Page - 45 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 06/02

What Makes Popular Christian Music “Popular”? | 45www.jrfm.eu 2020, 6/2, 41–57 Why Adapt the Term Contemporary Christian Music to Popular Christian Music? In the Anglo-American sphere, the origins of Contemporary Christian Music as a genre characterized by evangelical content can be traced back to the 1970s and the Jesus People movement (which itself emerged from the hippie movement). Specifically, the Jesus Rock genre enabled conservative Christian milieus’ critical approach to rock music to be overcome, with the enormous attraction of the Jesus People to younger audiences directly attributed to the combination of worship with rock’n’roll.16 Since the 1990s the term CCM has been used as a genre label in the music industry, with charts established for “Hot Christian Songs”, “Christian Airplay” and “Top Christian Albums” in ad- dition to Billboard magazine’s regular “Billboard charts” and also two awards reserved for CCM at the annual Grammy Awards ceremony. In this article, I use the term “Contemporary Christian Music” only in ref- erence to the specific genre label applied by the US-American music industry, preferring instead the term “Popular Christian Music” (PCM). The necessity for such change arises from the fact that the concept of “contemporary” is much more charged in Germany than in the United States, with the related German term zeitgenössisch understood in light of the artistic avant-garde. “PCM” thus allows for a general classification into the category of popular music that contrasts with “classical music”. Despite the necessity to adjust the terminology, my observations are in line with those of Amy McDowell, who suggests that the genre “Contemporary Christian Music” is defined more by its Christian lyrics or its use in a Christian context than by its musical style, which can vary greatly depending on the artist, although semantic correla- tions between music and content (e. g. the lyrics) can be important.17 In Ger- many, PCM artists and bands have rarely achieved great economic success. Unlike in the United States, in Germany there are no official music charts for PCM, and there was no category for Christian music in the former Echo Awards. 16 McDowell 2013. 17 Kopanski/Albrecht-Birkner/Heesch/Stöhr (forthcoming).