A Story about the New Air1 Radio Station (December 2024)
December 2024
Part 1, Changing Directions
Six years ago, on the bridge between December 2018 and January 2019, the world lost its favorite Christian alternative station, Air1. Up from the ashes came a very different housing of songs and trends: the “new” Air1 with its motto “Worship Now”. It is now December 2024, and we’re getting very close to the bridge to January 2025.
That leaves me to wonder a little bit about the past six years of Air1. I want to take some time to reflect on my personal experience with Air1: how I discovered it and some of its most notable songs. Then, I’ll consider the big difference and feelings of switching the format way back in 2019 and what we can do about it. This is a long story with deep connections to all of us who have listened to Air1 and at least have some experience with what it stands for… so get ready. It’s going to be a big one.
A little while ago, I was reviewing the comments section on an article titled “Air1 Changes Direction,” and this story definitely catches my attention. As someone in one of the newer generations listening to Air1, I understand the frustration. It’s very sad to see something in its “glory days” and then watch it rapidly collapse to something considered not as exciting. Now, things seem to feel like they’re a bit more empty and that the excitement of the past will never light up again. That’s the type of problem that we run into where we can only call on God to save the day… but what is God going to do about this one? He has placed you and me into this time of reflection right now, and it’s not too late to surrender ourselves and wait for God to pull a miracle. But as far as I see it, we’re not going to get the old Air1 back… or at least that doesn’t seem to be on Air1’s agenda. The goal, I think, is to continue onward with the “new normal,” although I believe that things are pretty temporary in the long term and it’s only a little while longer before something just like the old Air1 can rise up, dominate, and bring back that sense of excitement.
I am very very sad to say that I was not around for the old Air1… or at least the “old” Air1 as people have described it. I first actively and knowingly listened to Air1 in December 2020. This was a little under two years into the new worship format, although there were many traces still of a variety of music styles. I had been coming from the massive year 2020 with all of the headaches and excitements that it had caused, dealing with some personal struggles, joys, and anticipations. My goal that Christmas season was to pack on as many exciting things as I could find, and since I had enjoyed listening to Christian music during that time, I had an opportunity. Why exactly did I end up choosing Air1? Well, that’s a pretty long story too.
The main Christian radio station that I listen to is WGTS 91.9. I discovered it early on when I was younger, as I was in the listening area and heard it being played on the FM, and it holds the music that I grew up listening to. I had listened to regular hit music stations before, but since I am a Christian, when I discovered Christian music, I had to switch over and listen to that since it felt more appealing… or maybe I just liked how a couple of the songs sounded and then just kept listening from then on. I still listen today, after many years, so I guess the original thought carried on pretty far.
In 2020, with the Covid-19 pandemic and the lack of excitement, one of the things that I turned to throughout the springtime was video games. Well, of course, I turned to God through video games. And God surprisingly used those video games to boost my faith more than it had ever been boosted before, but that’s a story for another time. When I would spend evenings playing video games, I wanted to make sure that I had music to go with it… because somehow I felt the need to play music while I was playing the games. And so, with my basic Amazon Music playlists, I kept adding songs. Normally, I would have a group of songs from Christian Contemporary Radio that I had known. One thing I liked about Amazon Music (this was before I knew what Spotify was) was that I could find Christian songs by familiar artists that I hadn’t heard on the radio.
One thing that made me excited was discovering Christian hip hop songs, or at least Christian pop songs with collaborations with hip hop artists. Some examples of those (which I found in Fall 2019) were “Love Me Like You” by The Young Escape with nobigdyl., “Every Little Thing” by Hillsong Young & Free with Andy Mineo, and “Even Louder” by Steven Malcolm and Natalie Grant. Note that all of these songs have appeared on the new Air1 at some point… I’m just not sure if the verse with nobigdyl. was there for “Love Me Like You.”
Long story short, with some Amazon Music recommendations, I was opening up to more and more Christian alternatives instead of just Christian Contemporary pop. For someone who had only kept track of WGTS and Contemporary, I was so new to all of these areas. I was finding rock, hip hop, live worship, and more. It sounded amazing! I loved the variety of all of these different types of songs. I was discovering artists like Local Sound, Neon Feather, FEARLESS BND, Everfound, Landry Cantrell, Planetshakers, Branan Murphy, Royal Tailor, ELEVATION RHYTHM, Joshua Micah, Capital Kings, GAWVI, WE ARE ONE, Cortes, Charlie Rey, Urban Rescue, Zauntee, Run51, and Mack Brock… a big variety of live worship, pop, hip hop, EDM, and more.
So that was the excitement that I needed as the pandemic came in. And those songs were very upbeat and fitting for me playing intense video games that required me to keep clicking my computer mouse for hours on end.
That’s what I wanted to hear. The music on Christian Contemporary Radio was there, but there were so many more areas to discover. And so in order to build onto my playlists, I decided to start listening to different radio stations to find some Christian music that wasn’t being played on WGTS at the time.
WGTS doesn’t put a whole lot of emphasis on brand new music. They tend to add music a little bit later on, so by the time when new songs are added, they’ve usually been out there for several months, and if/when they become popular, they usually stay popular for pretty long. For example, Phil Wickham’s song “House Of The Lord” and Maverick City Music’s “Promises” came out around April and May of 2021, but WGTS didn’t start playing them until around September. These songs became popular, and somehow they ended up still on heavy rotation at the beginning of 2023. They were still two of the top ten songs being played in the beginning of 2023, so they went through all of 2022 by being at the top! That’s a very late peak of playtime compared to how songs tend to go on most Christian radio stations. I guess that’s an extreme case, but generally, the songs at WGTS seem to be added later on compared to other stations. Since WGTS didn’t have as much new music as my rapidly growing desire to discover new songs was willing to take to be satisfied, I started looking in other places, like… K-Love.
