A “Convention” For CCM
Click HERE to read an interesting article by a former member of Big Tent Revival on the absence of a Fan Fair/NQC type experience for fans of CCM.
My big question is, why doesn’t the CCM industry cater more to their fans? Why isn’t there an effort to put all the artist in one city for a week and have shows going from morning till night complete with fan club parties and charity events?
One reason is because CCM isn’t a collection of closely related musical genres like Southern Gospel or Country music. Everyone has their favorite artists, of course, and would likely respond to an event where artists like Michael W. Smith and Third Day would be at their booths for six nights straight meeting fans in addition to singing in a big arena with other popular acts. I presume summer festivals such as Cornerstone and Atlanta Fest still attract a large group of people. Those are concert events rather than events where any artist can show up as long as they pay a booth fee, though. The point that isn’t being acknowledged is that “CCM,” as a term of reference, has always encompassed a vast collection of styles with greater scope that you’d find at NQC or a Country music fan event.
The primary difference I see…and I can’t relate that much to today’s artists, so I’ll use 1990s artists to make the distinction…is that the type of music Michael W. Smith creates is so markedly different from Stryper, or if you go the other way, Sandi Patty. In the mid-1990s, you wouldn’t find very many concert promoters billing these three artists on the same event. In comparison, fans who go to NQC and what used to be known as Fan Fair in Country music are attracted to the music itself. We too have some extremes…you might not see the McKameys on too many events with the Martins…but all artists under the Southern Gospel umbrella are no more than “once removed.” Greater Vision might conceivable appear with either the Inspirations or the Martins, for example. The audiences aren’t compatible entirely across the board, but they’re fairly close to being compatible.
You don’t have the same area of common ground between the more extreme groups in CCM. In fact, there are pockets of CCM that are still larger than all of Southern Gospel put together. The point made in this article regarding Country music being larger than CCM is good, though. If Garth Brooks can make time to appear at these types of events, any artist should.
It would be exciting to watch someone in the CCM industry attempt to unite so many different musical tastes under one roof. What would be better, I think, is two or three genre related events throughout the year. A Christian Worship “convention,” a Christian Pop Artist event, and another event for Christian rock artists would have a greater chance for success. There would be some overlap between the three, but the fans attending would have more of a common interest in the music styles being presented.
We have two multi-day Christian Music Festivals out here in California called ‘Spirit West Coast’. See http://www.spiritwestcoast.org/whatis.php. The festival on Labor Day Weekend is in Del Mar (near San Diego) and the Monterey festival is July 31 – Aug. 2. Combined unique visitor attendance is typically 40,000 and combined cumulative attendances are 100,000.
If you check out the artist lineup, it is literally a ‘who’s who’ of Contemporary Christian artists at the top of the charts. I went to the Del Mar event a few years ago. There is a main stage that typically hosts the mainstream CCM and P&W artists, and a couple of other stages where up and comers and more youth-oriented (including Christian Rap) artists perform. The festivals also include comedians and evangelists and activities for the kids.
Here might be a better example:
“…type of music Casting Crowns creates is so markedly different from The Almost., or if you go the other way, Fernando Ortega.”
That may very well be a better example. I haven’t heard The Almost, but I know there’s a strong distinction between what I’ve heard of Ortega’s style and the style of Casting Crowns.
Bob,
One distinction between a large festival like those you’re talking about and a true fan related event is the “flea market” element. At NQC, any artist great or small can purchase booth space, and a huge emphasis is placed on access to artists at Country music’s annual event. At one of the summer festivals, you’re still essentially attending a concert event.
I’ve attended Atlanta Fest in Georgia several times, and there, the artists come in for one day, do their show, maybe sign a few autographs, and then clear out for the next day’s group of artists. You have perhaps two or three first tier artists on any given day appearing on a “main stage” of some sort with a few other stages throughout the day. You don’t have 10 or 11 artists on a main stage doing 20 minute sets with some of the top acts making three appearances throughout the week long event. You don’t have six nights where you have a good chance of actually meeting your favorite artist face to face. Also, there aren’t any off-site unofficial free concerts at Atlanta Fest, which is the sort of thing that tends to pop up around a true fan oriented event.
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