The Free Christian Music Blog

Swagbucks/VideoRockets Updates

I’ve got good news and bad news, which would you like to hear first?  I don’t know about you, but whenever anyone asks me that question, I always ask to hear the bad news first.  So that’s what I’m going to share first…

Alas, after being a regular source of free music videos for the past several months, VideoRocket.com has announced that it’s merging with HearItFirst.com.  I haven’t heard anything official, but by the looks of it, that means the end of the free music videos.  We’ll miss you VideoRocket.  *Sigh*

Now for some good news – if you happen to be a member of Swagbucks.com*, you can now get a guaranteed 2 or more Swag Bucks a day by review the “No Obligations” page on Swagbucks.com, and if you’ve got the Swagbucks toolbar installed, you can win one Swag Buck for just using the browser you’ve got it install on.  Plus, ever since Swagbucks’ birthday last month, they’ve been releasing Swag Codes almost everyday worth anywhere between 3-20 Swag Bucks.  Definitely worth keeping an eye on if you’re saving up for something. 

Well, that’s it for this post, consider yourself updated.

*Not sure what I’m talking about?  Check here and here for more information.

Announcing The 2009 Free Christian Music Awards Winners

It’s time!  The votes are all in, and it’s time to announce the winners in the first annual Free Christian Music Awards!  You helped picked the nominees, and you voted on the winners – so read on to find out how your favorites did!

Free Song of the Year:

1. Switchfoot – “Mess of Me”
2. Owl City – “Fireflies”
3. Tie: Thousand Foot Krutch – “Bring Me to Life” / Relient K – “Forget and Not Slow Down”

With 41% of the vote, Switchfoot is clear winner in free song of the year, which really isn’t a surprise – Switchfoot’s dedicated fans gave “Mess of Me” a lead from the start, and the fact that it was a radio smash for the band didn’t hurt any.  Taking second place with 34% of the vote, Owl City’s wonderfully-popular “Fireflies”, followed by a surprise tie for third between Thousand Foot Krutch & Relient K.

Free Album of the Year:

1. We Shot The Moon – “Fear and Love”
2. Esterlyn – “Lamps”
3. MercyMe – “10 Live”

The award for “Free Album of the Year” was the closest of all the races this year, with We Shot The Moon’s Fear and Love beating Esterlyn’s Lamps for the title by only 1%, and MercyMe’s digital-only live album 10 Live only 3% behind Esterlyn for a respectable third place finish.

Free Christmas Song of the Year:

1. Relient K – “I Celebrate the Day”
2. Thousand Foot Krutch – “Jingle Bell Rock”
3. TobyMac – “This Christmas”

Relient K may have tied for third for “Free Song of the Year”, but they dominated “Free Christmas Song of the Year” from the start, with “I Celebrate the Day” finishing with 1/3 of the vote.  Not far behind, with 22%, Thousand Foot Krutch’s rocking rendition of “Jingle Bell Rock” takes second place, and TobyMac’s “This Christmas” takes third.

Free EP of the Year:

1. House of Heroes – “The End Is Not The End EP”
2. B.Reith – “The B.Reith EP”
3. Esterlyn – “Mending The Meaning EP”

2009 was a good year to be House of Heroes – not only was their The End Is Not The End EP the undisputed winner of “Free EP of the Year” with a whopping 49% of the vote, but the same EP was also the most-nominated of any of the songs or albums in the running.  B.Reith picks up a strong second place finish with 25% of the vote, followed by Esterlyn at third with 20%.

Free Sampler/Compilation of the Year:

1. Tooth & Nail Records – “Fuel Sampler 2009″
2. Huntington University – “Picks”
3. Creation Festival – “Creation Festival 2009 iTunes Sampler”

Taking first place in the coveted “Free Sampler/Compilation of the Year” category by a wide margin is the 2009 version of Tooth & Nail Record’s Fuel sampler, with the underdog and my personal favorite, Huntington University’s free compilation Picks taking second place, followed by Creation Festival’s 2009 iTunes sampler in third.

