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Mark Joseph is the author of The Rock & Roll Rebellion: Why People of Faith Abandoned Rock Music and Why They're Coming Back (Broadman & Holman, 1999)

Opinions expressed in Speaking Out do not necessarily reflect the views of Christianity Today.

Copyright © 2002 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Mark Joseph's The Rock & Roll Rebellion is available from ChristianBook.com and other book retailers.

Joseph regularly writes a column for Crosswalk.com.

In July, Newsweek discovered Christian music in Lorraine Ali's "The Glorious Rise of Christian Pop." But Christianity Today's Weblog says that the article could have been written five years ago: "What Ali completely misses is that nobody really knew how big Christian music was until September 1995, when SoundScan—the company that tracks record sales—finally started counting sales from Christian stores."

Christianity Today.com's music channel reported last month that the increase in sales last year was "not exclusive to the record labels. Mainstream retail chains (such as Wal-mart and Target) saw an increase in Christian music sales of 15 percent."

The music channel covers the Christian music industry with album reviews, interviews, and artist profiles of bands including P.O.D. and Kendall Payne.

Related news articles include:

Christian Music Thriving | Christian music had its best sales year in 2001, improving while overall music sales declined 2.8 percent. (Associated Press)

Christian Top Ten List | P.O.D., Point of Grace, and Stephen Curtis Chapman included in the best selling album list for 2001. (Associated Press)

Dove nominations reflect diversity in fast-growing Christian genre | Christian music had its best sales year in 2001, improving while overall music sales declined 2.8 percent. (The Tennessean)

Faith Music Stirs Sales, Souls Post-Sept. 11 | Sales are rising, but some Christian musicians are doing more soul searching. (ABCNews.com)

Shaken and Stirred | Post-Sept. 11, Audiences Turn to Christian Contemporary Music (ABCNews.com)

Spirits, Sales Rise | Contemporary Christian Music Is Going Mainstream (ABCNews.com)

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February (Web-only) 2002, Vol. 46