Why Many Christian Music Fans Don't Listen To You

"What do listeners want?" Is there any question so regularly studied, asked, and - presumably - answered?

Yesterday, I was honored to speak at the CMB Momentum Summit in Houston, and I presented some new research you'll be hearing more about over the coming months. Unlike most of the research you see, this wasn't sketchy Nielsen data, nor was it a survey of your database or Christian radio audiences or donors or even just folks who listen to the radio.

Nope. This was a survey of Christian music listeners who listen to Christian music either on the radio or online - even if that means the music comes from YouTube or Spotify or wherever. Maybe they listen to the radio. Maybe they don't.

We are music-first brands, so it makes sense to talk to folks who listen to Christian music online even if they never decide to do so via the radio. In fact, the reason why they bypass radio is one of the questions we most want to understand.

So what did my research show?

Lots of stuff, but in this email I will focus on two key points.

First, the research showed that the tastes of potential listeners is far more diverse than we imagine. Indeed, one of the reasons they visit Spotify rather than your radio station is for that exact reason. More new music, more older music, more fresh music, more Christian styles, more Christian genres. More variety, period.

Now, I should add, that doesn't mean they want all that variety on one radio station. They simply want it. Somehow.

Choice, that's their goal. Options. Whether you provide that via experiences on social media platforms or via live concerts or via multiple streams or all of the above or whatever, that's our problem, not theirs.

See, if we can't satisfy the scope of audience tastes, then we will lose them to digital music platforms that do. If they can get exactly what they want elsewhere, why should they settle for an average of what most people want most of the time on radio?

Second, the research showed that potential audiences don't want us to simply be Christian radio stations; they want us to be Christian media ministries. Being a "radio station" is no longer enough.

That means much more than streaming our content (which is really just duplicating the linear playlist on another distribution channel). It means fully embracing "being digital" and counting on your future financial support from fans who embrace all aspects of our brand(s) across all of their platforms. That means all kinds of services, experiences, and products that we are not famous for today (or even structured to provide).

Former podcast company exec Steve Pratt put it quite well (I am removing the word "podcast" and replacing it with "radio"):

Instead of defining yourself by a single platform like radio, you define yourself by your expertise or focus on your subject matter. Then, you evaluate each different platform and design phenomenal experiences about that subject matter on each one you want to participate in.

What are those "phenomenal experiences"? See the presentation for some ideas. And stretch your imagination.

Because it's up to you to make the your Christian media ministry real.

My CMB presentation is called "What do they want?" and is available from CMB directly. I will provide more "news you can use" from the study this Spring in a CMB webinar and along the way in these faithbright emails.

If your group wants a custom online presentation of the results please reach out to me. I'll provide more details from the research in upcoming newsletters.

Mark Ramsey Media does audience research for Christian Media - Perceptual research, digital studies, donor studies, music studies, etc. Learn more here. Call Mark at 858-414-4191 or email markramsey@mac.com.

And if you want a strategy to solicit major donors to pay for your research, look here and download this Listener Impact Study solicitation for donors from WAKW-FM.