FACT CHECK: “Abide” from Aaron Williams

The CMB Music Summit happened last week in Houston, TX and I was asked to host a Breakout Session on Music Data and how to incorporate all that the music industry is seeing into your weekly music decision making. If you’re curious about that session and want me to walk you through it, go here and you can schedule a session.

I asked a lot of programmers about the questions they have regarding music data and one that came up over and over again is this: “How does all of this correlate to success for my station with my listeners and potential audience?”

I’ve seen this time and time again when it comes to one specific factor: PLANNING CENTER

There are 65,000+ churches using this platform every week to schedule their services and coordinate their teams. When a worship pastor chooses a song it shows up on the chart that any user can see. Top 100 on Planning Center is a BIG deal. We’ve promoted 30 of the Top 100 songs on Planning Center. These songs have all been successful on radio. Where they’ve been played, they’ve been QUICKLY familiar and have all researched well. There are an additional 33 songs in the Top 100 that have been promoted by others and this is a consistent thing at radio. The other 36 songs in the Top 100 have either not been promoted to radio yet or never were promoted to radio.

Worship leaders don’t lead songs over and over if they don’t connect to people. “Abide” is one of those songs and if your radio station is focused on mission and discipleship work with your audience, it’s one of the most special songs you could share. It’s John 15 put to music and the truth this song shares is exactly what we need if we want to navigate this life the way Jesus intends for us to.