A Small Bit About Local Christian Albums

Before you ignore this, there's very little regarding content, and more about bandcamp distribution.

If not obvious already, I love bandcamp as not only a discovery tool but as a barometer of local trends. Having the opportunity to preview music for free levels a lot of preconceptions I'd otherwise have from other local music blogs. I'm not immune to the ingrained idea that "if it costs more, it must be better." I've done a good job shaking it off, but as long as it's a cultural trait, I'm sure I'll struggle with it.

So this brings me to the crux of this baby rant, which is: what's the deal with the Jesus-y albums being so expensive? I promised when this started not to post long form reviews, so bands here will go unnamed. That said, I've noticed that content doesn't reflect price as far as quality goes. And not just song-quality, but production quality. I refuse to believe that some of these people giving music away for free incurred less cost than some Christian albums going for 10 bucks a pop.

And does that money go to them or their church? While I don't care, it technically might. Churches generally have bad ass sound equipment. I wouldn't put it past some to run their own recording studios. Actually, I'd totally consider recording in one. If there are any entrepreneurial churches out there, make a note of that.

Also, there's a lot of it out there. As a barometer, I can't tell me if that indicates religious tendencies in the KC area or an actual musical preference. There may be a bazillion Christian acts, but do they play out? Do they just play at churches? I know one particular act that seems funded by a predominant Protestant branch, but I couldn't tell you if they end up at any venues. It's not my scene, but if you have a built-in audience through a congregation, maybe these album prices are justified to them because they actually move volume every Sunday. I tend to believe this is more smart than dubious, unless their music is filled with hate-filled rhetoric (and there's one particular 0-receiving band I'm thinking of).

I wouldn't mind hearing from some Christian bands to find out what they're basing their prices on, how they record, and if their church is running a sweet studio. Feel free to drop me an email or leave it in the comments.