Christian music hold its own in 2005

The Gospel Music Association has released the 2005 year-end sales data for the 52-week period ending Jan. 1, showing that total album sales topped 39 million units, down 8 percent from the previous year. The music industry overall saw an overall decline of 7.2 percent in music sales.

Topping the list of overall best selling Christian and Gospel albums were:

No. 1 Switchfoot’s Nothing Is Sound (Columbia/Sparrow) with 449,102 units sold

No. 2 Casting Crown’s Lifesong (Beach Street/Reunion), 430,227 units sold

No. 3 Relient K’s MMHMM (Capital/Gotee), 421,291 units sold

No. 4 Switchfoot’s The Beautiful Letdown (Columbia/Sparrow) 407,482 units sold

No. 5 Kirk Franklin’s Hero (GospoCentric), 377,123 units sold

The units sold includes all titles in the Nielsen Christian SoundScan system, regardless of genre or catalog status, as well as all digital album downloads.

The top selling praise and worship album was Chris Tomlin’s Arriving (sixsteprecords); the top selling digital album download was Switchfoot’s Nothing Is Sound (Columbia/Sparrow); the top selling Southern Gospel album was Bill and Gloria Gaither and Homecoming’s Israel Homecoming (Spring Hill); the top selling video was Tommy Nelson Kid’s Hermie & Friends’ “Buzby the Misbehaving Bee.”

Also of note:
• Mainstream retail outlets accounted for 61 percent of all Christian/gospel music sales.

• Capitol/Gotee’s Relient K had the most downloaded Christian music single, “Be My Escape,” with 123,858 digital tracks sold.

• Christian/gospel remains the sixth most popular genre, surpassing Latin, soundtracks, jazz, classical and new age music sales.

In other Entertainment News:
Grammy and Dove Award-winning artist Michael W. Smith was nominated by the White House to serve a two-year term as a member of the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation. The council’s main efforts are to promote volunteer service and civic participation in American society. Smith joins a dynamic group of leaders who represent the private and non-profit sectors, including actress Patricia Heaton, actor Stephen Baldwin, entertainer Art Linkletter, actress/singer Hilary Duff and Phoenix Suns owner Jerry Colangelo. This prestigious nomination comes as Smith prepares for the national release of the film “Second Chance,” his first acting role in a major motion picture.

Billboard Radio Monitor reported that the week between Christmas and New Years was a big week for digital downloads. During that seven-day stretch, consumers legally downloaded almost 20 million tracks from iTunes and other download retailers—more than three times the number of tracks downloaded during the same time the previous year. Digital track sales reached 352 million for the year.

Award-winning singer/songwriter Jeremy Camp ended 2005 on a double Gold note, when his first two releases with BEC Recordings, Stay and Carried Me: The Worship Project, were both certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. His current release, Restored, is close to Gold certification, meaning Camp’s music and videos will ship more than 1,500,000 copies in less than three years. Camp hits the road this spring for a 13-date acoustic tour, “The Live Unplugged Tour,” with opening act Bethany Dillon.

Also reaching Gold status: Mark Schultz’s DVD/CD project, Mark Schultz Live—A Night of Stories & Songs (Word Records) and Chris Tomlin’s praise and worship album Arriving (sixstepsrecords/Sparrow), which debuted at No. 39 on the Billboard Top 200 chart back in September.

In typical quirky fashion, Relient K is hitting the road for the Matt Hoopes Birthday Tour. Hoopes is the band’s guitarist, and the tour kicks off in Kansas City, Mo. on his birthday, Feb. 15. Joining them on the road will be The Rocket Summer and Maxeen.

GMA’s New Artists of the Year, Building 429, are getting ready to release their anticipated sophomore project, Rise, on March 14.

BEC Recordings artist Jadon Lavik releases his sophomore album, Life On The Inside, March 7. Lavik will join Rebecca St. James and Barlow Girl on a 40-plus city tour on Feb. 2 through April 1.

Family Force 5, Fighting Instinct and DJ Maj have joined together to perform 15 after-show parties during Winter Jam 2006 tour, under way through March 19. The three acts will offer late-night music for fans at churches and Christian clubs in markets nationwide, including Tennessee, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia, North and South Carolina, as well as Oklahoma, Texas, Michigan and Mississippi.

Published by Keener Communications Group, February 2006

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