Christian music sales dipped in 2000
___NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RNS) --Sales of contemporary Christian and gospel music decreased for the first time in five years, but mainstream retail stores saw their largest increase ever of such sales.
___Total sales of Christian and gospel albums reached 44 million units by the end of 2000, a 6 percent decline from 1999, when units sold totaled 46.85 million. The figures are based on reports of SoundScan, a computerized network that collects sales data from retailers and compiles results for industry reports, including charts in Billboard magazine.
___The Christian Music Trade Association, the Nashville, Tenn., trade organization announcing the findings, attributed the sales decrease to the lack of new studio releases in 2000 from some of the industry's top-selling artists.
___"There's a shift," said Tricia Whitehead, spokeswoman for the trade association. In 2000, more Christian music was bought at mainstream stores, compared to 1999, when more Christian music was bought at Christian bookstores.
___SoundScan statistics show a 38 percent drop in Christian music sales at Christian stores from 1999 to 2000.
___Meanwhile, mainstream retail stores sold 23.12 million units of contemporary Christian and gospel music in 2000, a 9.2 percent increase over 1999 sales.
The Baptist Standard
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