What Matters More: Transformation within Contemporary Christian Music

Abstract

Though often troubled by a struggle to adequately define the genre, commonly held definitions of Contemporary Christian Music typify this largely American niche as a continuous affirmation of Evangelical values. In this thesis, singer-songwriter Derek Webb's 'What Matters More' is placed in the context of existing definitions of popular Christian music, the hereto related Evangelical subculture, and traditional Christian music theory and theology. Rather than trying to measure the influence of Webb's controversial song, which is found to be unusual in terms of language and subject matter, this thesis expounds to what extent the case is a signal of transformation and shifting boundaries within popular Christian music. The age-old, predominate structure of Christian music, in which the medium is tamed or subjected by the Word, is found to remain in tact. Rather than reversing an age-old power structure, Derek Webb's 'What Matters More' signals a revolution of the the Word itself, resulting in a completely new, yet ideological function of Contemporary Christian Music.