Posted on 04/17/2004 8:16:59 PM PDT by MegaSilver
DALLAS - Christian teens are stealing Christian music through Internet downloads and CD burnings at the same rate non-Christians are stealing secular music, according to a new study.
Christian pollster George Barna completed a study on teens and piracy for the Gospel Music Association. The study, which has not been made public, showed only 10 percent of Christian teens considered music piracy to be morally wrong, The Dallas Morning News reported.
Of those, 64 percent have engaged in downloading or CD burning. That's virtually the same percentage as non-Christians.
Last year, sales of Christian albums dropped 5.2 percent, to just more than 47 million and major labels cut their work force by 10 percent, said John Styll, president of the Gospel Music Association. Styll blames the economy, downloads and CD burnings for the downturn.
The pirating comes as a surprise to the evangelical music industry, which expected teens to adhere to the commandment "Thou shalt not steal."
"You would never steal Bibles to give them away," said Barry Landis, president of Word Records, a Christian label. "You shouldn't steal Christian music to give away either."
Christian music takes center stage next week in Nashville, Tenn., as fans and vendors gather for Gospel Music Drop. The festivities are a precursor to April 28 Dove Awards, the Christian music industry's equivalent of the Grammys.
Despite the dip in sales, Christian artists sold 68 CDs for every 100 in country music. The $800 million in sales edged that of classical music and jazz combined and at least as much money was generated in merchandise and concert tickets, Styll said in Saturday's editions of The Dallas Morning News.
Some musicians are hesitant to talk about the piracy issues because they don't want to be viewed as greedy.
"We can't be like Christina Aguilera and get all attitudy," said Jaci Velasquez, a platinum-selling singer originally from Texas. "We're supposed to be like Christ and turn the other cheek."
While the Recording Industry Association of America is involved in a legal battle that includes more than 1,000 suits against illegal downloaders, Christian labels have kept a low profile on the issue.
Styll said the secular music industry views piracy as a legal issue, but Christian labels, even though many are owned by mainstream companies, view it as a moral dilemma.
"We take it further and say it's a moral issue," he said. "But we're not going to sue people. It just doesn't seem right. And nobody really has the will to do it."
Some Christian teens don't view burning CDs as immoral.
Scott Ferguson, a junior at Fort Worth Christian Academy, said h doesn't burn CDs, but friends have given them to him as birthday gifts.
"If a CD comes out and you like a couple of songs, they'll burn it for you," he said. "It's what friends kind of do for one another. It doesn't take long and it's easy. That's how they look at it."
John Cooper, a member of the Christian band, Skillet, said fans often ask him to autograph their CDs. After one concert, a fan told him how he had all the band's music and the music had changed his life.
"Then he asked me to sign the CDs and they were all burned from a computer," Cooper. "I always sign because I don't want to be rude. But sometimes I'm tempted to say, 'Man, you've got to buy it.'"
(What Would Jesus Download)
Still, the church isn't really all that different from society in the aggregate. Many in the church refuse to allow Christ to rule their life, and so they live pretty much like everyone else does.
I don't think that's the issue. It's the Christian kids that are stealing the music.
So is it okay to steal a commercially marketed Crucifix?
To be fair, it's probably just the insensitivity of youth. I did it when I was a teenager; it wasn't until recently that I felt convicted about it. I just didn't think about the morally dark side of it, and when I did, I realized that I couldn't keep doing it.
I care, because we've known for years that the media is biased against us. We have to prove them wrong about us.
It's better than violent rap, pre-teen pop, and sadistic metal that's polluting the airwaves now.
Actually, I'll take you on there. Morally it's not the same, regardless of what any particular law attempts to enforce. Morality is based on truth.
Physical property is very straightforward. By taking something, you deprive the owner of its use. Music "theft" doesn't deprive the person who owns it of anything.
Intellectual property rights were established to encourage the sort of intellectual entreprenuerism of Edison and Bell. The fact that Brittany Spears and 50 Cent found a way to become ridiculously wealthy is well and good, but threatening their fortune has yet to show any threat to the Republic.
Christian teens, like other teens, are choking on the notion that downloading music is theft any more than humming a tune you heard on the radio is theft. The truth will win out eventually, and it's not on the side of the "downloading is theft" side.
Redneck country music. That's what all the carpenters listen to.
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