Zondervan Publishing

Christian (often shortened to Christian music or CCM in market terms) is an umbrella genre for popular and worship-oriented music whose lyrics explicitly express the Christian faith. It blends contemporary songwriting and production with devotional intent, ranging from pop and rock to folk, country, and modern worship anthems designed for congregational singing. While rooted in centuries of church music and hymnody, the modern "Christian" genre coalesced in the late 1960s United States with the Jesus Movement, later building its own labels, radio networks, and touring circuits. Today it includes radio-friendly CCM, stadium worship, youth-focused pop/rock, and stylistic fusions that carry Christian themes into nearly every mainstream style.

Bible as a music/audio genre refers to recordings centered on the Christian Scriptures. It typically includes unaccompanied spoken‑word narration of Biblical books, dramatized productions with multiple actors and sound design, and Scripture set to modest musical underscoring or song. Delivery emphasizes clarity, reverence, and faithful rendering of the source text (e.g., KJV, NIV, ESV), with productions ranging from plain single‑voice readings to cinematic soundscapes. In the streaming era, the genre also encompasses daily devotionals, lectionary readings, and multilingual audio Bibles intended for worship, study, and accessibility.