When Luminate reported the fastest-growing music genres in the first half of 2024 (through the week of May 30), contemporary Christian music (CCM)/gospel unexpectedly placed in the top five. When analyzing overall consumption — track-equivalent albums, stream-equivalent albums and on-demand audio — the genre grew 8.9%, more than twice the overall industry growth rate of 3.9% for the same period in 2023.

CCM/gospel’s rise is even stronger on Spotify. Representatives for the platform say the genre has grown 30% in the United States and more than 30% globally in the past year. Over the past five years, the genre has grown 50% stateside and 60% globally.

“This past March alone, the Christian and gospel genre had its biggest streaming month on Spotify ever,” says Maritza “Ritz” McCain, Spotify’s senior editor, Christian and gospel.

McCain also points to CCM/gospel’s global reach, noting that while the United States is the largest market for Christian music, global consumption is expanding in markets that include Brazil, Mexico, South Africa and the Philippines. She also cites promising growth in markets such as India, Indonesia and Germany.

According to Luminate, the top five CCM/gospel acts for 2024’s first half were Elevation Worship, Lauren Daigle, Phil Wickham, Hillsong Worship and Brandon Lake. Elevation Worship’s song “Praise,” featuring Lake, Chris Brown — a different Chris Brown from the “Run It” singer — and Chandler Moore, is the biggest CCM hit of 2024 thus far, having spent 24 weeks atop Billboard’s Hot Christian Songs chart.

Cole Flynn, head of marketing at Elevation Worship Records, attributes “six or seven” different factors that have contributed to the shift. For one, the consumption and promotion of CCM by a new generation of social media-savvy fans on those platforms is attracting new listeners.

“This whole generation has grown up with Spotify and Apple Music, and with the ability to access any kind of music they want to hear at any point in time,” says Leigh Holt of Hsquared Management, which manages Daigle and Riley Clemmons. “The barriers have been broken. There are more people who can say, ‘These are the ways I want to express my faith.’”

According to Luminate Insights, the share of listeners who are millennials and younger grew from 39% of overall genre listenership in 2022 to 45% in 2024. Additionally, the number of hours that CCM/gospel fans spent with music each month increased from 47.9 hours to 56.8 so far in 2024 — a 19% increase.

“Worship music does skew younger, agewise and listenerwise,” Flynn says. “People in their 20s and 30s are listening to Elevation Worship, whereas a typical Christian radio audience might be a little older.” He adds that this evolution has necessitated changes in marketing strategies for Elevation Worship, as it has with other CCM/gospel artists. “We’ve released music a little earlier, teased it out a little earlier, tried to get the music in people’s minds and on their phones earlier and give away a little more of the master content than we would have five years ago.”

A new crop of young talent — who are also social media natives — includes 29-year-old Forrest Frank, 21-year-old Josiah Queen and 24-year-old Seph Schlueter. Frank’s “Good Day” and Schlueter’s “Counting My Blessings” each reached No. 2 on the Hot Christian Songs chart, with the former making its way into the upper echelons of Spotify’s Viral 50 chart this year. And Queen’s “The Prodigal” was in the top 15 on the Christian Airplay chart. All three are nominees for new artist of the year at the Gospel Music Association’s Dove Awards in October.

Queen’s debut album, also named The Prodigal, and Frank’s Child of God both debuted at No. 1 on the Top Christian Albums chart in July and August, respectively, and the latter ascended to No. 28 on the Billboard 200.

Like artists in other genres, many top sellers in CCM/ gospel make social media key to their marketing plans. Daigle, 32, has over 5 million monthly Spotify listeners, and videos of concert moments, shared on TikTok, earn millions of views. Elevation Worship has over 1.9 million TikTok followers, and one March TikTok post of its hit “Praise” has garnered more than 19 million views. Brandon Lake, 34, who has over 4 million monthly Spotify listeners, has attracted 4.3 million views since posting a TikTok video in July that used his song “That’s Who I Praise.” And Frank racked up over 9 million views with a video that uses his “Good Day.”

“Content is still king,” Holt says. “The artists who are winning are the artists who are the most authentic on social media. Even with Elevation Worship, their content is very ‘man on the street,’ very accessible to everyone. I feel like that has a lot to do with the growth, as well as fans having insight into artists’ lives. Forrest Frank is great on social media, and Josiah Queen is really fun — he kind of teaches a master class a bit on that. They’ve figured out social media in a very organic way.”

