Some experts are certain that it is impossible; others cite evidence that it has already happened. Can Latter-day Saint artists break into mainstream Christian media markets? For one group it is a heated issue, at its heart dogmatic doctrinal differences; for the other it is a myth, a self-imposed glass ceiling.
"I think it's a doctrinal issue more than anything: we consider ourselves Christian, and they don't," said Julie de Azevedo, who is best known for her song "A Window to His Love."
Despite gaining notoriety for her inspirational music, the vast majority of her songs don't focus on doctrine; they are uplifting acoustic pop. While this genre is underrepresented in the LDS market, it has quite a following on the Evangelical Christian side, so why not cross over?
"Crossing into the contemporary Christian arena has never been my goal," de Azevedo said. "My main goal is to figure out way that contemporary LDS music can be heard by the LDS people who want to hear contemporary music."
Fellow LDS artist Kenneth Cope is in a similar situation. His most recent album "All About You" is a return to his contemporary roots. In a previous interview with the Daily Universe, he recognized that it would not be popular with everyone, but that for some it would be a new experience in LDS music.
The album can only be described as contemporary "praise music." It speaks of a very personal Savior and a lot about grace. It sounds like contemporary Christian music, so why have the Evangelical music stores not picked it up?
"I think they are more afraid of the messenger than they are of the message," Cope said.
His Christian contemporaries, he said, would have no problem with the messages presented is his, and other similar LDS records. Their fears are of the potential consequences of an LDS artist gaining a following in the Evangelical masses, of the doctrines they might begin to teach, or the "false doctrine" they would spread.
What would it take to overcome these fears and open the realms of the national Christian market to LDS talent?
"It would take a miracle," Cope said. "It would be like Cornelius getting and angel and Peter having a vision and the two of them getting together and changing the face of Christianity as they knew it."
"It would take people in their industry who are high-profile and who love God to have some kind of supernatural experience so that their hearts are softened and so that they say 'I can't fight this; this is from God.' I just don't see it happening any other way."
Cope's sentiments are strong; he sees definite walls between LDS artists and the national exposure they could potentially gain in the contemporary Christian market.
For Lex de Azevedo, the situation is not quite so bleak. De Azevedo gained popularity in the LDS market with the iconic '70s musical "Saturday's Warrior." Outside of the Mormon niche, he was a musical director for artists such as Cher and the Jackson Five and spent almost 30 years working for Capitol Records in Los Angeles.
In the popular sector, he said, "Latter-day Saints often exclude themselves because the moral environment and the value system of the 'Hollywood culture' is frequently not comfortable to them."
And so it was for him. De Azevedo left the glitz and glamour of Hollywood and came to Utah, where he started the first LDS record label, Embryo Records.
With the advent of this label, Latter-day Saint artists began to produce more and more music, and their music became more and more different from that of their contemporaries.
De Azevedo doesn't want LDS people to "feel that there is no hope, or become prejudiced about that [contemporary Christian] market."
He recognizes that some who consider themselves the guardians of contemporary Christendom raise a flag of warning when they see what they consider "Mormon propaganda," but de Azevedo thinks that this variance in styles may have more to do with the lack of integration than the perceived "anti-Mormon" bias.
"Popular LDS music has a different feel to it than Evangelical Christian music," de Azevedo said. "We speak a different language musically. That's one of the big reasons it doesn't cross over."
In spite of the continued limitations faced by LDS artists, no one can deny that they have come a long way since the days of Embryo.
"Back then, it was only Lex and I and a couple of other people and we were the LDS music market," said Janice Kapp Perry, a prominent LDS composer. "We went from one music store to the next and tried to get them to carry our music."
Today there are record labels that cater exclusively to LDS talent. One of the largest is Shadow Mountain Music, Deseret Book's premiere record label. As general manager of this label, Tyler Castleton has a responsibility to find and promote new talent to the ever-growing LDS audience.
Castleton doesn't see the lack of national exposure for Mormon artists as much of an issue.
"What's the point of trying to do something nationally when there is still so much to do, and so much room for growth in this market?" Castleton asked.
Whether that growth is expanding the market through new music from their staple artists or through new artists, there is still much to be done. Currently, Castleton and Shadow Mountain are preparing for the August introduction of a new group targeted to the "tween" set. The group will reportedly have a style similar to Hannah Montana or the Jonas Brothers and will open LDS music to an entirely new demographic.
In his preparations, Castleton said he is "currently working with some of the top Christian songwriters out there and I haven't found - not even for a second - any bias against LDS people. In my experience it just doesn't exist."
And thus it is. For Castleton, the bias doesn't exist; for Cope, only a miracle would take it away.