I had known of K-Love, and I had known of where it was, so one week in the summertime, I decided to listen to it. I discovered a bunch of new songs that I didn’t hear on WGTS before… like “You’ve Always Been” from Unspoken, “Revolutionary” from Josh Wilson, and “There Was Jesus” from Zach Williams. Now, the last two ended up being on WGTS, so I was just listening to them a bit early before they were added. But “You’ve Always Been” from Unspoken has always been one of my favorites, and it has never been heard on WGTS as far as I know.
With that discovery, that opened the door to me finding more Christian radio stations. I had no idea what Air1 was at the time. It wasn’t until I was looking up something on the internet about K-Love that I found some type of forum or article or comments that had mentioned how K-Love had a sister station, Air1. So I went on the Air1 website… and I noticed something very special. They carried the playlist of my dreams, the other side of the songs that I had found on Amazon Music but had not heard on the Christian Contemporary Stations… with artists (I mentioned earlier) like Local Sound, Landry Cantrell, Planetshakers, ELEVATION RHYTHM, Joshua Micah, etc. They also had some other songs from worship artists I was familiar with, but this time featuring these worship bands’ live songs that were not on contemporary. You’d easily think of what I’m referring to: Elevation Worship, Bethel Music, Hillsong Worship, Vertical Worship, etc.
That was a big discovery. It felt so amazing to know that the songs I had discovered on the web were actually on a radio station! Throughout that fall, I had remembered checking the list of Air1 and each new group of songs they added every week.
It was December 23, 2020 when I was traveling for Christmastime when I finally took the opportunity to turn on Air1. After a long day of airplanes and airports, my family and I got into a rental car, on our way to drive to see family members, and I found the local Air1 signal. We turned on the station, and my world changed completely. It took a couple hours of driving (and some stops along the way) before we got to our final destination… but that drive was one of the most notable moments in the entirety of the Covid-19 Pandemic in my memories, mainly because Christian music had been so important to me at the time and I was just so happy to be able to listen to a variety of songs.
There were many things that made Air1 appeal to me at that time. First of all, it was called the “new” Air1. That gave me the feeling of new life, of a fresh start. Of course, it being 2020, everything around me had been changing rapidly and unpredictably, and I was happy to hear about the newness in the music.
These songs were exciting, and they had a big variety. I remember some of the first songs I heard were “Never Walk Away” by ELEVATION RHYTHM and “Fires” by Jordan St. Cyr. Then, I heard songs like “Sparrows” by Cory Asbury, “Just Like Heaven” by Brandon Lake, and Elevation Worship’s “Never Lost” and “My Testimony.” I liked how some were super upbeat and then the station would go straight into live songs with cheering and shouting. It was the kind of excitement I needed on a December 23, the night before Christmas Eve during a rough year of the Covid-19 pandemic. But wait! It was the night before Christmas Eve, and I was hearing… worship music? What about the Christmas music? Well, I had supposed that since it was a new worship station, it didn’t have any emphasis on Christmas music. I was aware that K-Love was playing a few Christmas songs here and then and that Air1 had an online Christmas music stream (at the time), so it didn’t seem to have to be a big deal that they weren’t playing Christmas music. After all, it was more like I was stopping listening to Christmas music for just one night before it came on full blast for the holiday days. It was like me opening my eyes to the discovery that there was this whole world outside of Christmas music that was still exciting.
I have never heard a single Christmas song on Air1… or at least a Christmas song on the playlist in the rotation. There was one exception in 2022 when Air1 replayed a recording of a live Christmas concert with Phil Wickham on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but that was the only Christmas-themed music they have played that I have recalled listening to.
Another thing that had made Air1 seem to me like the coolest station ever was that they had played “long” songs. If you’ve heard Elevation Worship or Bethel Music live recordings, these songs sometimes go up to 10 minutes or even longer… and growing up, I thought that radio songs could only be about 3 to 4 minutes long. So I was surprised when seeing songs that were 7 minutes long appear on Air1.
Now, that was my memory when starting out. At this point, if I remember correctly, I think those songs had been edited to fit a 4 to 5 minute time slot instead of their original 7 to 9 minutes. But you get the idea… they’re playing songs with edits and versions that wouldn’t make it onto a regular contemporary station, so there’s even more variety.
I hung onto listening to the “new” Air1 throughout the rest of that December, and I particularly loved listening to the big variety. They played worship music, but they also played hip hop and alternative songs from artists like Tedashii, NEEDTOBREATHE, Lecrae, Apollo LTD, ELEVATION RHYTHM, and The Young Escape.
I recall that some of the top songs at the time were “My Testimony,” “Just Like Heaven,” “Battle Belongs,” “Never Lost,” “Make Room,” “Into the Sea,” “Sparrows,” “My Hands Are Open,” “God Turn It Around,” “You Keep Hope Alive,” and “Even the Impossible.” Of course, the worship songs took top priority and all of the alternatives songs were played sparingly… but they were still there!
