CCM Links

Thanks two million for coming to CCM Links. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it!

I’m making a big change. Some of you have noticed that I haven’t updated CCM Links in quite some time, and you’ve wondered why. Well, it’s pretty simple. Sort of. Kinda.

CCM Links used to be a single page of links on my primary personal website, GodWords. It got big enough that I felt it deserved its own domain, and its own identity. CCM Links was born, and quickly became one of the largest websites of its kind.

One problem: how could I bring the thousands of CCM Links readers and the thousands of GodWords readers together? Answer: I really couldn’t.

Well, times change. I’ve decide to reunite GodWords and CCM Links, along with another website I’d created called The Bible Rocks. I’d create some sort of larger resource site for everyone, combine the traffic from both sites, and make my own life easier. You see, it’s really hard to regularly update the seven or eight websites I own…so I’m going to lighten my load and simply have fewer sites to update. That eliminates a lot of guilt, and gives you all something extra: more content, more often.

Please take the time to visit GodWords. In a short time, CCM Links will cease to exist as a separate website, and you’ll find the Artist Links and Free MP3’s you’ve come to expect, and a little more. The promised Album Reviews have begun, starting with my friend Jeremy Cotter’s Undertow. Thanks for your patience, Jeremy.

Please keep your subscription to the CCM Links RSS Feed for now, and I’ll let you know when the site is going to come down. In the meantime, check out the bloggy goodness at GodWords!

Despite the fact that CCM Links is devoted to the online presence of Christian musicians, it’s not often I get to combine my love for web design and my love for great Christian music. Today is a little different.

Derek Webb has a new album coming out, titled The Ringing Bell. Derek’s press release includes the following:

Derek’s new project, ‘THE RINGING BELL’ comes out MAY 1ST everywhere. But you can hear it TODAY if you pre-order the deluxe edition of his provocative new record. Along with a copy of ‘THE RINGING BELL’, the pre-order includes a graphic novel which includes the complete lyrics and 96-pages of original artwork inspired by the new record.

You can listen to ‘THE RINGING BELL’ streaming in it’s entirety and sample images from the 96-page graphic novel at WWW.THERINGINGBELL.COM.

Portland Studios is doing the artwork, and has released the cover art. Portland Studios does a lot of stuff, and all of it’s high-quality. I wish I were as artistically talented. Nice job, guys!

I’ve never been a big proponent of the “social media” thing…it’s too easy to ‘game the system’. I will, however, shamelessly attempt to spread the word about great Christian music in almost any way possible. That’s why I recently added a ShoutLife page to my repertoire. It’s been fun, and I even got connected to a few old (and new friends) along the way.

Now I’ve taken another step, as you can see below. I’ve added a Digg thingy. That’s it’s technical name, by the way. Digg thingy.

If you’re into that sort of thing, feel free to use the Digg thingy to Digg a post. I’m not sure how helpful it will be in spreading the word, but I’m fairly confident that it’s not going to hurt anything. Have fun Digging!

Okay…I finally did it. I created my very own profile on Shoutlife. I really did it to listen to some new Stryper tunes, but I’ve been thinking that I might want a Shoutlife profile for a while. For those who don’t know, it’s a “Christian alternative to MySpace”.

Having never been part of the whole MySpace thing (why would a web designer need a do-it-yourself web page maker?), I didn’t know what to expect. Within an hour, I’m in two groups, have 17 friends, and a good start on my guestbook. I had no idea that people would be looking for new folks to join and welcoming them right away. How refreshing!

Despite having the immensely talented Keith Lancaster add me to his friends list, I’d like to give a shout-out to Hoi. She was the first to say hello, and I’m pleasantly surprised at the quality of her music. I’ve added her to my artist pages, and hope to be able to bring you some free music from her in the near future.

As I’ve recently mentioned, it’s now 2007. I’m doing great with my resolutions, and thought I’d take a few moments to let you all know how 2006 went.

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First, I’d like to mention the emails. I get a lot of email…and I love to get virtually every one. I don’t keep track of numbers for email, so I have nothing to report except that I’d like to thank everyone who writes to me. You rock, even if you aren’t trying to.

