MTA for Metrolink trains and its drivers Mr. Henderson stated, “Why not be safer if you can.” Hopefully the Metrolink officials will consider the proposed lobby. When questioned if he would ever ride a train on that route again, Mr. Henderson replied “Of course, I'm taking it home for Christmas.”
Amanda Wrote:
The cause of the Metrolink crash is still unknown, but the possibility that the engineer was text messaging while operating the train is under investigation from The National Transportation and Safety Board, according to the Associated Press. In response to this, the state's top rail safety regulator, on Sept. 15, said he would seek an emergency order banning train operators from using cell phones, reported the AP. And Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill Wednesday that will take affect Jan. 1, banning text messaging while driving, according to the LA Times. It will be some time until the cause of the crash is confirmed, but it’s good to know measures are being taken to try to prevent this disaster from happening again.
Katie Wrote:
On September 21, 2008, Joe Mozingo of the Los Angeles Times shared the stories of the twenty-five victims of the Metrolink crash. They were grandparents, children, students, and teachers. The only thing they had in common together was that they were on train 111. There are so many tragic news stories that we become desensitized. The L.A. Times article reminded people that the twenty-five victims had friends, a family and a story. It told the story of victims like 69 year old Howard Pompel, who got on the train after working at the Los Angeles City Employees Club. He normally took a later train but left early to play pool with a friend. "He wore his heart on his sleeve. He loved to make people laugh," said his daughter, Annette Conway.
Erik Wrote:
Yesterday the LAtimes.com reported that congressional negotiators had agreed to stat creating proposed safety measures that the MTA is lobbying for Metrolink trains. However, the bill proposed would be “delayed until 2015,” according to the congressional negotiators. State senator Dianne Feinstein (D) voiced her concern about this delay, “I hope that it can be passed before this Congress comes to a close. Yet, I'm very disappointed about the deadline.” If passed the bill would provide $50 million to help pay for the technology, cap the number of hours that freight train crews could work each month at 276 hours, and require the U.S. Department of Transportation to draw up limits for passenger crews.
Katie Wrote:
On the morning of September 13, 2008, Joel Rubin, Ann M. Simmons, and Mitchell Landsberg of the Los Angeles Times reported that Metrolink’s passenger train 111, carrying 225 people, had collided at 4:23 p.m. on Friday with a Union Pacific freight train. The two trains hit on a 45-degree bend in Chatsworth. At the time there were 17 people killed and 135 injured. The LA Times called it, “one of the worst train crashes in Southern California history.” Metrolink officials said they could not explain why warning systems failed to prevent such a catastrophic collision. The engine of the freight train embedded itself in the front of the passenger train. Both trains derailed. The Associated Press reported 250 fire department personnel and 200 police officers on the scene Saturday morning.
Amanda Wrote:
Denise Tyrrell, the Metrolink spokeswoman, told reporters on Saturday that Metrolink's engineer caused the crash the day before by missing a red signal that should have told him to stop the train, reported the LA Times. Since this extreme statement couldn’t have held much truth, seeing as less than 24 hours had passed before Tyrrell started playing the blame game, Ron Roberts, chairman of the Metrolink board followed up on that statement Sunday. He said Metrolink's board hadn’t been informed that Tyrrell was planning to say Metrolink was at fault for the accident. "It's not up to us to decide why this has happened; that's up to the NTSB," he said, according to the LA Times.
Katie Wrote:
Julie Shuler, a 23 year old resident of Orange County and senior at Biola University, was riding the Metrolink on September 12, 2008. Julie was on her third ride on a train when she was informed about the crash by a friend’s text message. At the time Julie was not alarmed due to her lack of knowledge of the severity of the crash. When Julie learned more about the crash she felt, “disappointed in the rail system that someone was careless enough to text message while driving.” However Julie explained that she doesn’t feel the crash will affect her decision to ride the train in the future. Julie said, “She will be riding the train again in a few weeks. It is a good form of public
Erik Wrote:
On September 25th, the LA times online edition staff writers Steve Hymon and Rich Connell reported that Los Angeles city and county officials are beginning to lobby for new train safety measures. The safety measures include, according to the LAtimes.com, “to add a second engineer to its locomotives, to install anti-collision technology and to place an additional video camera in the cab of its engines to monitor train drivers, according to a motion supported by several Los Angeles city and county officials.” However, it has not been voiced by Metrolink officials if they are willing to comply with the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (MTA) safety measures. However, an official for the MTA named Richard Katz feels that the Metrolink officials should be more inclined to act quickly on implementing or at least discussing these measures.
Amanda Wrote:
A second chance proves fatal to Gregory Lintner, 48, who survived the Glendale crash in 2005, but unfortunately lost his life along with 24 other people in the Metrolink 111 crash on Sept. 12. Hidden beneath these numbers lies people. Atul Vyas, 20, was already interviewing for grad school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard. Paul Long, 54, was coming back from his mother’s funeral. Christopher Aiken, 38, had just started a new life, getting married and going back to college to finish his degree, according to the LA Times. So many lives cut short in an instant, it’s easy to mold them into one round number, but these aren’t just numbers, these are people.
Erick Wrote:
Max Henderson, a sophomore from Biola University, takes the train to his home in Washington during school breaks. The train takes the same San Fernando route as did the Metrolink train that crashed last Friday. “I still feel fine about taking the train, I mean you don't hear about an accident like this often...it was kind of a freak accident,” says Mr. Henderson. When asked about how he feels about the proposed lobby by the MTA for Metrolink trains and its drivers Mr. Henderson stated, “Why not be safer if you can.” Hopefully the Metrolink officials will consider the proposed lobby. When questioned if he would ever ride a train on that route again, Mr. Henderson replied “Of course, I'm taking it home for Christmas.”