Most Giving Artist of 2009:

1. House of Heroes
2. Esterlyn
3. MercyMe

“Most Giving Artist of 2009″ is a special category – rather then being nominated by fans, those in the running earned a spot by being exceptionally generous with free music this year.  In an impressive (and much deserved) second #1 victory, the title goes to House of Heroes, with Esterlyn in second, and MercyMe taking rounding out the category in third.

Well, that’s it for this year – what are your thought on the results?  I don’t know about you, but I’m sure looking forward to seeing what’s in store for 2010.  Also, if you’d like to see the full results of the voting, feel free to check out this page for a full list of nominees & how they did.

Tags: B. Reith, Esterlyn, House of Heroes, MercyMe, Owl City, Relient K, Switchfoot, Thousand Foot Krutch, TobyMac, We Shot the Moon

Capital Lights Farewell Party: A Recap

Wow, it’s hard to believe it was over a week ago now that Capital Lights announced that they were breaking up, and I randomly announced the first (and last…) Capital Lights farewell party. You can get the full details on the original post, here, but in a nutshell, basically, myself, and dozens of dedicated Capital Lights fans decided to give the band a worthy send out by voting them to #1 on several different radio & TV shows.  A week later, I’m sure most of the people who participated are a little curious how well we did.  So…

First, the bad news.  Due to various factors, I’m not sure how well Capital Lights did on either TVU’s TMW or Steelroot’s Countdown.  (If you know, please let me know!)

There is good news though.  On RadioU’s Ten Most Wanted, we drove Capital Lights’ song “Return” to number ONE on Friday, and not only that, we kept in the countdown for a couple of days afterwards.  That’s fantastic!  I’m really stoked about that.  If you were one of the ones who participated, go give yourself a pat on the back – you did good kid.    Really, everything went remarkably well.  At this point, I think the final step is to be praying for the different members of Capital Lights as they follow God’s plan for all of their individual lives, whatever that maybe.

Again, thanks everyone who participated, we rocked. 

Tags: Capital Lights

Please Pray for Jeremy Camp!

Wow, I just heard this on Twitter, and it’s far sadder then Capital Lights breaking up.  Jeremy Camp and his wife Adrienne recently found their unborn baby had gone to be with Jesus about a week ago.  I can barely imagine how they must be feeling right now, please, pray for their whole family.

The full story:  http://jeremycamp.typepad.com/jeremy/2009/08/joy-in-gods-presence.html

Tags: Jeremy Camp

Capital Lights Farewell Party

Tragedy of tragedies!  One of last year’s best new bands, Capital Lights, has just announced that they’re calling it quits.  You can read the band’s full blog post about it at their MySpace, here, but the gist of it after much prayer, the band is feeling God calling them to something different then music.  While that’s probably the best reason out there for a band to break up, it’s still really disappointing that we’ll never hear more music from them.

Anyway, after I heard the news, I was quite sad, but after a while, I realized that ultimately, if that’s God’s plan for the band to go their separate ways, then it’s for the best, and that I probably had something better to do then being depressed all day.  So… I racked my brain for a way to give Capital Lights a good sent out, and finally, came up with a plan.  I’m calling it the Capital Lights Farewell Party.

It’s pretty simple, really.  I’m going to be voting everyday for the band’s music on RadioU, TVU, and Steelroots Countdown, and try and drive them to #1.  Of course, if it’s just me, I probably won’t get very far (plus, it’d be a boring party), so here’s where you come in.  I would love it if you could visit the three sites below (and any other ones you know of) and vote for Capital Lights.  I know all three shows pretty well, and I think that there’s a good chance we can make this happen.

Anyway, R.I.P. Capital Lights:  They were a great band, made up of great guys, who made great music.  And it would be awesome if we could make this happen.  No pressure, but I’m counting on you.    Thanks!

