Oct 31 2008
Even Christians are ruining Christmas
Today on OCTOBER 31st I went to pick up our children from school. I usually flip from ESPN radio and the local Christian stations based on the music or if I like the topics on ESPN radio. Then I heard something I couldn’t believe. On OCTOBER 31st, the local Christian radio station was playing Silent Night. Then every song is Christmas music. They even had a commercial saying that if you want to listen to the regular music you have to have an HD receiver. Uggh!
How many times have I heard Christians complaining about the commercialization of Christmas? It doesn’t help when Christian radio stations bypass Thanksgiving. Who wants to listen to Christmas music for 55 days? Needless to say I will never listen to that station again because we will be moved by the time they start playing regular music again.
Also, while I’m ranting… Christian music stations are not geared towards men either. The music is usually wimpy and the DJ’s talk towards women. We need some manly Christian stations that will play some Pillar, Skillet and even some Switchfoot.
What do you think?
![[del.icio.us]](http://images.del.icio.us/static/img/delicious.small.gif){kind=small}
13 responses so far
Well, I like Christmas music. I tend to listen to it all year long, though I do have a lot of rock, ska, and punk versions of Christmas songs that I’m pretty fond of.
As far as the radio station thing goes, in Dallas, we have an awesome Christian Rock station, 89.7 Powerfm, that plays good music. It’s one of about 5 in the nation with that format. We’re blessed. I think that if you have the right type of mobile phone, you can listen to it on there and hook play it in the car (if you have the right connectors. i.e. an fm broadcaster or input connections).
At any rate, if we didn’t have powerfm, I’d be in the same boat.
http://www.897powerfm.com
http://www.kvrk.com
Amen Bro! I’m so sick of teenibopper girl groups I could gag. Give me more Third Day! And make it loud!
Well…Kevin, hate to disappoint you…in B’ham…you’ll have the choice of WDJC or WDJC…and on December 1, they begin Christmas music…
Now, for your real choice in the morning, you’ll love Rick and Bubba…familiar with them? Two very strong Christian men, who aren’t wimps, and who on secular radio regularly share their faith in Jesus Christ and Jesus alone! I find myself listening to them over standard “Christian music”…just for the reasons you said above.
M. Steve Heartsill’s last blog post..What’s the Rest of the Story?
I like Christmas music - especially jazz versions of it. We play “My Little Drum”, “Christmas Time is Here”, and “Soon it Will Be Christmas Day” in my jazz band - more to be added to the repertoire in the next few weeks. I went Christmas caroling in a hospital some years back (when I was still playing guitar). Don’t knock it, it’s pretty good stuff!
Matt,
Are these punk versions of traditional Christmas tunes? Who does them? What are some of the tunes?
Man, I’m so with you on this! The whole commercialization thing throws me off anyway, but that it’s becoming a longer and longer “season” bugs me more and more!
However, there is a reason for all of this - a method behind the madness, so to speak: Marketing (of course). This has to do with mainstream (non-Christian) stations, but I can see how it can easily leak into Christian radio, because Christian radio is a business, whether people like to admit that or not. The earlier playing of Christmas music all has to do with getting the most listeners (believe it or not). I read a newspaper article last year that talked about the reason for stations doing this earlier. The first station in our area last year started Christmas music 24/7 on November 6th or 7th, and other stations followed suit pretty quickly.
The article said that listeners say they do not want to hear Christmas music all the time, but yet they are more likely to keep it on that station anyway! I’m with you… I’d turn the station. But apparently the statistics show that this is what’s best for the station. Again, it’s all about marketing.
I was fortunate to work for 11 years at a radio station that started Christmas music on the day after Thanksgiving, once or twice an hour. Then every week they bumped it up a little until they were at 5 or 6 an hour, and then every-other-song for the few days leading up to Christmas. Then all Christmas music from Christmas Eve afternoon throughout Christmas Day.
As for Christian music stations geared towards women, you are SPOT ON in recognizing that! During my last couple of years in Christian radio, we really got hit with management wanting to get with the program on proper marketing. Fortunately it didn’t flow into our Christmas music (!), but we truly did have to sit down and come up with our “target listener.”
With the help of ‘professionals,’ we came up with a specific target person. Our target listener was a female aged 18-32. And in order to get ourselves to be more on target while on the air, we came up with a fictitious person. We gave her a fictitious profile, including an actual name, a husband, a family, a part time job, children, church background, and so on and so on. Whenever we spoke on the air, we were speaking to “Jennifer.”
This is how most professional stations operate. In a sense it seems very hypocritical for a Christian station to do this, and maybe it really is. But the reasoning behind it all has to do with the underlying purpose of the station - to provide the Christian music for a generation who needs it. It’s commercial, but if not for the commercialization of it, it could not exist. I mean, it really could not exist if it didn’t have everything in place to operate as a business in a market in which they’re ‘competing’ with other mainstream businesses (radio stations).
The mainstream stations are in it for the money. The Christian stations are (supposedly) in it to get the message out - although I’m sure the almighty $ easily works its way in where it shouldn’t. But even with totally sweet and clean motives, it still has to be a business, and they still have to meet the bottom line, and so they still have to do all the marketing stuff.
Joel B’s last blog post.."Recklessly Extravagant"
A3,
I like Christmas music-I just like in December.
Who cares about the music? What about the supermarkets stocking up for the big annual commerce-fest—in SEPTEMBER???
Kevin, I have to agree with Steve regarding your Christian music station options here in Bham. It’s one area we’re sorely lacking in. I actually can’t stand WDJC because they have a tendency to talk more than play music and some of their DJs spend more time playing “holier than thou” than playing good music. That’s why I have lots of mixed CD’s in my car at all times.
Steve is also very right about Rick and Bubba. Some people can’t stand their antics but these are two fine, upstanding Christian men who talk about their faith in very open and honest ways. They are quite intent on being on secular stations in order to use their medium to spread the Gospel.
My boss LOVES Christmas. Today, he searched for the satellite secular radio station that plays seasonal music. We are not listening to Christmas music. His 8 trees are down and will be starting to go up this week. The new pink one for his new baby went up on Wednesday. When people are on hold, they will listen to Christmas music tomorrow. It isn’t about commercialism for him. He truly loves the Christmas season so much. Perhaps some of the radio station decision makers are like him.
Now I find that there isn’t much listening to Christmas music on Christmas Eve or Day unless it is being sung in service or with the family. I like having it playing from Thanksgiving Day till New Years. I do need a VARIETY of it though. “Christmas Shoes” should not be played more than one time a day!
The stereotype of Christian radio stations is offensive. They certainly don’t play or talk to me most of the time. God has such better things for my life than to waste it being a Stay at Home mom listening to cooking tips and preschoolers who can’t sing. John Rivers, who used to be a great DJ, has even turned 20 the countdown into many boring interviews and stories about the artist or music.
Sadly though…didn’t you post a discussion a while ago about how church worship is often geared more for the female as well?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFljv_wit4k
I found this on youtube. I didn’t find the previous discussion on here about worship and men.
Hi Kevin,
91.9 is back to its regular format today! (Nov. 3).
Steve,
That is good to hear. I like Christmas music in December.