- October 18, 2016
- Music
Concerts are the best chance that audiences have to see their favorite musicians. When it comes to Christian concerts, these might be at conferences like Passion, shows at a local church, or maybe a CD release show if you happen to be in Nashville or another popular music city.
Live shows are, to many people, the bedrock of the music industry. In recent years, low album sales and increased streaming services have made them more important than ever for musicians. Some sources show that only 6% of a musician’s income comes from recorded songs, whereas touring might be closer to 30%.
While there are many articles out there about the different ways that musicians are often getting the short end of the stick, the good news is that more touring = more chances to see your favorite bands.
Since many Christian concerts take place at churches, it can be a little harder to get the word out about upcoming shows. After all, do you think your church has a better shot at promoting concerts than the arenas and other concert venues in your city?
So where can I find the Christian concerts I want to see?
Christian Radio Stations - Christian Concerts
If you’re anything like the average Christian music listener, there’s a good chance that you turn on Christian radio stations at some point in the day. Whether it’s K-LOVE or Air1, radio is one of the best ways to listen to Christian music. You can even download apps that sync up to K-LOVE or Air1 so you never need a physical radio to keep up.
Why wouldn’t you use this same form of media to stay up to date on the latest concerts in your area? K-LOVE and Air1 often have local announcements for block parties, concerts, or rallies. There’s a good chance you’ve heard about a new concert for the first time through such an announcement.
K-LOVE and Air1 also have pages on their website where you can track any local activity in the Christian music scene. For example, here’s K-LOVE’s page.
Despite the fact that every car, dentist office, and workplace has the capacity to listen to K-LOVE and Air1, we know that there are some listeners out there who don’t use the radio. For you guys, we have a few more ideas.
Artist Websites - Christian Concerts
This is one of those things that seems obvious, but we don’t often do. Of course, if you’re a big Switchfoot fan, you should be going to their website to see what’s going on with them. When’s the next album dropping, where are they touring, what kind of merchandise do they have to buy, etc. In fact, when you follow that Switchfoot link, the very first thing that pops up is information on concerts. Go figure!
In this day and age, any popular band is going to have a decent site that lists concerts and social media accounts at the very least. We know not everyone is thrilled with Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, but your favorite artists are on there along with over a billion other people.
Not every musician is easy to find on social media, especially if they aren’t big fans of it themselves. Going to their website is an easy way to get plugged in with them and find out when concerts are headed your way.
Concert Alert Websites - Christian Concerts
Believe it or not, there are actually a few websites out there that keep track of Christian concerts. There are sites that cater to secular music as well, but they often only track the really big shows like Casting Crowns, TobyMac, or Chris Tomlin. If you want to roll the dice with something like Ticketmaster or Stub Hub, you might miss out on some great Christian artists.
When you find good websites for Christian concerts like these guys, it’s easier to find exactly who is coming near you and when. Christian Concert Alerts also provides a large catalog of artist bios that will teach you a thing or two about your favorite musicians. Another great website is iTickets. Here you can find a lot of great information on Christians band who are touring right now.
If Christian music festivals are more of your thing, there’s also places like the Christian Festival Association that tracks those. Why find when one artist is coming to your area when you can look up a whole festival? The only downside to festivals being that they don’t really travel so you better hope one is close to you.
Phone Applications - Christian Concerts
Technology might seem like an annoyance to some, but it’s making many parts of our everyday life much easier. Smartphones are now helping people find the concerts that are closest to them.
While many of these concert apps are just mobile versions of name-brand websites, there are a couple that may be a little less known to you.
One application that is doing really well is Bandsintown (yes, all one word). With more than 5 million downloads, there’s a good chance you know someone who is currently using the app.
Bandsintown is interesting because it will scan your phone (if you give it permission) to see what music you have. Then, it will add those artists to your queue and alert you if any of them come into town. You will also receive recommendations based on the artists you already like, which you can check into or completely ignore. You can even buy tickets for the upcoming show from within the app.
The alerts that these apps will send you about your favorite artists are similar to being on a band’s email list, except it’s easier to unsubscribe and they typically won’t spam you.
If you want to check out a second app that does similar work, Songkick is another one that is popular.
These are just some of the common ways that you can stay on top of the latest big concerts to come to your area. While you may have a different method that you prefer, it’s hard to find more informative paths to your favorite Christian concerts.
Now, if you really want to see some of the biggest names in Christian music, we suggest coming to K-LOVE Fan Awards in Nashville, TN. It may not be just down the street for many CCM listeners, but it’s the biggest weekend in Christian music all year. With concert performances in years past from Crowder, Big Daddy Weave, Lauren Daigle, and many more, you would be hard pressed to find a bigger stage.
If you would like to learn more about how to attend the ultimate fan experience, click on the banner below.