The Black Gospel Blog becomes the Journal of Gospel Music

I am pleased to announce on its tenth anniversary that The Black Gospel Blog is now the Journal of Gospel Music.

The name change reflects the proper title of the genre and the changes you will see.  JGM will be more than a blog–it will be an ever-growing repository of news and information about gospel music.  Our goal is to become for gospel music what the Huffington Post is to news.

How will JGM be different than The Black Gospel Blog?  

First, the Journal of Gospel Music will be easier to navigate.  The Black Gospel Blog collected more than 3,000 posts in its ten years, and you will be able to access the entire catalog by category and type of post (news, reviews, interviews, etc.).  Second, the new platform is more attractive and offers greater visibility for artists.  These results are apparent right from the home page. Third, we will invite talented writers with expertise in specific areas of gospel music to contribute their thoughts on artists, singles, albums, videos, and the like.

Two new and distinctive aspects of JGM are “Research” and “the Academy.”  Research will spotlight publicly available or permission-based academic articles, theses, and dissertations on gospel music.  The Academy will bring the estimable resources of JGM right to your doorstep, whether it be a presentation for your school, church, or organization; artist consultation; album notes; articles; music evaluation; and the like.  We’ve learned a thing or two in the last ten years and are eager to share it with you personally!

What will not change?

The Journal of Gospel Music will include all of the posts you enjoyed on The Black Gospel Blog,every single one, as well as the associated comments and other TBGB functions, such as the Music Hour, Pick of the Week, and links to great gospel resources.  It will continue to focus on content, not clutter; integrity in its reviews; and maintain the “no gossip” zone.

Our goal is simple: to ensure that gospel music is extended the same respect as a true American art form as jazz, blues, country, folk, rock and roll, soul, R&B, and the Broadway musical.

We are not done yet.  No doubt there will be bugs to work out, and we will work on these over the next couple of months. Meanwhile, check us out and let us know what you think!  Email me at [email protected] with your thoughts and suggestions.  And don’t worry: our old address, www.blackgospelblog.com, will take you right to the new site.

Finally, I want to thank Laura Fairman of Blue Canvas for her wonderful site design and Sam Perkins-Harbin of Forge 22 Design for orchestrating the technical aspects of the conversion and set up.  They made this process as seamless as it could possibly be.  Special thanks also to the Chicago Area Gospel Announcers Guild for inspiring The Black Gospel Blog and to my wife, Laurel Delaney, who suggested ten years ago today that I start a gospel blog where none existed.

Thank you and enjoy!  Long live the Journal of Gospel Music!

Bob Marovich

Founder and Editor-in-Chief