Most people who are are exposed to the indie music scene are more than familiar with The Mountain Goats. While the man may not be a professed believer I am encouraged that even while on tour he tries to stop in for Sunday services. I am also completely embarrassed that someone who does not know Christ has an encyclopedic knowledge of the Bible that dwarfs my own.

I wrote to JesusFreaks music sight over a year ago about the issue of solid theology and sound doctrine in music. What I listen to starts from that anchor. If the artist has a faulty doctrinal view or distorts the gospel in anyway , regardless of how good the music is , I will not endorse it . Theology matters and what we read,listen to cannot but mold our minds and actions. For example , Neil Morse who used to be in a prog rock band , Spock’s Beard , said he had a conversion and the began to release solo albums . I was intrigued because of his excellent musicality and lyrical abilities. But on further investigation , I found out he denies the trinity and has a very un-orthodox view of the atonement . Therefore, even though his albums are very well done , I will not purchase . Music is a powerful tool and my concern is with youth .If these artist are the source of their doctrine , then we are in big trouble .

Per, “this list is a mess,” based on what? On what standards are they to rank the best albums of the year? And what, in your opinion, would make a “tidy” list?

The only two of those I’ve heard of are Switchfoot and Derek Webb. I liked Switchfoot’s last album. Have to agree that CT should probably define their criteria for the list. I don’t necessarily think every performer need be a believer to make the list, though in most cases they probably will be. Suppose a small group of nonbelievers were to perform a set of ancient hymns which are explicitly Christian. Theoretically speaking, I could see that being an excellent “Christian” album.

Sara GrovesSwitchfootBuddy and Julie MillerAshley ClevelandDerek WebbU2Steven Curtis ChapmanTim, just to clarify: you mean “99 percent of us” have never heard the CDs CT listed for these artists…or never heard of the artists themselves?

Somehow I’m doubting that most retailers have +45 day turnover on most of their items. That’s the whole point of inventory management — buy stuff at a rate just a little faster than you sell it so you don’t run out of stock, but don’t have a lot of paid-for stuff sitting around. I doubt even most durable goods sit around that long. Only very specialized and high-end stuff would sit around for months at a time after stocking. If ordinary Walmart-type stuff is routinely moving that slowly, the retailer cuts the price or stops carrying it. Yes, even Walmart has a percentage of stuff that moves more slowly, but the bulk of their merchandise surely doesn’t.

So while this is something that the average person may not realize that’s good to know, as others have pointed out, it’s hardly a revolutionary business model.

Yes, thanks for the clarification, Tim.

I think the Amazon business model video is still good. For one thing, as shown the video, not many people understand how this works. Sure, it’s simple economics but most economic principles are simple and should be understood by most people (it’s the intense number crunching and outliers that make it complicated).

Also, Amazon could do it at cost - most other businesses couldn’t survive at cost. They might get some revenue the same way, but could they sustain it in the long-run to make a profit? Perhaps I’m mistaken though.

-Marshall Jones Jr. .