With the release of Shaun Groves' sophomore album, Twilight, just weeks away (August 5), the artist reflects on the nature of marketing and how he'd like to see his music target a broader demographic that's not always so easy to reach.

It's a well-worn illustration. Charlie Brown shoots an arrow across the first pane of a Peanuts comic strip. In the next he's drawing a bull's-eye around an arrow—now stuck randomly in a wall. I sometimes wonder if that's the kind of shoot-now-and-aim-later thinking driving the Christian music industry.

I've visited close to 50 radio stations and as many retailers in the last three years and discovered that many are aiming at the same target: a married white woman with small children. She's often given a name by marketers—usually Becky or Amy—and she's thought to be anywhere from 30 to 40 years old, a Christian, and a resident of a middle class suburb. She drives a family car—a big one. And she's the only one giving money and time to the businesses of Christian radio and retail.

Now, before I move on, I want to be very clear that I love "Becky." In fact, the irony is that my wife's name is Becky, and she is a white Christian mother of two who drives a Camry and lives in a middle class suburb. I know that Becky needs music and ministry as much as anyone else—well, sort of.

I say sort of because, while everyone needs to be ministered to, some are over-saturated at the moment with such opportunities to learn and grow in their faith. And others, right now, are not. For instance, I worked at a large church in the Nashville area and in two others before that. From my experiences on the inside of church leadership, I know that churches work like businesses. Time, talent, and money are primarily invested in those who will give back—those who will bring a return on that investment. We spend first on the tithers, the helpers, the encouragers, the loyal.

College students are none of those things. They have little money, and what they have is spent on Ramen noodles and Kool-Aid. (They don't even buy music—but that's another essay.) They are not loyal. They church hop and rarely stay connected to one community of believers long enough to get involved—to serve those who serve them. So the church serves Becky. And so does the music industry.

Right now, college students generally don't listen to Christian radio, and they don't shop at Christian bookstores either. But is that because the investment hasn't been made in them? Have we given them much to listen to or shop for? I'm not sure we have, though there are obvious exceptions like Bebo Norman, Andrew Peterson, and Passion's worship discs.

Why is it important to care for and about college students anyway? College students, I believe, stand at a crucial crossroad of faith. It was in college, while I was away from the influence of home, that I decided whether or not my faith was in fact my own or just another fairy tale like the Easter Bunny that my parents had sold me as real. It was in college that I began asking questions that continue to affect my life today: Why am I here? What are my gifts, talents, and passions? What do I want to do with my life and why? What does God want? Who will I marry? Should I marry? What matters? It was at that time that I began the process of becoming a disciple of Christ.

Luckily, a man named Louie Giglio was there with the answers. Though I went to a Christian University (Baylor University in Waco, Texas), and though there was a church on every corner, I found it hard to find anyone, much less a community of people, willing to spend time and money to help me find answers to my questions. Louie was not a pastor of a church. He led a Bible study near campus that provided the depth, sound theology, and friendship I needed at that crucial time. I am who I am in part because Louie, now leader of sixsteps records and Passion conference OneDay, decided to invest in those with little to return.

So what's all this rambling about? Well, just to say I'm wondering why we don't "aim" wider, at more than one target. With Twilight, I've drawn the target before I've drawn my bow. I'm trying to aim with my music at a Christian college student or anyone between the ages of 18 and 25. And now the hard part begins. It's harder to aim than it is to paint the target around shots fired. Honestly, I'm not sure I know how to do it. I'm betting my label, Rocketown Records, does.

But while college-aged people are my primary focus, I understand that the Church is bigger than a singular demographic. I'm not a fan of segregation along any barriers. So while the center of my target is an Abercrombie-wearing, John Mayer-listening young(er) person, I have no intention of leaving out the Old Navy clad mother of two who cranks Point of Grace and Steven Curtis Chapman in her Land Rover. I'm simply expanding the target and putting a new face on the center.

So, the cover we've picked is not a full grin headshot with my name in bold letters across it. Instead it is a slightly distressed picture of me in a folding chair looking out a window at twilight. A little grunge and a little pretty. And the first single was sent out with several mixes for radio stations to choose from—depending on their target. The acoustic-driven adult contemporary mix fits nicely in a block of family favorites. But the album version is chocked full of that distorted caffeine-for- the-ears that makes late night studying a little easier. Yes, we are working hard with retailers like Family Christian Stores, Lemstone, Mardel, Lifeway, and Northwestern to promote Twilight thoroughly, but we're also partnering with college and 20- something favorites like grassrootsmusic.com and other online retailers. We're even checking into Apple's new iTunes Music Shop venture. Meanwhile, the marketing team, my manager, and I are working hard to find touring options that gain us exposure to large numbers of people without ostracizing college students or scaring my parents. In short, we are promoting and marketing to more than the usual Christian music targeted buyer in hopes that a few of them will buy into the music and message we offer.

Can it be done? The better question to end with is "should it be done?" Behind my "yes" is some good theology. Jesus came into the world to reveal the fullness of who God is to ALL mankind. He did this, in part, through miracles. But surely out of the thousands he fed there were some who later yelled, "Crucify him!" Surely some lame he let walk visited a prostitute, ran from the scene of a crime or away from him. We know not every leper He healed thanked him. And we are miracles as well—enemies of God brought into his family and allowed to represent him on earth even though we do a poor job of it so much of the time. What a horrible investment God has in us, right? But God's love for man was never based on what we could do for him.

Maybe someday soon we'll all work together to bring music and ministry to everyone regardless of what we get in return—even those who'd never be caught dead in a mini van. It's bad business I admit. But worth the risk.

The Process: Making An Album, part one
The Process: Song Selection, part two
The Process: Recording, part three
The Process: Radio Is a Reality, part four

The final installment in this six-part series will arrive in July. In the meantime, you can read more about Shaun Groves by visiting our artist page for him. Click here to read our review of Invitation to Eavesdrop, and pick up your own copy of it at Musicforce.com.

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