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Article: Why gospel music is so hot.
- Article from:
- Ebony
- Article date:
- July 1, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Johnson Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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THE fastest-growing music segment is not rap; it's not R&B--the fastest-growing musical genre in America is the stirring, pulse-pounding, foot-stomping music that came out of the African-American church and changed American music forever.
Called in the beginning "Dorseys" and later dubbed gospel, the music that was confined for years to small and marginal Black churches has become a half-billion-dollar-a-year industry, holding 6.7 percent of the total musical market in 2001 (up from 4.8 percent in 2000). In the EBONY Music Poll (June 2002), 21.2 percent of the respondents said their favorite music is gospel, compared to 9.2 for easy listening, and 6.5 for ...