Christian music ‘surging in popularity’

A recent NPR headline reads: “Has the Billboard Top 100 caught the Holy Ghost?”

Earlier this year, “Hard Fought Hallelujah” by Christian artist Brandon Lake spent 11 weeks on the Billboard Top 100 while “Your Way’s Better” by another Christian singer-songwriter, Forrest Frank, hit its second week, making the singles the only Christian songs to reach the US record chart since 2020.

The Billboard Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by Billboard magazine.

Chart rankings are reportedly based on sales, online streaming, and radio airplay in the US.

Lake and Frank have garnered mass popularity in the Christian music world and use social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram to get their music out.

“Jesus music is taking over,” Frank wrote in a recent Instagram post showing students dancing to “Your Way’s Better” in Japan.

But these short-term successes are only a symptom of a bigger trend happening in the music industry; Christian and gospel music are the genres experiencing the most growth in the US right now after rock, Latin, and country music.

In fact, Christian music has seen a 60 per cent increase globally in streaming on Spotify in the last five years.

A 'younger, streaming-forward fanbase'

Jaime Marconette, Vice President of Music Insights and Industry Relations at Luminate, the data company that informs Billboard’s charts, said the genre’s growth is due to a “younger, streaming-forward fanbase” whose makeup is 60 per cent female and 30 per cent millennial.

“Globally accessible streaming platforms make the spreading and sharing of music, and the creative collaboration of artists, much easier for the world’s 2.4 billion Christians,” said The Gospel Coalition’s Brett McCracken in a recent TGC article.

“Like Christianity generally, there’s no geographic ‘centre’ for Christian music. It’s global, and increasingly so. It’s no surprise that Christian music streaming is surging in nations like Brazil, India, South Africa, Indonesia, and the Philippines. That’s where Christianity is growing,” he added.

McCracken praised the range of Christian music being produced today: “When you look at the creativity and authentic faith on display in the music of these artists, it’s easy to see why Christian music is surging in popularity globally.

“For now, the thriving Christian music scene is worth celebrating. And the good stuff being created by believers around the world is worth sharing.”