Greg Bays--chairman of the Christian Music Trade Association, which tracks the sales of Christian music--reported that in a year when music sales in the overall industry fell 13%, 2009 unit sales in Christian retail dropped by only 2.9%. At the same time, sales of Christian music in mainstream outlets were down 9.4%.

Although he observed that "it's sad that flat is the new 'up,' " Bays said Christian retail music sales were "faring much better than the norm."

Bays attributed the slower decline in Christian retail music sales to stores getting "aggressive" on pricing and promoting their wide selection versus mainstream outlets, where shelf space for music was shrinking. "Christian retailers have really brought their 'A' game," he said. "They're really nailing it."

With three of the top five albums of the year on the Nielsen SoundScan chart by Casting Crowns, Bays noted that many retailers--Family Christian Stores and LifeWay Christian Stores among them--had a pre-emptive strategy for the November release Until the Whole World Hears, discounting the band's 2008 Christmas album Peace on Earth and 2003's self-titled debut to $5.

"Retailers have used new releases to decide where to win on price," Bays said. "You can't win on everything, but they're choosing the big hits, driving traffic on the launch of those new releases and then they get add-on sales. That's the one-two punch."