Gospel Music: Then and Now
Exploring the evolution of gospel music through style, tech, artists, and its expanding audience.

Gospel music is perhaps the biggest non-mainstream genre in the music world. With thousands of artists and an audience of over two billion people, some have even argued that gospel music is just as mainstream as any music. It wasn't always like this, though. Gospel music has evolved over the years beyond anything the first Gospel artists could've imagined. The audience is much bigger and the styles are more diverse.  Things are very much different.

To better appreciate how far gospel music has come, one must first know where it came from to put things into perspective. Only then will we understand what to celebrate and what to lament and strive to change? Only then can we fully understand the challenges gospel music faces today, and what can be done about them.

In an ever-evolving world, keeping in touch with the past gives us perspective, and looking into the future gives us purpose. In this article, we will focus on perspective. So let's take a walk down memory lane to the very origin of gospel music. Let's go back to the era of hymns where it all began.

Walk with me…

Where it all began…

To find the very first gospel musicians, we would have to go back to Biblical times when the likes of Moses, David, and Solomon all wrote songs. There's even a book called Psalms in the Bible that's full of songs by various men. Gospel music, as we know it, started much later. The Israelites of old found music a good way to cope with their enslavement in Egypt. Eons later, black slaves in America used this same method of escape.

After slavery was abolished, African Americans continued to sing their songs. Some formed groups to sing these songs to audiences. From the groanings of slaves, a new music genre would be born. Names like Harry Burleigh (1866-1949) and Thomas Dorsey (1899-1993) were among the pioneers of this movement. Today, we have big names like Kirk Franklin and CeCe Winans leading the pack.

As technology began to shrink the distance between cities, then countries, and even continents, gospel music continued to grow. Today, it's a far cry from a group of slaves singing to each other as they work. Today, gospel has spread around the globe with as many subgenres as you can imagine including jazz, hip-hop, RnB, soul, pop, and Afrobeat.

What changed?

It's quite obvious that things have changed, but what exactly has changed? What makes today different from the early days of gospel music? I'll attempt to answer this question in five categories: style, content, technology, artists, and audience.

Audience

We've already spoken about this a bit. After the slaves were freed, gospel music grew beyond the cotton fields of the South and into churches and beyond. This growth in the audience is probably the first thing that changed for gospel music. The music had to become more professional but every bit as deep and spiritual.

This growth in the audience included people from different races and backgrounds. Gospel music was no longer just for African American slaves, christians from all over the place were getting involved. As the audience grew, however, something else began to happen.

Artists

As the audience for gospel music grew, it expanded beyond African American communities into other places. This inspired a new generation of artists from different backgrounds to start making gospel music. Early on, you would only find African American gospel musicians like Ira Sankey around. Today, that's changed.

We have Hillsong from Australia, Maverick City in the US, and many other wonderful musicians from around the world. This influx of artists from all over the place, in turn, caused another big change.

Style

Artists from different backgrounds began to make gospel music, each with their style. With more and more people getting involved, diversity was the next milestone. Although the basic idea of spiritual content remained, every artist brought something different to the table. Artists with a background in jazz leaned towards jazz, and so did artists with a hip-hop background.

There are Christians in almost every sphere of life, and the music is an indication of that. You'll find a gospel artist in nearly every genre that has a name today. The larger the audience, the more diverse the artists. The more diverse the artists, the more the genres.

Technology

Perhaps the single biggest factor in the growth of the music industry in general, technology can't be overlooked. The invention of musical instruments, recording equipment, and distribution platforms have helped grow gospel music beyond anything a slave in the 1800s could've imagined.

The internet has also come along and changed everything about our lives, gospel music included. Today, anyone can make music and share it with the entire world without leaving their house. As technology continues to make the world smaller and smaller, gospel music will grow more and more accessible to people.

Content

The songs in the early days of gospel music were mostly about looking up to God through hardship. There were also songs praising God for life and good health. Today, it's much more than just that. As the styles abound, so does the content. Gospel songs today range from a simple chorus in a Nigerian church to a deep, poetic verse from Hillsong.

Theology is now part of the music. Artists are putting plenty of effort into researching deep concepts in the Bible and singing about them in their music. That said, there's also an argument by some that the lyrics are getting shallower by the day.

Final Thoughts

Gospel music has come a long way and continues to evolve to this day. If you're looking to become a gospel artist, you probably have a big role to play in where next it goes. After all, only people will something new get attention in a saturated industry. Understanding where gospel music came from can help us understand where it's going. This understanding will then help you position yourself in such a way that you make as much impact as possible.

What happens in the next fifty years depends on what we do today. As you pursue your career, keep that in mind.