Elevation Worship and Bethel Music songs were big… sometimes hearing Elevation Worship songs back to back since they were featuring the “Graves Into Gardens” album with the songs “RATTLE!,” “Never Lost,” “My Testimony,” and “Graves Into Gardens.” Now, Bethel Music actually isn’t mentioned on Air1 at all. Air1 lists the songs by the featured artist, so although most music sites would classify “Egypt (Live)” as a Bethel Music song, Air1 puts it under Cory Asbury. (The same thing I’ve noticed with Hillsong. In 2022, Air1 removed all traces of the word “Hillsong” and called their groups “Young & Free” instead of “Hillsong Young & Free” and “UNITED” instead of “Hillsong United.” For “Hillsong Worship,” the songs became divided under whoever the worship leaders were leading the songs… so “Cornerstone” was listed under David Ware and “King of Kings” was listed under Brooke Ligertwood, for example.) I don’t exactly know the reason why they did this. I do know that these big groups are generally seen as controversial, but will there be a day when “Graves Into Gardens” gets listed under Brandon Lake, when “New Thing Coming” gets listed under Tiffany Hudson, and when “Same God” gets listed under Jonsal Barrientes? I don’t think that’s going to happen. Elevation Worship songs are Elevation Worship songs.
That was my sense of the new Air1. That was a fun time listening to it. Unfortunately, it didn’t last for long. By summer 2021, most of those alternative songs were gone, and many of the previous worship songs too were replaced by some newer stuff… Maverick City Music, to be exact.
There is a big habit of Air1 putting those Maverick City Music and related artists’ songs on the top above all else… In 2021, if it wasn’t already apparent, Air1 started fixing its leaderboard of songs to host permanent slots for Elevation Worship, Maverick City Music, Phil Wickham, and Brandon Lake. Well, if this is how the listeners want it, then that’s good. On the surface, though, it just seems crazily repetitive. By the summer, exploding emphasis was placed on the rise of Maverick City Music, with their songs “Jireh,” “Promises,” “Move Your Heart,” and “Rest On Us” dominating the Top Songs list throughout the summer. Then there was Elevation Worship’s “Jireh” (yes, the collaboration between Elevation Worship and Maverick City Music which Air1 claimed as an Elevation Worship song and K-Love claimed as a Maverick City Music song although they played the exact same live edit with the same tag under Elevation Worship, that wasn’t even the same as the radio version released in 2022 by Maverick City). There was Brandon Lake’s “Gratitude” as well as Cody Carnes’ “Too Good To Not Believe” which featured Brandon Lake. And wait, didn’t Brandon Lake lead “Rest On Us” as well? Yes… so now you see the pattern. That’s the majority of what you hear: Elevation Worship, Maverick City Music, Phil Wickham, and Brandon Lake. That stayed the same for 2022 and 2023 and into 2024… It was usually a combination between Elevation Worship and Brandon Lake (as in “Might Get Loud,” “LION,” and “Praise”) or Phil Wickham and Brandon Lake (as in “Where I’m Standing Now,” “People of Heaven,” and “Love of God”) or Maverick City Music and Brandon Lake (as in “Rest On Us” and “Fear is Not My Future”) or Maverick City Music and Phil Wickham (as in “Worthy Of My Song”). Personally, I have loved listening to most of these songs, but the whole concept just gets a bit repetitive after considering how long it has been. Today, there are still Brandon Lake, Phil Wickham, Elevation Worship, and Maverick City Music songs that are at the top.
There was still some alternative stuff in 2021: Joshua Micah’s “Heart Stops Beating,” NEON Feather’s “The Long Way Home,” Social Club Misfits’ “Testify,” Mat Kearney’s “Ships in the Night,” and Landry Cantrell’s “Before You.” But those still quickly faded, too, and after 2021, I never heard them on Air1 again.
In 2021, the “new” feeling of Air1 was gone, and I heard the announcement that Air1 wasn’t considered “new” anymore. They had pushed out their alternative songs, and they were left with mostly all worship songs. At least there was some variety in the different titles of Brandon Lake songs that came out. At least there was some variety in the levels of shouting that appeared in the different songs. At least there was some variety in the difference between studio versions and live edits of songs. At least there was some variety in the different colors of album cover art that came from Maverick City Music and Elevation Worship. Those things I treasured… all the little pieces of variation that could come.
In my eyes, the station continued to lose its “coolness” until early 2022, when they seemed to add a bunch of new worship songs that I hadn’t heard on the station before… but even then, it was just worship song after worship song. What happened to the alternative music? I would have to go to other stations to find it, I guess.
And now that it’s late 2024, it seems like there’s really no hope left. That’s a very odd statement for a station that plays worship music to give people hope. There is hope. There is a big bunch of hope. But as far as the hope to hear alternative music on Air1, maybe we should just hope for something else… because it doesn’t seem like it is going to happen. Unless… I see a little bit of more alternative songs coming back on. This isn’t a big improvement, but every now and then, we do get a couple of songs that seem to stand out. I think of songs from artists who were featured on the Weekend 22 countdown of Christian alternative music (which, by the way, is voice-hosted by the same Josh Ashton who hosts on Air1) like Tauren Wells’ “Take It All Back” (although this song pretty much blew up on every type of Christian contemporary, pop, hip hop, or worship station), Bodie’s “Whisper and the Wind,” and Forrest Frank’s “Lift My Hands.” Bodie is closer to a pop or rock style of music, while Forrest Frank is closer to a hip hop style of music, and it is surprising that these songs made it onto Air1. Also, Brandon Lake’s song “COUNT ‘EM,” which later became much more of a Christian hip hop song with the KB collaboration, is also on Air1. Although its lyrics are very worship-based, I know that at least how it sounds follows less of the worship format of music and more of rock. So we do have some hope of getting some alternative songs instead of just live recordings of worship sessions from Elevation Worship.
