Gospel music, no matter how old or new it is, is still considered gospel music. Gospel comes from a black church experience. Gospel elicits a feeling from listeners, sending a message of joy, hope, pain and suffering.
People of other races and cultures have had a difficult time accepting the music. Some people use it as a comfort to handle hard times, while others do it to praise God. And others may use it to understand religion. Whatever reasoning for your likings of gospel, you may try to decide which version of gospel – contemporary or traditional – is better?
While the music industry classifies them as two different groups, the reality is that both are gospel and they have the same resolve. The difference between them is the rhythmic and melodic styles of the music. Like most Gospel brands this video plays a mixed genre of smooth gospel music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36GHCeqEAjQ is just 1 of several Gospel online radio stations. Give it a listen.
Traditional Gospel – This kind of music is associated with the past musical styles. It abides by the basic church-like rhythms, with no compromising. Traditional gospel is broken down into sub-categories – classic hymns, traditional choir, traditional quartet, traditional ac Cappella and standard traditional.
Contemporary Gospel – This kind of music is the combination of classic gospel sound that includes jazz and Euro classical. It’s the updated type of traditional gospel, with most of the material written recently, and gospel choirs have included advances of soul music – musically and vocally. It’s often regarded as a kind of urban music.
Yes, the two types are different, and one is regarded as worse than the other for personal reasons. Still, gospel is gospel.