Atlanta Christian Rock Band Hits #2 On Billboard Charts

Ever since the advent of online music piracy, I have found the Billboard charts to be slightly dubious. Seriously, how accurate can these things be if the entire 18-34 year old market is listening to music in ways that aren't tracked by Billboard? That pretty much just leaves teenage girls and their mothers (ie, people who can't figure out how file sharing works) as the only people who are actually buying music, and this is made obvious by the persistent status of 'High School Musical' as the #1 album on the charts.

Oh, apparently fundamentalist Christians are still buying music, too:

"Casting Crowns, the McDonough-based Christian rock band, made history this week. The septet's third album, "The Altar and the Door," is easily the week's highest debut, selling 129,000 copies and landing at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 album chart. That puts it just behind sales powerhouse "High School Musical 2," which sits at No. 1 for a third week, according to Billboard magazine. Since "HSM2" is a soundtrack, Casting Crowns is the week's top-selling artist. That chart placement makes the album the highest-ever debut for an artist marketed solely through Christian channels and with no general market radio support."

Find the whole article here.