NATIONWIDE RESEARCH AT A GLANCE
Year-round, Finney Media tests CCM music across the United States to get a view on how listener tastes change over time. We thought it would be fun and helpful to give you a look at the Top Female Artists, Top Male Artists (in May), Top Groups (in June) and then the overall Top Artists (in July) based on the latest research of library songs from across the country. We used a weighted scoring system – higher scoring songs mean higher weighting. All scores come from the past few months of nationwide testing.
Here are the Top 5 Male CCM Artists:
Top Male Artists
5) Crowder
4) Zach Williams
3) TobyMac
2) Jeremy Camp
1) Chris Tomlin
Chris Tomlin continues to dominate our Top Male Artists. His long list of great testing songs – 15 of them – fuels being at the top of this ranking again, right where he’s been for 15 years. Think about that! Few artists, in any format, have had that kind of run.
Jeremy Camp, with 12 great testing songs that come from his now close-to-20-year career, is a strong no. 2.
Similarly, TobyMac – who also has lots of years, has 10 great testing songs throughout his career.
It’s Zach Williams who is the closest thing to a surprise in our new Top 5. His first big hit was Chain Breaker, just six years ago. He rides into the Top 5 on the strength of six different very high testing songs.
Crowder? Great artist! Great career! And his songs – older and newer – are testing stronger than ever.
Next month: The Top Five CCM Groups. Great songs from groups with a lot of great testing songs over a lot of years; with the exception of one newcomer group, whose first big testing song is, just like the guys, from six years ago! That research summary is coming in June.
Chuck Finney’s had radio playing in his head since he was just a boy. Over the course of his career, he’s worked in programming, radio research, and audience connection. Chuck’s passion for words and communication is widely recognized and he’s won several industry awards.
If you ask Chuck how he’s doing, he’ll either say “Blessed, thank you,” or “I really get to do this for a living?!” He’s the President of Finney Media, a speaker and author who loves telling stories and helping you do the same. Chuck is married and has two adult daughters. He lives with his wife, Lynda, in the Dallas area. For more information, read about Chuck at finneymedia.com.