Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Once, in college, I saw 'Becky' drink a pint
of Jungle Juice and freakin' pass out cold


(OK, there's an S-word in the video. You have been alerted.)


REVOLUTION 21 IS NOT "Safe for the Whole Family." Revolution 21 is not "Positive and Encouraging." Nor is Revolution 21 "The Positive Alternative."

If anything, Revolution 21's positioning statement probably could be "As Screwed Up as You Are, but Still Trying." I think that probably would be truer to the gospel than some of Christian radio's slogans . . . or Christian radio's on-air product.

And we don't claim to be a Christian radio station, nor do we play mostly Christian music. Revolution 21 is all about being both faithful to Christ and standing in solidarity with fallen humanity. Your humble Mighty Favog is not about being in the Christian-radio business; he is about being a Christian in the radio business.

Being a Christian in the radio biz is a hard thing to do. Particularly in an industry where the only bottom line is the bottom line, and where part of the job description is "living the lifestyle." And if you think the Christian/radio difficulty stops at the Evil Secular Radio (TM) border, you've got another think comin'.

In fact, for the Favog, trying to be a "Christian in the radio business" meant creating a whole new paradigm of committing radio. This after spending a few years in "Catholic radio" and having gotten a good gullet full of ensconcing oneself in an artificial Christian utopia.

Too often, the "utopia" of Christian radio -- at least in my experience of Catholic radio -- consists of pandering to people who too-often put piety over praxis -- and rubrics over redeeming love -- and then watching "utopia" become a dystopia where self-preservation and self-aggrandizement trumps living the gospel every time.

(And I say this as an orthodox Roman Catholic who loves punk rock but longs for a bit of chant, Latin and trancendance during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. If I want to hear music written by failed lounge acts, I will go to the nearest tiki bar and order a double of something.)

THIS IS THE PERSPECTIVE I bring to Christian Music Today.com's ongoing series on the state of Christian radio, which I highly recommend.


The latest installment -- the second in the series -- is about Becky. What? You don't know Becky?

"Becky" is the late-thirtysomething, early-fortysomething soccer mom listening as she carts her brood to the day's Middle-Class Suburban Activities. Or on her way to her women's prayer group, I forget which.

"Becky" is the target demographic of adult-contemporary Christian radio, of "Safe for the Whole Family" fame. And much of Christian music radio falls into the adult-contemporary category.

From the article by Mark Geil:

The choice of a target audience is the result of many factors, and in this particular industry, the typical economic factors are mixed with the ministerial and the evangelical. Becky is certainly a good audience from the perspective of dollars and cents. She is in the car a lot, which means she listens to the radio a lot, which means she hears a lot of commercials. She also has buying power, creating a pleasing combination for advertisers.

Non-commercial stations like her too, because she recognizes the ministry of the station in her family's life and is quick to support it financially. Mainstream data support the choice. For example, during an average week, radio reaches 96.9 percent of women in Atlanta, far exceeding the reach of newspaper and television.

Still, some are dismayed that this singular attention to one demographic limits radio's ability to reach others for Christ.

"The gospel has no target demographic," notes
Derek Webb, who has admittedly given up efforts to get his songs played on Christian AC radio. He further suggests that because radio is targeting Becky, songwriters are too. "Anything Jesus is Lord of, our artists should be writing songs about it. We're only covering about 2 percent of it."

Shaun Groves, another artist who has experienced more radio airplay in the past than now, fears the approach of non-commercial stations in fundraising efforts might even be hypocritical. "The bulk of listeners are Christians," he says. "This is music by Christians for Christians, and that's great. It's a valuable ministry. The trouble is, Christian radio tells stories to make you feel they're evangelistic, but they're not. Say what you are. Don't lie to me and tell me I'm saving teenagers."

Another consequence of this target audience is dangerous. "Christian radio is a microcosm of the church, and often reflects the racial segregation that's present in the church," says veteran radio promotions executive Chris Hauser.

Hauser recently helped promote the
debut release from Ayiesha Woods, and had that perceived segregation in mind when developing a release strategy. "We circulated the single with no name and no photo, and simply called it the first single from the newest Gotee Records artist."

That song, "Happy," became the most added song on Christian AC radio on April 18. Although it is impossible to measure the impact of the promotion strategy, Woods is the first black female to hit with a non-ballad in recent memory.

Perhaps the most visible effect of Christian radio's choice of a specific target audience is the branding of radio stations.

"The 'Safe for the Family' message had a huge impact when the Salem stations adopted it a few years ago," notes an industry insider who wished to remain anonymous. At its most basic level, stations realized that Becky is often carpooling with the kids, so they made a point to ensure that she understands that nothing she hears on that station will offend her or negatively influence her children.

Salem's trademarked slogan for their Fish stations is "Safe for the Whole Family." K-LOVE calls itself "Positive and Encouraging." Air 1 is "The Positive Alternative," Tulsa's KXOJ is "Your Choice for the Family," while KCMS is Seattle's "Family-Friendly Radio Station."

(snip)

While many listeners applaud the unwavering shelter in what has become a dangerous radio landscape, it is the lyrical content implication that riles some in the industry. Groves has no qualms about stations that are safe for the family, but notes particular dissatisfaction with other branding.

"'Always upbeat and positive,' that's profaning God's name," he says. "Much of the Bible in neither upbeat nor positive. We can never make a station as big as God is, but we shouldn't limit him."Webb is equally outspoken.

"'Safe for the family' is a terrible and counterproductive slogan. If anything, artists are called to radical truth-telling, which can be very subversive, very dangerous. Artists should challenge what we believe. We can't be safe any more than Jesus was safe."

GOD BLESS Derek Webb and Shaun Groves, both for telling it like it is and for having integrity as musicians . . . at the expense of their checkbooks.

In an age desperately in need of evangelism, it would seem that Christian radio is about anything but. But to get that mammon rolling in, evangelism is what Christian radio is selling to the faithful.

And that's two barnyard epithets in one fell swoop . . . or is that one swell poop? It's both bull**** AND chicken****.

Neither represents "gospel values."

Finally, there are three phrases from my Catholic radio days that I never, EVER want to hear again:

1) "How can we do business here?"
2) "Catholic radio's not ready for that yet."
3) "Time to circle the wagons!"

(Who cares? The hell it isn't! Circle 'em yourself.)

Amen.

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