Gospel music

=== Holiness-Pentecostal era (19th century) ===
[[File:Philip Paul Bliss, 1838-1876, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing left LCCN2005678063.jpg|thumb|upright|Philip Paul Bliss]]
The first published use of the term "Gospel song" probably appeared in 1874 when [[Philip Bliss]] released a songbook entitled ''Gospel Songs. A Choice Collection of Hymns and Tunes''. It was used to describe a new style of church music, songs that were easy to grasp and more easily singable than the traditional church [[hymns]], which came out of the mass revival movement starting with [[Dwight L. Moody]], whose musician was [[Ira D. Sankey]], as well as the [[Holiness movement|Holiness]]-[[Pentecostalism|Pentecostal]] movement.<ref name="Malone_520"/> Prior to the meeting of Moody and Sankey in 1870, there was an American rural/frontier history of [[Revival meeting|revival]] and [[camp meeting]] songs, but the gospel hymn was of a different character, and it served the needs of mass revivals in the great cities.<ref>{{harvp|Christ-Janer|Hughes|Smith|1980|p=364}}</ref>

The revival movement employed popular singers and song leaders, the most famous of them being Ira D. Sankey. The original "gospel" songs were written and composed by authors such as [[George Frederick Root|George F. Root]], [[Philip Bliss]], [[Charles H. Gabriel]], [[William Howard Doane]], and [[Fanny Crosby]].<ref name="Malone_520"/> As an extension to his initial publication ''Gospel Songs'', Philip Bliss, in collaboration with Ira D. Sankey issued no's. 1 to 6 of ''Gospel Hymns'' in 1875.<ref>Benson, Louis F. ''The English Hymn: Its Development and Use in Worship.'' New York: George H. Doran Co., 1915, p. 486. Several sources cite the Bliss and Sankey 1875 publication as the first to use the word "gospel" in this sense. For example, {{harvp|Malone|1984|p=520}}.</ref> Sankey and Bliss's collection can be found in many libraries today.

The popularity of revival singers and the openness of rural churches to this type of music (in spite of its initial use in city revivals) led to the late 19th and early 20th century establishment of gospel music publishing houses such as those of [[Homer Rodeheaver]], [[E. O. Excell]], [[Charles Davis Tillman|Charlie Tillman]], and [[Charles Albert Tindley|Charles Tindley]]. These publishers were in the market for large quantities of new music, providing an outlet for the creative work of many songwriters and composers.<ref>Hall, Jacob Henry. ''Biography of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers''. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1914, provides contemporary information about songwriters, composers and publishers.</ref>

The advent of radio in the 1920s greatly increased the audience for gospel music, and [[James David Vaughan|James D. Vaughan]] used radio as an integral part of his business model, which also included traveling quartets to publicize the gospel music books he published several times a year.<ref>See also [[Charles Davis Tillman]].</ref> [[Virgil Oliver Stamps|Virgil O. Stamps]] and [[J. R. Baxter|Jesse R. Baxter]] studied Vaughan's business model and by the late 1920s were running heavy competition for Vaughan.<ref name="Malone_521">{{harvp|Malone|1984|p=521}}</ref> The 1920s also saw the marketing of gospel records by groups such as the [[Carter Family]].