I generally enjoy listening to the songs on Air1. They are faith-filled and inspiring, especially during times when I need to keep more of my focus on God (like all the time!). I just hope to highlight that the concept of Air1 as a variety and an alternative is fading. It seems like worship music is its top priority (which is pretty obvious), but now it is putting less and less room for those alternative songs that we used to know it for. So in the end, it’s not something that special. With its music, it’s just another worship station, and with its programming, it’s just another version of K-Love. And for my purposes, that’s generally okay. It’s just nothing special. Air1 loses its uniqueness and individuality, and it becomes just another thing. Is that what we want?
I thought that Air1 was the special station. You see that red and purple circle and you think of the excitement that comes with listening to Christian music. You see that red and purple circle and you are reminded of the ways that God comes to you through these special lyrics. You see that red and purple circle and you think of salvation. But… it’s just a red and a purple circle. It doesn’t seem so special anymore. It has been losing its fire for quite some time (with less fire, the circle will become just like K-Love’s blue icon), and now it’ll be just like the others.
If that’s how Air1 turns out, then we can still overcome. We can listen to Air1 for what it is… so if you want to worship, turn it on. But if you want to discover the alternatives, stick around for something else. I’m in the process of discovering more and more stations as well as more and more alternative songs, and that’s primarily the reason why I am here to type down my observations.
What the “new” Air1 taught me with its theme of worship is that by playing a variety of music, we can worship. In the “new” Air1 worship music playlist of 2020, it didn’t matter if was hip hop or recorded in a huge worship concert. What mattered was the attitude and the focus directed toward God. That’s what worship meant to us in the music then, and that’s the same concept that I hold onto now.
What’s going to give us that effect of going closer to God? We want the songs that have a set of lyrics to make us stop and think, “What’s actually going on here?” Then, in that, you consider your life and then you consider God. You see how God is calling you to step out into the newness. But with something that just becomes the same old thing over and over again without any hope of getting better, you might have the risk of getting caught in the motions. That’s why it’s important to pray that God can give you a newness and continue renewing you.
When a song brings in a wave of something that no one has seen before, and that gets their attention, that’s a very special moment. That’s what Jesus did, bringing in a new way of seeing the world… as God sees it, not as humanity sees it. And so that’s what happened in the end… Jesus introduced us to the narrow path and hyped up people like us to push ourselves through it. In the end, God wins, regardless of what style of music there is. But as far as what God is doing to call us toward or away from Air1 is not my decision to make. That’s a decision that we should consider, think about, and realize.
Yes, I keep on hoping for the day when all evil will be gone and that our lives will be so exciting that the only music we need will be our shouts of praises to the Father in Heaven. But until that day, we’re clinging to the less-than-perfect reminders. The songs aren’t necessarily perfect in their lyrics, and neither are the singers. They’re just here to testify to the One who is perfect. We will see the victory one day, but for now, what’s going to carry us through so that we can be prepared when God calls us all in? That’s the question. And God might be calling you to your own personal style of discovery that is fit to the way He is going to bring you to Him. That’s fine. If it includes Air1, then be happy about it. Air1 has been a blessing for many. However, if it doesn’t, then don’t worry about it. I know of many other great stations out there that are much different from Air1 and might appeal to people in a greater way. That’s a door that is open…
So as far as the Air1 things go, we’re just getting started. Six years may have passed, but I think there are many more great, inspiring, and life-changing songs that can make their way through the Air1 path, for however long Air1 remains on the air… maybe another five years or a hundred or maybe for the remainder of time, however long that is. Or maybe the days of Air1 are very limited as it might get taken over by the expanding K-Love or another EMF idea. Whatever ends up happening, I am very thankful to God for the blessings He has given to you and me through Air1, and I hope He can continue to use it to spread His goodness throughout the world and show us how He is so good.
Next time, I will consider the comments I read on the “Air1 Changes Direction” article and see what I know about this big group of listeners who have been saddened by the change.
Part 2, Common Thoughts about Worship Music
It is time to consider some of the very thoughtful comments that passionate and former Air1 listeners have posted on the “Air1 Changes Direction” article. I’m a little bit late to the discussion as most of this stuff comes from early 2019, but I guess I’ve made it within the six year stretch.
At the very least, I know more now than what they knew before… about the new and post-“new” Air1 and how it has continued in its worship direction, as the variety fades away and gets replaced with mostly all worship music.
So let’s consider some of the common thoughts that have been noted throughout these comments.
Some people don’t listen to music much. That’s an honest thought. For me, there are parts of the year when I am listening to music constantly but other parts of the year when weeks go by without me deliberately listening to any music. There are definitely other ways to worship without listening to worship music. If worship is our honest interaction with God, there’s more that we can do than singing songs. We can live our lives in focus on service to God’s Kingdom… feed the hungry, teach people about the good news, and take care of the sick. Those don’t require beats and lyrics, but they do require the heart. So I’m being led to think that what really matters inside the worship is the love that we put into it… our hearts intended to serve God in this action. Our lives did it not because we were forced to but because we got up and chose to do so.
The old Air1 used to have Christmas music. That sounds like a very festive statement. I don’t think that we’ve ever heard Christmas music being played on the new Air1 except for a certain time when they broadcasted a Phil Wickham Christmas concert during Christmas of 2022. I don’t think they’ve given us a good-enough reason why they don’t play Christmas music. Whenever this topic is mentioned on the air, the response is that they just want to keep the worship going (from CJ) or that the heart behind Christmas is worship so any worship music still fits the scene of Christmas (from Careth). That’s not a bad idea, but what about Christmas worship music? I’ve seen another worship station which plays worship music and also includes some Christmas worship songs throughout the hours during the month of December. Overall, though, the focus on regular music on the new Air1 instead of Christmas music provides it with a year-round ability to feature songs and also gives listeners another option when the holiday styled songs on other stations become too repetitive.
