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c. 1997 Religion News Service UNDATED _ Terry Jones of the contemporary Christian music group Point of Grace lives one state west from the charged musical environment of Nashville. From her perspective in Little Rock, Ark., she believes the gospel music industry can benefit from cooperation as well as competition. Next week, Jones and other […]

c. 1997 Religion News Service

UNDATED _ Terry Jones of the contemporary Christian music group Point of Grace lives one state west from the charged musical environment of Nashville. From her perspective in Little Rock, Ark., she believes the gospel music industry can benefit from cooperation as well as competition.

Next week, Jones and other artists will head to New York City’s Madison Square Garden for the 39th annual Grammy Awards, where competition is the name of the game, and where Christian performers will compete in six gospel music categories.


But Point of Grace is also an example of how the industry is learning to work together to promote the whole of Christian music through the use of so-called compilation albums.

Point of Grace and 29 other groups and performers, for example, have joined together on the latest such effort _”WOW 1997.”The album is on its way to selling a million copies.

The female quartet’s pop single,”Keep the Candle Burning,”is featured on”WOW 1997″along with Christian songs with a harder rock edge, a taste of rhythm-and-blues gospel and a mix of country and bluegrass.”I think we all feel that we have one goal, one purpose and that’s to encourage people in Christ,”said Jones, 26, who often sings the lowest notes in the women’s quartet.”I think it’s wonderful that the different record companies can come together and allow their artists to be on with other artists from different labels.” Point of Grace, which formed in 1991 while the members were in college, received the Gospel Music Association’s 1994 Dove Award for New Artist of the Year. But the group is still thrilled with the exposure it receives when coupled with bigger names in Christian music.”It’s always fun to get to be on projects with people like Steven Curtis Chapman and Carman,”she said.”One of the neatest things about `WOW’ is someone who may love an artist … like maybe Steven Curtis, and never heard of us, will get it because of Steven Curtis and they’ll hear us. It really helps broaden the audience that we have.” And the audience _ including buyers of music in Christian retail settings and secular stores _ is opening its collective wallet.

According to the Feb. 17 issue of CCM Update, a weekly trade publication about the contemporary Christian music industry,”WOW 1997″is the second highest-selling Christian album in both Christian and secular markets.

Retailers like Brian Ehline, a buyer for a chain of Christian bookstores in the Pacific Northwest, see”WOW 1997″as a boost for individual business and the industry as a whole.”It’s a fantastic opportunity for us as retailers … to introduce people to Christian music because it has the very best in Christian music on that CD,”said Ehline.

The WOW project is a collaborative effort by EMI Christian Music Group, Word Records and Music and Reunion Entertainment Group.

Among those on”WOW 1997″are winners of the Gospel Music Association’s 1996 Dove Awards for Artist (dc Talk); Group (Point of Grace); Female Vocalist (CeCe Winans); Male Vocalist (Gary Chapman); and New Artist (Jars of Clay) of the Year. Most of the artists on”WOW 1997″also have been nominated for 1997 Doves.


Nine of the”WOW”artists also are nominated for Grammy Awards: Audio Adrenaline, Gary Chapman, Steven Curtis Chapman, dc Talk, 4Him, Kirk Franklin and the Family, Newsboys, Point of Grace, and Rebecca St. James. The Grammys will be presented in a televised ceremony Feb. 26.

The producers of”WOW”hope the project will increase sales of Christian music among those unfamiliar with the genre. With about 3 percent of sales in the entire music market, leaders in the Christian music industry consider education one of their top priorities.”There are still many people who are not familiar with the style of music … and `WOW ’97’ is really the definitive collection of what contemporary Christian music is all about,”said Bruce Koblish, president of the Gospel Music Association (GMA), which is receiving some of the proceeds from the project.

Since the music companies whose artists are featured on”WOW 1997″want their music to sell, it made sense for them to work together, industry experts said.”I think we all realize that united we stand, divided we fall,”said Scott Hughes, an executive at EMI Christian Music Group.”We need each other.””WOW 1997″has proven to be more successful than its predecessor,”WOW 1996.”It was certified gold _ 500,000 units sold _ more quickly than its predecessor and is expected to go platinum, marking 1 million units sold.

According to statistics compiled by the Christian Music Trade Association,”WOW 1996″was the 10th highest selling Christian album in 1996 and”WOW 1997,”released only in October 1996, was the 17th highest that year.

Other popular joint projects featuring a range of contemporary Christian musicians include”Emmanuel,”a musical version of the story of Jesus;”The Young Messiah,”contemporary Christian music’s spin on Handel’s famous work; and”My Utmost for His Highest,”an album featuring well-known Christian artists performing songs inspired by the writings of Scottish preacher Oswald Chambers.

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As Jones looks forward to the Grammy Awards, she said it’s just another opportunity for the group to spread the word about their music and their message.”As far as the secular world goes, you become a lot more visible to them,”she said.”Christian music is sort of in its own area and it’s beginning to expand out into the secular world and that’s kind of the point of why you do Christian music … to get the nonbeliever to listen and to believe.”


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