Downhere is Somebody to Love

Legendary rock band Queen is celebrating 40 years of music by launching a North American tour and hosting a Youtube contest to pick musicians for it. Marc Martel of Downhere uploaded his rendition of “Somebody To Love” and quickly gathered more than 2 million views in its first three days online. Shaun Groves notes in a great blog entry that fans are raving as are outlets such as The Wallstreet Journal and Entertainment Weekly. Of more significance, he makes an interesting observation:

The Christian music industry and fans have a history of jumping on the bandwagon of veteran Christian artists only after the general market confirms their talents first. Mercy Me couldn’t get played on Christian radio until a mainstream station spun I Can Only Imagine and the song was added at general market stations nationwide. POD? Played side stages at Christian music festivals until they broke through to the mainstream via MTV. Switchfoot was never a staple on Christian radio until, again, the mainstream vaulted them up the charts first. Sixpence None The Richer sang about kissing at twilight on every movie and television soundtrack out there and, well, only then did the Christian music gatekeepers pull out their keys.

Read the entire blog here.