Alternative Christian music is geared toward the younger generation. So this is definitely a big deal! A station that brings in new listeners and teaches them about God for the first time is a real life-changer, or at least that’s how it feels. There definitely is a certain focus that you can get from listening to music as a younger person who isn’t as aware of God’s love. I can absolutely see how moving toward a worship format is more focused on people who are already believers since some worship songs take at least some understanding of biblical stories and concepts to understand. (Think of how many songs end up focusing on the prodigal son, Psalm 23, or dancing like David.) But can God help the younger generation through worship music? Absolutely. Would the younger generation be more willing to listen to worship music? Probably not. So I think that the change with formats also brought with it a change in audience… toward those who are more familiar with the Christian Faith. It doesn’t necessarily mean that these people are older, it’s just that they’ve had more time to think about God and what it means to worship. There’s a common theme going around here that there needs to be some type of alternative outreach that goes in between strict worship and secular music that can bring people in and teach them a little bit about Christianity, which is great. However, if we’re reaching out to people to only show them a message that is fancy and that sounds good (through the good music), we might miss out on some of deeper aspects of God’s message. Yes, Christian music often talks about positivity and feeling good… but the point to get across is that we also have to take up our crosses (like Jesus did) even if that means that we have to go through pain, disappointments, and daily struggles. If someone previously unaware of Christianity was presented with just a message of being positive and feeling good, without the extra knowledge of how God uses suffering to build us up, that person might be a little bit more tempted to turn away when trials and tribulations come. In the end, in order to reach out to a newer generation of believers, we should have the full message! Unfortunately, with the songs these days, that full message is not proclaimed (How could it be when we only have 24 hours in a day and a limited selection of songs?). That’s why going to Church and reading the Bible, in order to seek out the entire message, are more of a priority than just having a music station. We can use the music to support us in what we already believe from the Church and the Bible.
Worship isn’t considered to be as upbeat as alternative. Generally, how I see it, there is more shouting and energy in the voices singing in worship songs. Especially, for live worship, there’s more cheering than in a studio-recorded alternative song. But in terms of the beats and the general instruments, alternative music does seem to give a more upbeat feeling overall.
Let’s think of some comparisons. One of the hit songs in late 2021 on Air1 was “Wait On You” by Maverick City Music (with Elevation Worship and Dante Bowe), which is one of my most favorite songs of all time. Personally, I like the song because it appears to have a lot of hope and honesty, especially when Dante Bowe mentions fairy tales and hospital rooms. However, consider another couple of songs with the same topic of waiting on God. The first by Christian pop/hip-hop artist Branan Murphy is titled “I Will Wait.” The second by Christian hip-hop artist Roy Tosh is titled “Gotta Wait.” While keeping with the theme of waiting on God and finding hope in that situation, their music is more upbeat.
Think about two songs on the topic of God answering prayers: the Air1 feature of Lizzie Morgan’s “Maybe the Miracle” and alternative artist David Dunn’s “Yes & No.” Lizzie Morgan’s “Maybe the Miracle” is somewhat of a sad song, especially if the listener’s emotions are in line with it, with the third word of the song being “tears.” But on top of that, when I heard this song on Air1, I noticed that Air1 played a different version of the song (which I think was the Song Session with Essential Worship) which wasn’t as upbeat as the normal version. Now think of David Dunn’s “Yes & No.” It does seem to be more upbeat.
Now, bring in KB. KB, if you haven’t noticed yet, tends to take worship songs into a hip hop format. Think about his songs “10K,” “Graves,” “Yes Song,” and “Miracles.” These draw inspiration from the respective songs: “10,000 Reasons,” “Graves Into Gardens,” “Yes I Will,” and “Million Little Miracles.” The only KB remix I recall hearing on the new Air1 was “Yes Song.” Compare that with Vertical Worship’s “Yes I Will” and you can see that KB, while keeping some of the same lyrics, can move into an alternative format with a much more energetic and upbeat song.
So, yes, this new Air1 music generally isn’t as upbeat as alternative music. But don’t say that Air1 never has upbeat songs. In fact, Air1 compiled a set of songs called “Worship in the Workout: 7 Tracks to Elevate Your Exercise” on the website and even listed out the “beats per minute” for each song to prove to us that the station does try to add some upbeat songs. Brandon Lake saves the day, and now after counting the miracles, we have to “COUNT ‘EM” beats per minute. (Although, there’s a KB remix for that too!)
Air1 seemed to follow its own agenda when making the switch instead of consulting listeners, and people who weren’t happy with it stopped donating. I think the listeners in general should have gotten more of a say in Air1 switching formats. Although Air1 claimed to have talked to listeners about this change, it seems like the passionate listeners in the comment section didn’t get a call or a chance to put in their input. So maybe Air1 had talked to some listeners… but not all of them. They didn’t even make an announcement in advance that there would be a music change? That’s strange… as if it was supposed to be a surprise. Like all surprise presents, we can’t guarantee if the person receiving the present is going to love it.
As I saw in the comments, people who weren’t happy with the change in music formats stopped listening and cancelled their donations. That’s definitely a way to lose listeners and money for Air1… but the station is still up and running, so it definitely has gotten the support it has needed to keep going after six years in its new format.
