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Singing News posted on their home page today that they are now offering a digital version of the magazine to print subscribers. They are also offering digital-only subscriptions for $5 less per year ($15 instead of $20).

This is a fascinating move that could have long-term significance for the genre. Singing News was purchased by Salem Communications several years ago. Salem is a Christian media conglomerate that owns and publishes, among other magazines, CCM Magazine and Gaither’s Homecoming Magazine.

Why does any of this matter?

It matters because Salem has been shifting its focus to web-based content. In fact, CCM Magazine, the flagship magazine in its genre, just mailed its final issue. Could the same fate be in store for Singing News?

I doubt that it will happen in the immediate future. Too many Southern Gospel fans are older and either (a) have no Internet access or (b) only know how to use email to get the emails and pictures from the grandkids. Singing News and Salem have to know this fact, and I doubt that they would phase the print magazine out precipitously. That said, offering digital downloads of the magazine to print subscribers, as well as web-only subscriptions, marks the first two steps in that direction.

Well, Fan Awards season has arrived; the March Singing News issues have started arriving, and the fans have started filling out their ballots. Who do you think will be the top 10 nominees in each category?

Post your guesses in the comments. I will post my guesses, but so that mine don’t unduly influence yours, I’ll post them in the comments after a couple of you post yours.

The categories this year: Artist of the Year, Male Quartet, Mixed Group, Trio, Soloist, Favorite Male Singer, Favorite Female Singer, Young Artist, Horizon Individual, Horizon Group, Tenor, Lead, Baritone, Bass, Alto, Soprano, Musician, Songwriter, Album, Song.

Let’s revisit this post in a few weeks and see who came the closest!

One note–I’ll be counting the total number of top 10 nominations guessed correctly, so the more categories you guess, the better your end result will (probably) be!

David Bruce Murray has the story. His analysis, including whether / how this could affect Singing News (owned by the same company), is right on target–today’s “must read.”

Singing News just announced that (at the fans’ request) they will be reinstating several award categories that were omitted last year: Soloist, Trio, Mixed Group, Male Quartet, and the Marvin Norcross Award. They will be retaining an overall favorite artist category, now named the Vanguard Award.

I think this is a good move. While some fans preferred having awards in fewer categories, I think most fans liked honoring a wider variety of groups and individuals.

If Singing News wants to keep the Fan Awards within a set time limit, one move that would help would be narrowing the top ten songs down to a top five. This would take nearly a half an hour out of the show, leaving time for winners of lesser awards (who can be told in advance to keep remarks brief in the event they win) to accept the award during the program.

Singing News announced last week that effective December 31, they will be restricting access to some areas of their website to current subscribers. I believe this will be the third time (at least since I’ve been watching) that they try doing this. A large part of whether the move will succeed will depend on whether they post enough content to make it worthwhile subscribing just to gain access to the website.

Freely available Southern Gospel websites have changed the way Southern Gospel news is reported. One no longer has to subscribe to the Singing News to know what’s happening in the genre. Different people have different reasons for continuing to subscribe; I, for one, subscribe mainly to have a vote in the Fan Awards and receive Ed O’Neal’s column every month.

Singing News has tried implementing a few things. Danny Jones does have interesting blog posts, and seeing the radio airplay charts in advance of their publication is also interesting. But I’m not sure those two alone would provide a compelling reason to subscribe to the magazine just to get website access. It will be interesting to see what they will add to their website in the coming months.

Burke’s Brainwork caught a story I admit I missed–that Singing News made its first effort at a best-selling CDs chart in their most recent issue. It’s a promising start, but I do agree with his suggestions. Adding Word and Chordant and finding ways to track how many copies actually sell would be great improvements. But I am nonetheless encouraged by the fact that they’ve taken the first step.

Yesterday, Doug Harrison at Averyfineline broke the story that Singing News is revamping its airplay chart. They are cutting their list of reporting stations from over 200 to 75, and making a point of apportioning slots on the reporting stations list to locales where there is a heavy Southern Gospel presence. David Bruce Murray comments on the story here.

My reaction is far more optimistic than either Harrison’s or Murray’s. Recognizing that there is a problem is the first step, and sometimes the hardest to take. Making the chart reporters more selective is also a good move; this will lead them to take their role more seriously.

If stations value the privilege of being included, this will lead them to take Singing News more seriously when SN moves to the next point on the plan, mandating tracking software if they want to keep that privilege.

I view this as a promising first step that could lead to even better things in the future.

Here is where I posted my picks for the 2007 Fan Awards. Now as to my guesses:

• Group - Legacy Five. Add a Roger Bennett sympathy vote + the fact that Greater Vision isn’t in the top 5 + the fact that Live in Music City is simply a great project, and that looks positive to Legacy Five. But this award could really go to any of the top 5, although I’d view Legacy Five, Inspirations, and Signature Sound as the three most likely winners.
• Male Singer - Gerald Wolfe.
• Female Singer - Libbi Perry Stuffle. I know this has been a rebuilding year for the Perrys, but I guessed Libbi anyhow.
• Horizon Group - Ball Brothers. (Also my vote.)
• Horizon Individual - Dustin Sweatman. (Also my vote.)
• Young Artist - Joseph Habedank. (Also my vote.)
  
• Musician - Roger Bennett. We’ll see.
• Songwriter - Rodney Griffin. I must admit I’m hoping for a Dianne Wilkinson win.
• Album of the Year: Live in Music City (Legacy Five). Add it being Roger Bennett’s last album to the fact that it’s simply a great project, and I think you might have a winner.
• Tenor of the Year: Ernie Haase. (Second guess: Brian Free.)
• Lead Singer of the Year: Gerald Wolfe. I voted for Arthur Rice, though, and he deserves to win one of these years.
• Baritone of the Year: Mark Trammell. (Second guess: Rodney Griffin.)
• Bass of the Year: Tim Duncan. I consider this a wide-open category where anyone could win, but I just decided to guess for the man who got my vote.
• Alto of the Year: Libbi Perry Stuffle. (She’s also who I voted for.)
• Soprano of the Year: Kim Hopper. (She’s also who I voted for.)
• Song: “I Have Not Forgotten” (Inspirations). Though “Once Upon a Cross” is the song that I want to see win, I really like this song, too…and a song at this level, that gets even people who hate the Inspirations humming along, stands a chance.

Singing News posted a new upgrade to their website yesterday–sound clips of the top 10 hits on their radio airplay chart as well as sound clips of the top 10 new releases.

This is an encouraging step toward bringing their website to the next level.

Singing News has posted some minor upgrades to their website, www.singingnews.com. The most significant is making some freely available feature articles and supplements to feature articles–things which were previously only available via the print magazine.

Like all forms of print media, they struggle with the tension of providing relevant content in the Internet age and providing meaningful content in the print publication that still makes it worth a subscription.

They promised some upgrades this year, and bit by bit, we are seeing several encouraging improvements.