The Worship Tax: Private Equity and the Church Music Monopoly

From faithoverprofit.orgThis report examines the commercialization of Christian worship through the licensing practices of CCLI, a for-profit entity owned by the private equity firm Blackstone. It argues that an outdated 1976 copyright law creates a financial "toll booth," forcing churches to pay for modern necessities like digital lyric projection and livestreaming. The text highlights a "waterfall" payment structure where Wall Street investors and major secular labels capture the majority of fees, leaving songwriters with minimal compensation. Beyond CCLI, a broader "worship industrial complex" has emerged, unbundling the components of a service into various subscription costs. To address this, the report proposes legislative reform and collective action to restore the religious service exemption for the digital age. Ultimately, it challenges the morality of treating congregational praise as a profitable financial asset class.