Unlike most genres, CCM/gospel is built around a central message rather than a particular sound, allowing for a greater range of musical styles, including the pop of for King & Country and Frank; Queen’s rustic, singer-songwriter style; Tauren Wells’ pop/R&B vibe; and Lecrae’s rap.

“The expansion of what Christian and gospel music sounds like has helped grow the listenership and, in turn, the consumption of the genre,” McCain says. “Artists like Lauren Daigle, NF and Montell Fish started with a Christian listener base and have grown to see success in broader audiences.” She adds that the inclusion of Christian/gospel artists on non-faith-based playlists such as R&B Weekly, Shine and Fresh Folk has also helped to expand the genre’s reach.

Also bolstering CCM/gospel’s presence are a number of recent collaborations with secular artists, including for King & Country with Timbaland, TobyMac with Sheryl Crow, Lecrae with John Legend, Anne Wilson with Lainey Wilson, Zach Williams with Dolly Parton and CeCe Winans with Carrie Underwood.

“It’s way easier to become a fan of one person and transfer that fandom to another, especially with great collaborations,” Holt says. “For King & Country has always kind of led the way in the Christian space, and that really brings different spotlights to the genre.”

As streaming consumption and social media promotion of CCM/gospel music have increased, so has the number of contemporary Christian radio stations in the United States. According to stationratings.com, the number of U.S. stations carrying the contemporary Christian format rose by 22 from July 2023 to July 2024. 

Titan Christian radio chains K-LOVE and Air1, which are owned by the non-profit Educational Media Foundation (EMF) have more than 1,000 broadcast signals. So far this year, the company has added more than a dozen signals to its fold.

“We’ve seen direct correlations of [streaming] consumption mirror the amount of audience we’re getting at radio,” Flynn says of Elevation Worship. “At the top of the radio chart, their song ‘Praise’ gets an audience of 10 million a week — that’s a massive difference. Let’s say radio doesn’t drive direct streams, which is an argument these days. It does drive massive awareness. There’s an intangible with church listeners, worship leaders, people putting it in Sunday morning [church services] set lists that exponentially grow that reach beyond radio, but that might have been the first place they heard it. So [radio]’s a huge help for us when we’re trying to get a song out there.”

“The songs coming out of our community continue to impact our audience, not only across all digital platforms but on terrestrial radio to over 30 million weekly listeners,” Gospel Music Association president Jackie Patillo said in a statement provided to Billboard. “People are hungry for a message that encourages and inspires.”

Growth in streaming, social media and radio reach ultimately impact artists’ touring. Elevation Worship sold out its spring Elevation Nights ’24 Tour before it began, averaging 11,600 tickets sold each night. Meanwhile, Holt says Daigle’s Kaleidoscope Tour has also seen growth in ticket sales.

“It’s a very different market now for ticket buying, post-pandemic, with multiple tours out. There’s a lot of competition,” Holt says. “But our ticket sales have grown this year, and we are back to our pre-pandemic numbers, which has been exciting to see.”

Bands split up for all kinds of reasons: professional jealousy, money, stolen girlfriends, exhaustion, creative cul de sacs and just plain I-hate-your-stupid-face-and-I-can’t-do-this-anymore rage.

But stuffed animals?

According to the first official interview Noel Gallagher did promoting his shock Oasis reunion with brother Liam, the famously battling siblings broke up the band 15 years ago over a lovey. Oasis superfan Steve Sheward ran into Noel at the Stone Island Shop in London on Thursday (August 29) and while their meet cute didn’t exactly turn into what he said was his boyhood dream of walking into a pub for a pint with the Gallagher bros, it actually was way better than that.

“Trumped that with my children making memories and just hope I can get tickets next year,” Sheward wrote on X alongside a series of snaps with a smiling Noel, as well as a video of one of his sons laying the interview hammer on the band’s songwriter in search of the real reason he and Liam couldn’t work together anymore. After introducing his four children to Noel by saying “this is dad’s legendary band!” Sheward’s kids got right to work.

His daughter asks, “Wait, is he getting back with his brother?” When Noel answers “yeah” about the 17 UK shows the group announced earlier this week, one of the other boys has a very pressing query.

“Why did you fall out with your brother?” he wonders. Noel, being Noel, deadpans, “‘Cause he stole my teddy bear.” The kids and their dad have a good laugh at that cheeky response.

