Gospel Music: What Does the Future Hold?
Times have changed and so has the world of Gospel music. Here's where it's headed.

Gospel music is one of the biggest genres in the world, I even daresay the biggest. Gospel music is almost an alternative music industry on its own. Within the industry, you’ll find record labels and independent artists, and you’ll find every genre on offer today. Hip-hop, RnB, jazz, rock, and soul music are all represented in the Gospel music industry.

I’ve written previously about the history of music, but in this article, I’m focused on its future. If you’re looking to become an established Gospel artist, you’ll need this to help you position yourself effectively to make a difference. If you know where something is going, you can lie in wait for it.

So what does the future hold for Gospel music? What trends should we look out for? Let’s talk about the future!

Trends to look out for

Fans will demand more authenticity

The last few years have been a bit tipsy-turvy for Gospel music fans with some damaging scandals surrounding prominent Gospel artists. Dante Bowe, for example, was suspended by Maverick City due to some controversial behavior. Hillsong, one of my personal favorites, was also enshrouded in some controversy a couple of years ago.

All this has Gospel music fans tired. Going forward, I believe the fans will demand more transparency from artists. It’s one thing to write down creative and fancy lyrics, but it’s another thing to have a life in order. Gospel artists may argue it’s unfair to hold them to such high standards, but I don’t see how.

Secular artists don’t claim to be representing God, their music belongs to them and reflects whatever they want it to reflect. It’s different for Gospel artists. In the Bible, it is said that teachers of God’s Word will be held to a higher standard than others because a lot depends on them.

In our generation, this has expanded to musicians as well.

Live shows will be back

After the pandemic, almost everything moved online. This affected not just the Gospel music industry but the entire music industry. Live shows, concerts, tours, and all other similar events were canceled. After the pandemic, the return to “normal” life for the music industry has been steady and is about to take off. Three years after the pandemic, the live shows are starting to come back. In Lagos alone, there are eight shows scheduled between now and the end of the year, and many more by lesser-known indie artists like you.

As an indie artist, this gives you a good opportunity to start building an audience for yourself by showing your talent on stage. Many live shows mean many opportunities to open for bigger artists, and with people eager to get out more, you can even organize one by yourself or in partnership with fellow indie artists.

Treat it like the gold rush.

New styles will emerge

As time goes by in every industry, new things come up. Music is no different. We have more styles and genres than we’ve ever had, and that will only increase as time goes by. Once upon a time, worship music by the likes of Don Moen was the order of the day. Today, contemporary music by the likes of Kirk Franklin is quite popular as well.

With the rise of Afropop in global music, you can expect a rising presence in the Gospel music scene as well. Limoblaze, a Nigerian artist, made a remix of the popular Maverick City song, Jireh. Collaborations like that will only grow more and more common. It’s about to be open season for creativity.

As an upcoming artist, it’s up to you to find your unique style so you can stand out. There’s never been a better time to be different.

Social media will take over

Live shows will be back like I said, but the pandemic also forced many artists to turn to social media. It has now become one of the most popular mediums for artists to connect with their audience. If you’re still ignoring social media, you better get your head in the game and start taking it seriously. Everybody is on social media now. Every day people, businesses, and even governments are on social media.

Churches no longer need TV stations to broadcast their services, they can stream them online to a much bigger audience and for much less. Social media has made the world a much smaller place and provided a much more effective way to reach people. Nothing beats a live show, but you can only organize so many of those.

So focus on your social media. This is where you’ll spend the bulk of your time. A few shows every year is good if you can keep it up, but social media is the new order of the day.

Deeper content will be required

There’s a constant battle between experience-based music and intellectually sound music. For example, there’s a song called Adonai by a Nigerian Gospel artist named Nathaniel Bassey. If you just want to set the mood as you pray, it’s a great song. The entire song consists of two lines and a single-line chorus. The same thing is repeated over and over again for EIGHT minutes. That’s experience-based.

On the other hand, there’s music that’s more intellectually suitable. The lyrics here address deeper issues like salvation, mercy, fighting sin, and several others. For example, Cycles by Jonathan McReynolds is a song about how sin can keep us going in circles. We sin, feel bad, repent, but then go back to it. That is intellectually sound music.

This battle will continue to rage on, but more and more Christians are beginning to ask deeper questions that require deeper answers. So I’ve got my money on deeper content becoming more demanded.

Final Thoughts

Whether you agree with my predictions or not, there’s one thing we can all agree on. Gospel music will grow bigger and reach more people. It’s only a question of how. As an upcoming artist, what will be your place in the development of Gospel music?

If you don’t have an answer, you better get to work. The future is coming whether you’re ready for it or not.