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The Christian music industry is a small part of the larger music industry, that focuses on gospel music, contemporary Christian music and Christian rock music.
The majority of artists working and performing within the Christian music industry are isolated from the mainstream public, to Christian radio, magazines and record stores. Some artists however are able to "cross over" to achieve success both within the Christian music industry and the larger, "mainstream" music industry.
Crossing over has become a little easier in recent years as, through ownership changes, the largest Christian record labels have become subsidiaries of the "mainstream" labels (who are themselves owned by huge media conglomerates like Viacom and Time Warner), promoting a product to a niche market.
The Christian music industry's roots are found in the late 1960s and early 1970s Jesus Movement and its Jesus Music artists.
The Christian music industry is made up of:
The Christian music industry also has its own blanket copyright licensing organization specifically designed for royalty payments related to the reproduction of Christian songs in church worship services: Christian Copyright Licensing International or CCLI - http://www.ccli.com.
In the 21st Century, the advent of file sharing technologies may change the balance between record companies, song writers, and performing artists.
Christian music industry organizations:
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