Smelling a rat, the boy says, “You’re lying!” Noel swears it’s true, doubling down and explaining, “I’m not lying. He stole it in 1978.” One of the other kids isn’t having it, as Sheward’s son, holding a Winnie the Pooh teddy bear, walks away while blurting a perfect approximation of Gallagher attitude, “You’re a fake. See ya!”

The kids are then seen strolling with Gallagher outside the shop as they ask if the black Rolls Royce across the street is his car. Of course the luxury ride is, with Gallagher jokingly asking the youngster if he has his license. As Sheward writes of Gallagher in his post, “A true gentleman in scholar.”

Oasis will play their first shows since 2009 next summer as part of their Oasis Live ’25 world tour, though so far only the dates in England and Ireland have been announced. So far only the Gallaghers have been confirmed for the shows, with the rest of the band lineup not yet announced and other dates around the world promised but not yet formally unveiled.

Tickets for the shows will go on sale to the general public on Saturday (August 31).

See Sheward’s post below.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds have released their 18th studio album Wild God today, Aug. 30, marking the band’s first new album since 2019’s Ghosteen.

Wild God features contributions from The Bad Seeds’ core members, along with Radiohead’s Colin Greenwood on bass and Luis Almau on nylon string and acoustic guitars. The ten-track project was produced by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, with recording sessions taking place at Miraval Studios in Provence, France, and Soundtree Studios in London.

“Frogs,” one of the singles from Wild God, features the first lines Cave penned for the album, referencing the biblical story of Cain and Abel: “Ushering in the week he knelt down and crushed his brother’s head in with a bone/It’s my great privilege to walk you home.” The multi-award-winning artist explained of the single, “The sheer exuberance of a song like ‘Frogs,’ it just puts a big f—ing smile on my face.”

Discussing the band’s latest offering, Cave shared, “I hope the album has the effect on listeners that it’s had on me. It bursts out of the speaker, and I get swept up with it. It’s a complicated record, but it’s also deeply and joyously infectious.”

“There is never a master plan when we make a record. The records rather reflect back the emotional state of the writers and musicians who played them. Listening to this, I don’t know, it seems we’re happy.”

The album is described as a departure from the somber tone of previous works, with Cave noting, “Wild God… There’s no fucking around with this record. When it hits, it hits. It lifts you. It moves you. I love that about it.”

Nick Cave, an ARIA Hall of Fame inductee, has made a notable impact on the Billboard 200 with albums like Skeleton Tree and Ghosteen. In the U.K., his adopted homeland, Cave has firmly established himself as an alternative rock superstar, achieving seven top 10 albums, according to the Official Charts Company.

The album is now available for streaming on all major platforms, as well as in CD and vinyl formats.

Tracklist for Wild God:

Listen to Wild God below.

Big Sean has returned. The Detroit native delivered his first album since 2020 with Better Me Than You on Friday (Aug. 30).

Sean Don’s sixth studio album boasts 21 tracks in total with features from Gunna, Charlie Wilson, Kodak Black, Bryson Tiller, DJ Premier, Cash Cobain, Teyana Taylor, Larry June, Eryn Allen Kane and more. There’s even a cameo from the iconic WWE superstar-turned-actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

Adding some comedic relief, Big Sean sampled Ray J’s iconic call into The Breakfast Club while he was feuding with Fabolous in 2011 on the same track that also samples 2Pac’s “I Ain’t Mad at Cha.”

Prior to delivering the LP, Sean admitted in an emotional Instagram Live that he was apprehensive about releasing the project.

 “I’ve been having a hard f—king time, dawg, I’m not gon’ lie,” he said. “Been in this b—h trying to finish a album, and I’m kinda tired of overthinking it. … And, by the way, n—a, like me, I’ve been trying to be on some sober s–t so a n—a out here raw-dogging his emotions, bro.”

He also made sure to credit his mother for helping him power through those creative insecurities.

“I appreciate my mom for being that guardian angel always giving me that advice,” he added. “She really talked me through it for real. Like I said, I haven’t been sleeping a lot. I been giving this s–t my all. I’m burned the f–k out. I’m tired. I do do this s–t for the people that f–k with me.”

Big Sean heated up with a handful of singles in 2024 including The Alchemist-helmed “Together Forever” as well as “On Up,” “Yes,” “Ya Don’t Stop” and “Precision.” He also guested on Eminem’s The Death of Slim Shady single “Tobey” featuring BabyTron.

Sean has put up three consecutive No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 with his most recent coming in 2020 with Detroit 2. Better Me Than You was originally slated to land on Aug. 9 before being pushed to the end of the month following a leak. 

Stream the album below.