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Second, here’s what was new for CCM Links in 2006:

It changed from a static site to a dynamic site. That means that instead of updating pages manually, they’re database-driven. I update the database and it updates the pages. Some might see that as simply doing the same work differently…but try reorganizing the same information in a new way and you’ll see why this was a good idea.

I added this blog.
CCM Links was originally part of one of my other websites, GodWords. It became big enough that I thought it merited a site of its own. That was a number of years ago. When CCM Links was created, it was simply a list of links to artists’ websites. I’d find a new artist’s site and add it here. That was it. When I asked myself how to make CCM Links more valuable to visitors, I saw that all I’d been doing was providing a redirection service. Someone would come here to go somewhere else. Honestly, I’m amazed at the traffic I’ve gotten for just that. The remedy? Offer more. Since I was already visiting the websites, I wondered whether it would be helpful to let people know when free mp3’s were available. I originally wanted to add that info to an “artist page”…but since free songs come and go, I thought it best to make it a blog. Viola. There you go, and here you are.

Very few people comment on my blog. Maybe it’s because I haven’t written a lot of articles…and that’s okay. Generally, you can count on a very low percentage of visitors taking part. I’m just happy to offer a service to both musicians and those who love their work. I’d be remiss, however, in not saying this: if you have something to say about Christian music, I’d like to hear it.

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Finally: here are some stats for CCM Links for 2006:
Total Visits: 20,028
Total Pageviews: 111,629
Busiest Day of the Week: Friday
Busiest Hour of the Day: 1pm (US Mountain Time)
Countries Served: 83 from Algeria to Yugoslavia - that’s 43% of the world!
Most visited pages: Alphabetical Artist Listings (click a letter on the right)

Search Strings: what you type into Google or other search engines to find what you’re looking for…for example, ‘christian radio’ or ‘free christian mp3′. Here’s some interesting info on what brings people to CCM Links:

Unique search phrases: 2,083
Most popular search phrase: ‘contemporary christian music’
Least obvious search phrase (tie): ‘click’ and ‘IE7′ and ’site’
Most-Searched artist: Nicole C. Mullins
Unique radio station searches: 286
Bands represented: everybody from Acappella to Zero Theory

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Conclusions:
This has been CCM Links’ best year ever. I’ve been able to help more people find more Christian artists than ever, and that’s the goal: to spread the word.

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Plans for 2007:
I try not to make too many plans, and I try to avoid making those plans public. I’ve spent too little time on CCM Links in 2006, despite having made some great progress. I’m a full-time freelance web designer, and that keeps me very busy. Sometimes it seems like I haven’t touched the site in months, when it’s only been days. Despite my aversion to making promises I might not be able to keep, here are my plans for 2007:

Review all of the albums I’ve been sent
Redesign/Recode the site
Add more artists and radio stations
Finish the “deadlinks” code so that it’s dynamic
Write more often
Offer free mp3 downloads for artists who can’t do it on their own

If you have a favorite artist that I haven’t listed, please let me know. If you have a favorite radio station (online or off) that I haven’t listed, let me know. If you’re an artist, and would like to feature an mp3 download, podcast, video, etc…let me know.

Have a great 2007!

Well, it’s New Year’s Day. Although I really love Chinese food, I generally celebrate the New Year with the rest of the world. No offense. Since it’s New Year’s Day, I think it’s appropriate to discuss my N.Y.R. (New Year’s Resolutions).

NYR
I don’t do New Year’s Resolutions. I hate the idea. Yes, I realize that it can be helpful to have some sort of milestone to remind you to take stock of the way you’re living…but I resist the urge to do it now. Why should the calendar dictate when I can reevaluate my life? Why should I think about making changes now, instead of in April or August? Why do we wait until the fridge is full of yummy-but-bad-for-you leftovers to diet? Why do we wait until January 1st to decide that we should stop procrastinating?

I’m typing this in my bathrobe. At 11:30 am. I haven’t had breakfast, and of course I haven’t showered yet. I have, though, had a number of cookies in lieu of an actual meal. I’ve organized nothing today, and I haven’t even started on the work project I should have completed by now. Yes, I’m a slug…but I’m not one of those slugs who makes resolutions that he doesn’t keep.

