I don’t know about you but I am getting pretty tired of buying worship CD’s that are 40% to 90% full of songs already recorded by another artist. Every CD I pick up these days has a couple of songs that have already been well overplayed. I used to subscribe to a service that sent me the latest worship CD’s from Integrity Music. Almost every CD they put out has songs that other artists have already recorded. Talk about annoying. You have to wonder about the motivating factor behind a company that continues to do this.
What is the purpose of repackaging? For performing artists it means they don’t have anything new to put out and thus are forced to produce a “greatest hits” CD. After I buy all their CD’s they then go and put all the best songs on one. Then there are the “bands” that want to cash in on the worship scene. They find themselves in a lull and choose to put out a “Worship Project” consisting on everyone else’s already over recorded music.
I have held off writing this article in hopes that the madness would soon end but it hasn’t. In fact it is getting worse. It seems that the only artist that hasn’t jumped on the wagon is one of my favorites, Steven Curtis Chapman. This guy is a song writing genius who doesn’t need to do others worship music to stay on top. God has truly gifted him in the area of writing and ministering through his music. Oh to have more SCC’s in the world.
I guess the thing that gets under my skin most is the abusive marketing and exploitation of worship that I see daily. I am a worship leader who was called to this vocation. I could never be a “performer” just because the opportunity arose. I guess these days if you can sing you can be a worship leader. My prayer is that these big companies would put the emphasis back on original useful worship music rather than pumping out music to keep the shelves full and the subscriptions coming. I also pray that Christian artists would return to their true callings of ministering through music instead of leading worship concerts. That’s my two cents.
Let us hear from you. What do you think?
Stephen M. Newman is the author of Experiencing Worship, A Study of Biblical Worship, and Founder & Editor of ExperiencingWorship.com. Steve currently serves as Pastor of Worship, First Presbyterian Church of Baton Rouge, LA. Steve has extensive experience in both traditional and contemporary worship styles and has been serving in music and worship capacities since 1982.