Some people really love it. Yes, they do. For someone who loves artists like Elevation Worship, Cody Carnes, Church of the City, and Tasha Layton and wants to hear worship music all throughout the day, Air1 radio is an awesome option! One advantage of Air1 for people who like discovering worship music is that Air1 adds new music regularly and prioritizes playing top songs over older music. It is a great way to find new songs especially if listeners are fans of Brandon Lake and Maverick City Music, as the station features a handful of new songs from those artists each year.
Air1 seems to be just like K-Love now (but Air1 plays more worship music than K-Love). For the people who say that Air1 and K-Love are the same, that doesn’t seem to be the case in late 2024. It might appear that way on the surface because Air1 and K-Love generally play the same types of artists and songs, but the Air1 music has a much larger collection of LIVE worship and worship artists too. How often is a live edit played on K-Love? Occasionally, yes, but that doesn’t seem to be their main focus. K-Love mainly plays songs recorded in a studio, not those recorded live in churches. I’d say that about half or more than half of the Air1 featured songs are live songs, and while it has its selection of studio edits, these aren’t as common. How often do we hear artists like Church of the City, Mack Brock, Red Rocks Worship, Benjamin William Hastings, Rolling Hills Worship, and Aaron Williams on K-Love? Very rarely, I’d say, if at all.
And finally… a thought about “What is worship?” The concept of the Air1 station definitely takes a turn depending on how we define what “worship” and “worship now” mean. For me, I think that worship isn’t just “live worship sung in churches” but also is the focus behind the music and the way the music style is. That means that if the song is addressing God, it seems to be in the zone for “worship music.” Now, if a song’s lyrics are giving glory to God, do we want to stop them from doing so? I don’t think so! We’ll join in with the worship. But if that’s the right definition of worship, then we really shouldn’t be concerned with Air1 changing its format. Right now, it’s the market of songs that seems to be the concerning thing that is decreasing the variety. Air1, even with its theme of strictly worship music, can get worship-type songs from pop, rock, and hip-hop artists, but right now the market that it addresses most is worship from big churches and worship artists, like Elevation Worship and Tauren Wells. However, if you’ve noticed, in 2024, Air1 is adding a few songs from these pop, rock, and hip-hop artists. Think of “Prepare the Way” from Stars Go Dim, “Whisper and the Wind” from Bodie, and “Lift My Hands” from Forrest Frank. Air1 is keeping that variety going, even within the worship focus, just so much less than they had been doing before the format changed to worship.
Don’t give up! Think of a popular Air1 song in 2024: “YET” from Maverick City Music. If we uncover this song a little bit, we think of the theme… it’s asking God not to give up.
If our goal in worshipping is to become closer and more like God, then we don’t need to be afraid to listen to Air1. Sure, former listeners might think that Air1 has seemed to “mess up” by changing formats, bringing heartbreak and devastation to those who absolutely loved the alternative format. But God offers us a different message, and He reminds us of OURSELVES. We have messed up too, but God stayed around and kept us through our wrongdoings. He welcomed us back even when we didn’t reach up to our full potential to do good in this world. He was patient with us.
In the same way, maybe, we could think of Air1 and say that although it has been turning away from what it used to be, hope is not lost. If we stick around and don’t give up on it, we could be there for the day that Air1 becomes even greater with the help of God. It’s a treasure to uncover while we wait on Him. If, after six years, we are still unhappy with the direction that Air1 is going in the music that it adds, let’s pray about it. Let’s think of God through all of it. After all, it is His gift to have this music here for us, and it is because He has allowed it that all of these things have taken place. God deserves our worship regardless of how good, how appealing, how repetitive, or how engaging worship music is.
Part 3, Continuing the Variety
I’ve been reflecting on the change of Air1 from positive alternative hits to worship music, after six years.
The big change is in the music (now worship), the market (where they’re getting the music from… the worship collectives), the artists (worship leaders), and in the audience (seemed like moving toward reaching a generation of believers rather than reaching those who aren’t as aware of Christianity).
So a possible question is: Did Air1 make the right decision to change to a worship focus and then keep going in that direction?
Luckily, I don’t have to answer that question. Because that’s much of a personal opinion for you, and plus, I’ve been hanging on to these articles which say enough.
What happens in these articles is that people break into discussion about Air1, and then there is discussion about ways to get back to the old variety of songs. That’s a topic that I would be more passionate about addressing. One user, “kitnorrie,” mentioned of making a playlist of old Air1 songs from the 2000s using the Wayback Machine. I haven’t listened through the playlist, but it definitely is dense and thorough, representing a great variety of songs (which is the sense of the old Air1). Another user, “Acrobatic_Cicada5700,” referred to the creation of a playlist on Apple Music to feature some old Air1 songs.
So seeing all of that, I’m guessing that now is the time to consider the old and open up new boundaries.
From the main “Air1 Changes Direction” article that I read through, I’ve compiled a list of artists that listeners miss from the old Air1. These include (but are definitely not limited to, in alphabetical order-ish) Audio Adrenaline, Bleach, Bride, Britt Nicole, Creed, Danny Gokey, Day Of Fire, DC Talk, Decyfer Down, Disciple, Emery, Everyday Sunday, Family Force 5, FireFlight, Flyleaf, Group 1 Crew, Guardian, Hollyn, Ivoryline, Jeremy Camp, Jesus Culture, Joshua Micah, KB, Kirk Franklin, Kutless, Lecrae, Manafest, Newsboys, NF, P.O.D., Petra, Pillar, Plumb, Red, Royal Tailor, Seventh Day Slumber, Skillet, Stryper, Switchfoot, Tedashii, Tenth Avenue North, Third Day, Thousand Foot Krutch, TobyMac, Trip Lee, Twenty One Pilots, White Heart, and Whitecross. I know that are probably hundreds more that people haven’t mentioned… but that’s a basic list to get us started.