Amanda Wrote:
The cause of the Metrolink crash is still unknown, but the possibility that the engineer was text messaging while operating the train is under investigation from The National Transportation and Safety Board, according to the Associated Press. In response to this, the state's top rail safety regulator, on Sept. 15, said he would seek an emergency order banning train operators from using cell phones, reported the AP. And Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill Wednesday that will take affect Jan. 1, banning text messaging while driving, according to the LA Times. It will be some time until the cause of the crash is confirmed, but it’s good to know measures are being taken to try to prevent this disaster from happening again.
Katie Wrote:
On September 21, 2008, Joe Mozingo of the Los Angeles Times shared the stories of the twenty-five victims of the Metrolink crash. They were grandparents, children, students, and teachers. The only thing they had in common together was that they were on train 111. There are so many tragic news stories that we become desensitized. The L.A. Times article reminded people that the twenty-five victims had friends, a family and a story. It told the story of victims like 69 year old Howard Pompel, who got on the train after working at the Los Angeles City Employees Club. He normally took a later train but left early to play pool with a friend. "He wore his heart on his sleeve. He loved to make people laugh," said his daughter, Annette Conway.
Erik Wrote:
Yesterday the LAtimes.com reported that congressional negotiators had agreed to stat creating proposed safety measures that the MTA is lobbying for Metrolink trains. However, the bill proposed would be “delayed until 2015,” according to the congressional negotiators. State senator Dianne Feinstein (D) voiced her concern about this delay, “I hope that it can be passed before this Congress comes to a close. Yet, I'm very disappointed about the deadline.” If passed the bill would provide $50 million to help pay for the technology, cap the number of hours that freight train crews could work each month at 276 hours, and require the U.S. Department of Transportation to draw up limits for passenger crews.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
"New Way of Counting Radio Listeners May Cut Ad Income"
The New York Times published an article titled, "New Way of Counting Radio Listeners May Cut Ad Income." The piece was written by Brian Stelter. The article explained how Arbitron, which is a new method of tracking radio listeners, showed a big decline in ratings among station especially those appealing to black and Hispanics demographics. Previously Arbitron used paper diaries from sample listeners to set advertising prices. Now Arbitron has switched to more accurate way to track radio listeners by using computer technology. Arbitron now uses a pocket sized devise that is able to detect radio frequencies so that they can log what station a listener is actually tuned into.
The article continues on to state the damage that this new method is having on more ethnically friendly stations. For example, WPAT (93.1), a Spanish speaking adult contemporary station in New York, was rated number seven in Arbitron’s summer ratings but with the new equipment the station’s ratings fell to number nineteen. The station manager on WPAT, Frank Flores, was quoted saying, “No format changes were made. This is the same music, the same on-air personalities, and yet we’ve seen sever shirts in reported listening.” With such a drop in ratings comes a huge drop in the station’s support and ability to see ads as well. The paper wrote, "If those stations are hit with 30 or 40 percent loss of revenue it would be difficult to remain in operation." Another station that was hit hard in the ratings was WBLS. WBLS (107.5) is an urban adult contemporary station that was previously rated the number one station in its listening area. When the new Arbitron method of measuring listenership was used, the station had dropped form number one to number twelve.
While I see how such a dramatic drop in a stations listenership can have a significant effect on a station, I feel that Arbitron's new method is a more accurate one. I feel that those stations that are upset at the new method are just really upset at true numbers. I believe that it makes more sense that stations that target minorities have fewer listeners. A station that is targeting the majority is able to draw from a much larger listener base. That is why it is very rare to see a Christian radio station on the charts for high listenership. Not many people follow Christian music, which makes the number of people that a Christian radio broadcast station has to even draw from very small. And that does not even subtract Christians that listen to the different genres of music. The article later states that Arbitron is having an independent board review the new system soon. I am looking forward to seeing the results of Arbitron’s accuracy.
The article continues on to state the damage that this new method is having on more ethnically friendly stations. For example, WPAT (93.1), a Spanish speaking adult contemporary station in New York, was rated number seven in Arbitron’s summer ratings but with the new equipment the station’s ratings fell to number nineteen. The station manager on WPAT, Frank Flores, was quoted saying, “No format changes were made. This is the same music, the same on-air personalities, and yet we’ve seen sever shirts in reported listening.” With such a drop in ratings comes a huge drop in the station’s support and ability to see ads as well. The paper wrote, "If those stations are hit with 30 or 40 percent loss of revenue it would be difficult to remain in operation." Another station that was hit hard in the ratings was WBLS. WBLS (107.5) is an urban adult contemporary station that was previously rated the number one station in its listening area. When the new Arbitron method of measuring listenership was used, the station had dropped form number one to number twelve.
While I see how such a dramatic drop in a stations listenership can have a significant effect on a station, I feel that Arbitron's new method is a more accurate one. I feel that those stations that are upset at the new method are just really upset at true numbers. I believe that it makes more sense that stations that target minorities have fewer listeners. A station that is targeting the majority is able to draw from a much larger listener base. That is why it is very rare to see a Christian radio station on the charts for high listenership. Not many people follow Christian music, which makes the number of people that a Christian radio broadcast station has to even draw from very small. And that does not even subtract Christians that listen to the different genres of music. The article later states that Arbitron is having an independent board review the new system soon. I am looking forward to seeing the results of Arbitron’s accuracy.
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