New Documentary Examines How Major Record Labels Influence Christian Worship Music

By the time a worship song reaches a Sunday service, it may have passed through a co-writing session, a recording contract and a label's decisions about what will sell. Christian musician and filmmaker Jonathan Allen Wright wants churches to pay closer attention to those decisions and to who gets to make them.

In his 10-part YouTube documentary, The Untold History of CCM, Wright examines the business behind contemporary Christian music and asks how commercial expectations can shape the songs artists write and record. The series is also available as a single video running about five hours.

Speaking with The Christian Post, Wright pointed to Universal, Sony and Warner as major players in the industry. His concern is that when a label pays for a worship album, its expectations about how the record should sound and who will buy it can influence the work before congregations ever hear it.

Wright grew up in church as the son of a pastor and became interested in the industry through his own work as a musician. As people he knew signed recording deals or began leading worship at larger churches, he started looking more closely at songwriting sessions and contracts. He said sessions in Nashville and Los Angeles can operate much like those in the wider music business, with financial and contractual pressures that may surprise listeners who encounter the songs primarily in church.

He also said some songwriters thanked him after watching the series because they felt they could not speak as freely about their own experiences while working under contract. Wright said he wanted to approach their situations with compassion, and he spoke warmly about the artists and churches whose work he admires.

The filmmaker sees room for change in the growth of independent Christian music. Affordable recording equipment and digital distribution allow artists to make and release music on their own, he said. He also sees some signed artists reconsidering whether traditional deals make sense when streaming and live performances play a larger role in how they reach listeners.

For churches, Wright's documentary brings the discussion back to a familiar Sunday decision. A worship leader may choose a song because its words fit the sermon or because the congregation already knows the chorus. Wright wants churches to consider the decisions made before theirs, when the song was still being written, recorded and pitched to listeners.