Now, how many of those artists have been considered by the new Air1? I’m thinking of Danny Gokey, Joshua Micah, KB, Kirk Franklin, Lecrae, Royal Tailor, Switchfoot, Tedashii, and TobyMac.
Danny Gokey is still a pretty popular Air1 artist. With songs like “Haven’t Seen It Yet,” “Every Victory” (The Belonging Co), “Live Up To Your Name,” “Stay Strong,” and the 2024 “Can’t Help but Worship,” it seems like he is staying pretty strong.
Joshua Micah had his song “Heart Stops Beating” on Air1 in 2021. I haven’t heard any of his music playing on Air1 since then.
KB had the “Yes Song” playing on Air1 in 2020. I haven’t heard any of his music playing on Air1 since then.
Kirk Franklin (almost) made it to Air1 with the song “Kingdom” from Maverick City Music. The thing is that I don’t recall ever hearing this song being played on Air1. I know it was listed on the Air1 website, which means that it was probably considered for airplay but ultimately didn’t make it to the playlist.
Lecrae was on the new Air1 in 2020 being featured on the song “This is Living” from Young & Free. That being said, by 2022, Air1 stopped playing the upbeat version featuring Lecrae to replace it for a different acoustic version that didn’t include Lecrae… so we don’t hear Lecrae on the new Air1 anymore.
I don’t recall hearing Royal Tailor on the new Air1, although the voice of the past Royal Tailor is the same voice of the present Tauren Wells, a popular worship artist on Air1 these days. Tauren Wells has released and been featured on numerous songs of the new Air1, including “Never Lost” (Elevation Worship), “Famous For,” “Known,” “Seen,” “Joy In The Morning,” “Outnumbered” (Lakewood Music), “Hold Us Together” (H.E.R.), “Making Room,” “Close,” and “Take It All Back.”
Switchfoot’s “Joy Invincible” was played on Air1 in 2021.
Tedashii’s “Home” and “Gotta Live” stayed on the new Air1 for a little while until 2021.
I remember one TobyMac song being played on Air1 during Fall 2021, which was “Promised Land.” That was a popular song during the time, but it’s rare to hear it on any popular Christian radio stations these days.
So… those things considered, which artist from the past is still on Air1? It all narrows down to Danny Gokey.
Wait, what about NEEDTOBREATHE? Was this group not mentioned in the comments section? NEEDTOBREATHE has carried a variety of Christian and alternative songs as well, and Air1 has featured a few of their songs in the last few years: “Who Am I,” “I Am Yours,” and “Fall On Me.” These songs aren’t as popular on Air1 nowadays, and I don’t even know if they are still played. Of course, these songs aren’t like the NEEDTOBREATHE songs of the last couple of decades, but they’re still from the same artist.
One of the things that I saw in common with many of these comments is that listeners considered the old Air1 to hold a very unique playlist of Christian music… with a VARIETY (that’s the key word) of music: pop, hip hop, rock, and MORE!
But Air1 was not the only Christian music station with VARIETY. If people are looking for that key attribute… there are luckily still a handful of places out there, and unlike the old Air1, I have listened to many of these stations and can guarantee that they carry a variety of music. Let’s consider some of these stations that listeners on the comments section and I have had in mind.
RadioU and Blast FM are Christian rock stations with a variety of upbeat music.
NGEN, LF Radio, and BOOST Radio are Christian hip hop stations.
The HouseFM is a Christian contemporary station, but does occasionally feature a variety of Christian rock and Christian hip hop songs from artists like Social Club Misfits, NF, KB, Lecrae, and Hollyn.
WayFM is a Christian contemporary station. Like Air1, as I was reading in the comments section, WayFM used to have a bigger variety until they also narrowed down their focus to contemporary. Don’t look away, though, because this same company also has the station WAY LOUD, which is similar to RadioU and Blast FM in its Christian rock format.
Then, if you want to hear that variety of all the formats together, I’d recommend, along with the comments section, the stations 107.1 The X, CurrentFM, and YesFM. These stations carry a similar type of variety as the old Air1.
Then, there’s a certain type of outreach that we haven’t discussed yet on this part… the younger generation. For that, I’d say the go-to is His Radio Z, which is definitely focused on bringing a younger and newer generation of believers to know more about the Gospel. It has the mix of pop, hip hop, and rock, and it also has a variety of popular on-air shows all in one station. Think of the Chad Bradley show, the JAYAR Show (weekdays on the JOY FM), the UPLIFT Radio Show with Matt Reid (which was featured on the JOY FM this summer while Jayar was away), and the Weekend22 (with Josh Ashton from Air1).
So if you miss the old Air1, there is definitely a handful of radio stations with a similar concept ready to check out six years later. But there are also options outside of radio to go to if you’re just looking for that style of music.
Like I mentioned, the Weekend22 show is a weekly podcast featuring a countdown of Christian alternative hits. Each show typically features 24 songs, counting down from the top #22 song to the top #1 song of the week and also featuring two new releases that haven’t yet made it to the top 22.
Another source of Christian music is Christian music release websites. There are a handful of these, with the ones I am most familiar with beingNew Release Today,Louder Than The Music, andThe Christian Beat. There’s alsoAmen Worldwide, which features Christian music from an alternative style from a wide variety of artists that are less well known.
