Contemporary Christian music (or CCM—and occasionally "inspirational music") is a genre of modern popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith. Today, the term is typically used to refer to the Nashville, Tennessee-based pop, rock, and praise & worship Christian music industry, currently represented by artists such as MercyMe, Casting Crowns, Jeremy Camp, Third Day, Matthew West, tobyMac, Chris Tomlin, Brandon Heath and Aaron Shust and historically by artists such as Amy Grant, Jars of Clay, dc Talk, Steven Curtis Chapman, Newsboys and Michael W. Smith. The industry is represented by the Billboard Christian Albums, Hot Christian Songs Hot Christian AC (Adult Contemporary), Christian CHR, Soft AC/Inspirational, and Christian Digital Songs charts. On the iTunes Store, the genre is represented as part of the Christian & Gospel genre.
However, not all modern music which lyrically identifies with Christianity is part of the Nashville Contemporary Christian Music industry. Alternative genres such as punk, hardcore, heavy metal, and hip hop groups deal explicitly with issues of faith but are normally not considered CCM. Also, several mainstream artists such as The Byrds, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Elvis Presley, Kanye West, Creed, The Fray, Evanescence, Lifehouse, U2, and rapper DMX have dealt with Christian themes in their work but are not part of the CCM industry.
Read more about Contemporary Christian Music: History, Controversy
Famous quotes containing the words contemporary, christian and/or music:
“Why is it that many contemporary male thinkers, especially men of color, repudiate the imperialist legacy of Columbus but affirm dimensions of that legacy by their refusal to repudiate patriarchy?”
—bell hooks (b. c. 1955)
“O, I have passed a miserable night,
So full of fearful dreams, of ugly sights,
That, as I am a Christian faithful man,
I would not spend another such a night
Though ‘twere to buy a world of happy days,
So full of dismal terror was the time.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Poetry is either something that lives like fire inside you—like music to the musician or Marxism to the Communist—or else it is nothing, an empty formalized bore around which pedants can endlessly drone their notes and explanations.”
—F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940)