CCM Links

Carolyn sent me an email request…her husband is in the US military, and serving in Iraq. He’s into hip-hop and rap and R&B, but isn’t familiar with Christian artists making that kind of music.

I’m not a big hip-hop fan myself, but I know that a lot of folks are. I’ve tried to add a lot of urban artists to CCM Links…and I need some help. Below are the links I sent to Carolyn to help her husband find some great, God-honoring music with thump. If your favorite artist isn’t listed, please leave a comment with their link. I’ll make sure Carolyn gets them.

If they’re not listed on CCM Links, I will (of course) add them to the Artist Pages.
Thanks!

WEBSITE FOR RESEARCH:
http://musicmoz.org/Religious/Christian/Styles/Hip-Hop/Bands_and_Artists/

ARTISTS:
http://tobymac.com/
http://johnreuben.com/
http://myspace.com/kj52
http://www.manafest.ca/glory.htm
http://www.sintaxtheterrific.com/
http://godstylerecords.com/
http://www.crossmovementrecords.com/

and I didn’t want to leave out the holy hip hop database:
http://www.hhhdb.com/

I’ve written about My Free Music Friday a couple of times. Some of you have been a little frustrated, though…they weren’t offering any new music for a while. Now that the improvements are complete, they’re back.

Today they’re offering three free downloads:

In Silence by Michael W. Smith
Our First Love by Michael Olson
Big Enough by Ayiesha Woods

Go get ‘em!

INO Records wants your email address. They also want you to download around 20 songs by nationally-known artists, like:

4 Him
Anthony Evans
Chris Rice
Darlene Zschech
Derek Webb
Mercy Me
Jonah 33
Skillet
Phillips, Craig and Dean
Todd Agnew
Sara Groves
Sonic Flood

If I were you, I’d get right over there. It’s called Free CCM.

I know you’re looking for free mp3s. You know you’re looking for free mp3s. Here’s a site to bookmark: Hot Worship. They’ve compiled a list of sites that have free mp3s of worship music…as well as a TON of other great music sites. Check ‘em out!

In case you hadn’t noticed, I’ve listed more than one free mp3 from Grassroots Music’s website. It’s not an accident, or a coincidence. They offer a different free mp3 every day. Because I use the Maxthon web browser, I’m able to add multiple pages to a startup group of websites…so every day I see the new song from Grassroots. They’re a great source of info on artists as well as a great place to grab a freebie, listen to clips from an artist’s album, and more.

You should go there. A lot.

[UPDATE 09.22.06]
Grassroots has recently updated and rearranged their website…and I can’t find any free mp3s there at all. Unfortunately, they look like they’re just a store now. I don’t even see the artist bios and links and reviews anymore. That’s a shame, because their website used to be a great resource for Christian music fans. Now it looks like a well-done web store like a lot of other well-done web stores.

I have no problem with someone trying to make a living, obviously…I’m a freelance web designer, and love seeing people make money online. I wonder, though, whether taking down the resource part might not be the worst long-term move they could make. If you’ve got free resources (mp3s, artist bios, album reviews) why not continue to make them available? I don’t get it. Guys? Can anyone shed light on this subject?