Page - 41 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 06/02

DOI: 10.25364/05.6:2020.2.4 What Makes Popular Christian Music “Popular”? | 41www.jrfm.eu 2020, 6/2, 41–57 Reinhard Kopanski What Makes Popular Christian Music “Popular”? A Comparison of Current US-American and German Christian Music Using the Examples of Lauren Daigle and Koenige & Priester Abstract By applying different (competing) understandings of the term “popular”, this article showcases the criteria by which Popular Christian Music (labelled Contemporary Christian Music by the US music industry) can be described as “popular”. It compares Anglo-American and German-language Christian songs by means of close readings of the German band Koenige & Priester (Kings & Priests) and US singer Lauren Daigle. It argues that Christian music uses strategies of popularization comparable to secular popular music. Unlike secular music, however, for Popular Christian Music the Chris- tian message is a central genre marker, which leads me to suggest that its popularity (in the sense of reaching a large audience beyond religious/evangelical circles) essen- tially depends on the polysemic properties of its lyrics. Keywords Contemporary Christian Music (CCM), Germany, Koenige & Priester (band), Lauren Daigle (singer), Lyrics, Music, Popular Christian Music (PCM), Religion, United States of America Biography Reinhard Kopanski is a research associate at the University of Siegen at the Professo- rial Chair of Popular Music and Gender Studies. His research interests include music and politics, music and technology, and music and religion. He recently completed his Ph.D. in musicology; his thesis will be published in 2021 as Bezugnahmen auf den Nationalsozialismus in der populären Musik. Lesarten zu Laibach, Death In June, Feindflug, Rammstein und Marduk. He has contributed articles in peer-reviewed journals such as Metal Music Studies and Samples, as well as for the online version of the German academic music encyclopaedia Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart (MGG). His pro- fessional experience includes pedagogical work as a lecturer in Bonn and Cologne and freelance work in the field of audio production.