The idea
Put Christ first and the love of money last. A song on this list is a gift to the church, not a product with a toll on it.
Value for Value Christian Music is a curated list of Christian songs that anyone may use for any purpose. A worship team, a classroom, a livestream, a recording of your own congregation: if the song is listed, you do not buy a license to use it.
What the artist is offering#
The artist gives up certain songs, not necessarily a whole catalog. Think of it as first fruits: a congregational song, an acoustic version, a piece they are ready to hand to the church. They should have no expectation of being paid for that song.
Credit stays. The artist’s name travels with the work. That is why the working license for this project is Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) rather than a license that asks for no credit at all. People still like their name on what they made, and a church can honor that without paying a fee.
What support looks like#
Voluntary support can remain. An artist may publish podcast:value and podcast:funding tags so a listener can send a gift while a track plays, or follow a link to give. That gift is not the price of admission. The song is already free to use. v4vcm does not take a cut of it.
What this is not#
This is not a replacement catalog you rent from a clearinghouse. It is not a place that withholds lyrics until a church files a report. It is closer to a reviewed index of songs whose owners have already said yes.
People listen at v4vcm.com . This site, v4vcm.org , is the explanation for churches and artists.
Read it as a church, or as someone with a song
Churches need to know what they may do with a listed song. Artists need to know what they are offering before a person reviews it.