-TVU’s Ten Most Wanted-
(Vote “Outrage”!)

-RadioU’s Ten Most Wanted-
(Vote “Return”!)

-Steelroot’s Countdown-
(Vote “Outrage”!)

Tags: Capital Lights

Best Night Of Our Lives

I heard this from a very reliable source, and upon investigation, it’s legit.  Everday Sunday’s new CD, Best Night Of Our Lives, is only $5 for the month of July on Amazon MP3.  That’s 11 tracks for only $5, or 45 cents a song.  That’s a pretty amazing deal if you ask me, considering iTunes wants a whole 99 cents a song.

Plus, from what I’ve heard, the CD has got some great songs too, including “Best Night of Our Lives”, which was given away as a free download a few weeks ago, and “Under Your Thumb”, a great song I’m listening to on MySpace as I type.  Anyways, check it out!

-Everyday Sunday’s Best Night Of Our Lives on Amazon.com-

URL:  BestNightofOurLives

Password:  EverydaySunday

Tags: Everyday Sunday

You + The Wrecking = Twilight Movie Appearence?

Okay, let me get this straight.  I’m not a Twilight fan.  I haven’t read the books or seen the movie.  But I am a fan of The Wrecking, and when I heard that their song “Our Feet Don’t Touch the Ground” was being considered for the soundtrack of the next Twilight movie, New Moon, I knew I had to help get the word out.  So…

• Go to http://www.theTwilightSong.com and listen to “Our Feet Don’t Touch the Ground.”
• Click to vote for The Wrecking.
• Tell all your friends to do the same.

That’s not too hard, is it?  And just think of the good you’d be doing!  You’d be supporting The Wrecking, listen to an amazing song from them, and you’d be improving the new Twilight movie.  What could be better?

-TheTwilightSong.com-

Tags: The Wrecking

Adventures in Eville

Though there isn’t any free music involved (other then these two that I’ve already posted – check here and here!), I wanted to give the guys in Eleventyseven a quick shout out.  Their brand new CD, Adventures in Eville, hit Amazon just 3 days ago, and judging by what I’ve heard that the reviews, it’s definitely worth checking out.

I would especially recommend the song “Evil Genius” to anyone who enjoys
Relient K’s “Sadie Hawkins Dance”.  It’s that kind of song, totally catchy and upbeat, that will get stuck in your head for days and make your friends look at you funny whenever they catch you singing it out loud.  Actually, just typing about it now got it stuck in my head.  :\

Anyway, check it out, and keep your eyes peeled for the video for “Evil Genius” to surface soon.  I’ve seen a few clips, and it should be very worth while…

-Adventures In Eville on Amazon-

Tags: Eleventyseven

Dante Knows

I know I’ve kind of vanished for the past couple of days, things have been a bit (well, a lot) busy. Thankfully, I’ve had numerous people volunteer write for the site, so hopefully things will be picking up soon.

Now, one of the reasons I haven’t posted for a while involves the band RED, and a man named Dante. Check it out!

-www.myspace.com/dante_466-

If you don’t understand what the significance of that page is, don’t worry.   Just know that there’s more music coming soon.  However, if you DO know the significance… Well, good luck.

Tags: Red

Blogger Moves, Poll Results, and Last.fm

A couple of announcements:

1.  I’ve finally getting settled in after moving, and getting over my sore muscles (a unfortunate side effect of lifting heavy objects), not to mention enjoying the new house.  Thanks to everyone for the prayers and encouragement.  I really do appreciate it!

2.  “The Randomest Poll Ever” ended a while back, but I never got around to posting the results.  I asked “This?  Or That?”, and in the end 31 (66%) of voters selected “This”.  There’s deep significance in that, don’t you think? 

3.  Also, in the last week I setup a Last.fm group for The Free Christian Music Blog.  It’s got a full 4 members so far, and we need you to join us on there.  If we can get at least 10 members Last.fm will enable weekly charts – very cool.  The more the merrier!  Check it out here.