Personally, when I am looking for alternative music, I like to create my own playlists. I used to rely on Amazon Music and YouTube Music, but nowadays I mainly use Spotify. I usually take a look at their “All New Christian & Gospel” playlist that gets updated weekly to find new artists. I combine those songs with songs from the music release websites as well as some older songs from radio artists, and then Spotify adds to my recommendations list of Christian artists that I haven’t heard about before. This way, I can grab a wide range of Christian-based music from a variety of artists.
I’d hate to call this an option with all of the others… since what I do definitely doesn’t match up to the level of service and work that has been put into all of the radio stations above, but I also hope to make THIS THING a great source of discovering Christian alternative music. This is the Uncovering the Music Project, and it’s finally coming to the real world with a physical and a spiritual mission.
The physical mission is simple… along the lines of what I have been mentioning about Air1 for a while now. The Project aims to seek out to find and reflect on music from a variety of Christian-based genres and artists. Songs are a lot like people with different styles, different tones, different appearances, and different messages. In fact, they are this way because they are created by a variety of artists. In building up a place to worship God, we can think: Who is going to be brothers and sisters in Christ without being able to face each other due to our differences? The goal is to open up to a big variety, because after all, God created all of us uniquely and we have our own ways to serve. Sure, not every style is going to be appealing or pleasing to all of us, but we can at least have a way to see things… as long as we can use them to lead us back to goodness. Let this Project be a place where the different styles of music collide in letting us find out the meaning and see how God can speak to us through them.
The spiritual mission goes much deeper… along the lines of fighting against the evil aspects of the world and the culture. Time after time, I have been warned that society doesn’t match the ideals of what God wants for us. So what? It’s not just a personal effort… it’s something deeper that involves all of us. The followers of Jesus are the original bearers of the force of love throughout the world. God shows Himself in that way. And when people continue to turn to hatred and worldly success, we realize how far we have gone. We put ourselves before our Kingdom, we put our thoughts before the voice of God, and we fall far from what we were created to be. The message here is that success in the spiritual sense is not in worldly money, trophies, or positions, but the success comes from the joy and the blessings in the impact, in changing people’s hearts, in using the things we have to give glory to God. The hope comes when we discover ourselves in light of the Creator. Our lives were meant to worship God, not to glorify ourselves.
One thing that has bothered me throughout the years is this sense of worldly success. When worldly perfection advertises itself, like in the case people are said to achieve something great through their own power or just have certain self-sufficient characteristics that others lack, I often fall into the trap of thinking of these people are seen to be “better” than the others. I would have this idea, that when I felt like I wasn’t good enough (because I was fed from my dependence on God and I had no other choice) compared to these people (who seemed like they didn’t have to have God to have a perfect life), there would be that fighter there to remind me that we’re here to fight against the evil parts of the culture, saying… You are good enough in God’s eyes. You are special in your own way. You don’t have to be like that in order to live out your life. You depend on God.
In the end, this fight boils down to childhood: Are we dependent on God as our Father, or are we dependent on ourselves?
I imagined a place or a show on the radio where there would be an inspiring nobody talking each evening in those long nights of the fall season, playing songs but also taking the time to tell the stories about the meanings behind them. At nightfall, that’s when the darkness comes in and the reminder that you’re not good enough strikes even harder… but you have these reminders to depend on God and to trust in Him rather than in man. You have the songs, and you have the stories. And you can get through it all, with God’s help. I imagined that this concept would be called “Uncovering the Music.”
I am acting in that place/concept of the nobody, being here, in my same childish passion to play video games that eventually drove me to see myself in God’s great care, to take these songs like they are ores in Minecraft and mine them until I get the diamond gem of meaning out of them. Then, that precious, sparkling thing will be a reminder of motivation to get me through till I find the next one. The story, the meaning, the passion, and the motivation are what will get us out of this struggle with the world and its calls for worldly pleasures and successes. There’s an alternative option to what is mainstream, and that is here, in our restlessness and our seeking of the greater good that can only come to us in God.
The world needs God now just like always. But in a special way, we need to focus our lives in adoration… adoration not to our created devices or personas or talents, but to the God who makes mountains move and who makes things secure. “Come Adore Him,” we say at this time of Christmas (from the new song by Riley Clemmons). And how much will it be for the whole world to stand before and adore its Creator?
That is the essence of what I hope to get out through the Uncovering the Music Project. Previously, I have written short commentaries about songs like they do on the K-Love and the Air1 music news sections, except mine were more focused toward a specific point: to worship God, to avoid the evil. That was generally before introducing and reflecting on the controversies within the Christian music industry. In the case of the EMF and related companies, I realize that these popular radio stations and podcasts are seemingly focused on promoting the success of artists, jobs, and profits more than the message behind songs. On the K-Love and Air1 music feature articles, it seems to me like the reflections are geared more toward the artists’ talent rather than what the songs could mean for believers. While it is great to highlight talented artists and how they are using their works to glorify God, I’d also like to explore the music area with a heavier focus how we can use these songs to remind ourselves of God’s work within our own lives.
I would love to use the methods of radio streams and podcasts, and these opportunities are likely to open up in the future, but I’m afraid that I don’t have the proper licensing and permissions ready right now to play these types of music. There’s a lot of money and before-hand training involved to get somewhere with this worldly system. So that leads me with one option for right now: to tell the story through the keyboard and the screens, through pages and stories. I will be making and sharing music playlists and collections of a variety of Christian-based music and reflecting the meaning behind their songs. I will uncover some great songs that the radio stations haven’t been featuring. And on the side, I will incorporate telling the story of the Internal Experience… a journey toward a life with God as the Author, while still bringing to light the need to turn the world closer to God. With all the assistance of the Lord, let’s begin.
Wait… we’ll begin next time on the next page. This page has probably been through enough already.