It’s not that I’ve never made resolutions. I just don’t do it at the beginning of a new year. A while back, I asked myself an important question:

What two things would you like to change?

I made the same two resolutions for 5 years. The first is obvious to anyone who knows me: to lose some weight. I’m not morbidly obese, but I am approaching maximum density. I’d like to be healthier…so that’s an ongoing battle. The second has been off my list for several years now: to have a gentle answer. I used to be hurtfully sarcastic, and wanted to stop. I believe that I’ve conquered that beast…but it took 5 years to feel like it was completely behind me.

I haven’t lost the weight, so that’s still on the list. I’ve been working more on it recently, and expect the scale to breathe a sigh of relief pretty soon. I haven’t replaced ‘a gentle answer’ yet…but I will. I just have to take the time to ask myself that question again.

Maybe I’ll do it tomorrow.

No, I’m not talking about the Bible…though that’s good too.
I’m talking about spreading the word about CCM Links. Yes, this is a shameless plug. I want more traffic. This site exists to promote Christian music. I can’t do it alone…would you take the time to spread the word today?

Paste this link into an email to several friends: http://www.ccmlinks.com/. You’ll be doing me and them a huge favor…who doesn’t want good free music? If you have a blog, I’d appreciate a mention…give your readers the gift of a free mp3 or two. They’ll thank you for it.

So will I!

The Beatles were really on to something. It appears that all we need IS love. I’m getting ahead of myself, so let me back up.

Sometimes I find that I’ve read the same Bible verse over and over without really thinking about it. One example is 1 Corinthians 13:13…But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love. It’s the last verse in the famous ‘love chapter’. Lots of people know what it says, but I’m not sure most of us have given it a second thought.

Here’s something that had never occurred to me: at some point in the future, we’ll have no use for either faith or hope. It’s so simple that I passed right by it, over and over again: faith and hope are temporary.

When this life is over, and when we’ve been ushered into God’s presence, we’ll have no more need for faith or hope. Paul talked about this in the previous verse when he said “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.

The only one of those three that will remain? Love. As Andrew Peterson puts it:

I say faith is a burden
it’s a weight to bear
it’s brave and bittersweet
and hope is hard to hold, too…
Lord, I believe — only help my unbelief…
’til there’s no more faith
and no more hope
and I see your face and, Lord, I’m home
and only Love remains.

Thanks, Andrew…for reminding me to look more closely as I read. Love really IS all we need…or, at least, it’s all we’ll have left in the end.

As a web designer, I spend most of my days in front of my computer. That gives me plenty of time to listen to all of my music…I generally just play my “All Music” playlist on shuffle. Sometimes I’ll listen to an album at a time, for variety. Every once in a while I’ll log into my Yahoo account to listen to something new. Today, I’ve been listening to the website belonging to Phil Wickham.

While it’s becoming more common, very few artists will allow you to listen to a full album on their website. Some are worried that you’ll rip their music onto your hard drive with a streamripper program and never buy their disc. Others simply don’t have the technology at their disposal to create a Flash player to stream their music. In my opinion, those who offer more on their websites will likely sell more discs, gain larger concert audiences, and create greater buzz than those who appear stingy.

I’m glad that Phil decided to let me listen to a few songs. He’s saved me the trouble of standing in the bookstore, wondering whether I should risk his album or buy something I know I’ll like. Instead, I know what to expect…and I like what I hear, so I’ll probably end up owning one or more of Phil’s musical treats.

If you’re an artist with a website, I’d like to know what you want to do about offering free or streamed music. If you need some help getting started, I’ll offer a song or two for download. I’m even willing to stream some songs from CCM Links, if you’d like that too. Just contact me and we’ll talk.

I heard a good speaker the other day: Sean Dunn of Groundwire Ministries. He said something that bears repeating…

While addressing a room full of ministers, he pointed out the fact that moral weakness is a major cause of failure for those in positions of leadership. We all knew that, of course. What he said next hit home:

To avoid moral weakness, we have to stop the process.

Sin isn’t an accident. It’s the result of creeping compromises. It’s an incremental process that we allow to occur by looking the other way. To keep ourselves from letting moral weakness become a problem, we must stop the process.

Thanks, Sean!