1. What is the point of CelticChristianTunes.com?
2. What information resources do you have available?
3. "Celtic Christian"? Isn't that an oxymoron?
4. You have listed a certain artist on the website, who I do not think is Celtic / Christian. Why?
5. I'm looking for specific information about a certain artist. Can you help me find it?
6. I'm looking for sheet music for a certain artist. Can you help me find it?
7. I wish to hire a musician of a certain style for an upcoming church service / wedding / event. Can you suggest someone in my area?
8. How do you choose what songs are included in the CelticChristianTunes.com Radio playlist?
9. Why do you use Live365.com to provide your radio stream?
10. Does CelticChristianTunes.com sell music?
11. I think some of your ads have questionable content. Isn't this a Christian site?
12. I hate advertising! Why do you do this?

1. What is the point of CelticChristianTunes.com?

To introduce Christians to Celtic music, to introduce Celtic listeners to Christianity, and to provide information to people who are already fans of Celtic Christian music.

2. What information resources do you have available?

a. The website itself at CelticChristianTunes.com, including artist links and album reviews
b. CelticChristianTunes.com Radio, our online radio station
c. The CelticChristianTunes.com Newsletter which includes news regarding artists, the website, and CelticChristianTunes.com Radio

3. "Celtic Christian"? Isn't that an oxymoron?

It is a common misconception among non-Celts that a thing cannot be both "Celtic" and "Christian". This stems from the perception that the word "Celtic" is synonymous with "Pagan". While it is true that Paganism is not compatible with Christianity (unlike Christianity, Paganism is often polytheistic, often sees created things as divine, is natural rather than supernatural, is morally relativistic, etc.), it is not true that "Celtic" is synonymous with "Pagan".

One common definition of "Celtic" from Webster is "Of, relating to, or characteristic of modern Gaels, Highland Scots, Irishmen, Welshmen, Cornishmen, or Bretons, or their languages." This is the sense in which the term "Celtic Christianity" arises. It is the Christianity of modern and historical Celts, and Celtic Christian music is the music of such peoples.

4. You have listed a certain artist on the website, who I do not think is Celtic / Christian. Why?

To be included among our online resources, an artist must define themselves as a Christian in the mainstream sense, their music must not be contrary to Biblical Christianity as we understand it, and there must be some level of detectable Celtic influence in the music they produce. For inclusion, preference is given to artists whose faith is part of their public persona. The purpose of this preference is not to cause any unnecessary division, but rather to maintain CelticChristianTunes.com's identity as a uniquely Christian resource through careful discernment.

By "Christian in the mainstream sense", we mean that they share the core belief with the Christian world--specifically, that humanity is separated from God by sin and that individuals may be reconciled to God only by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

Obviously we cannot know the hearts of each artist presented here, to know whether they are Christians. We rely largely on their own statements of faith, if applicable, as well as the content of their other public information.

Musically, there must be some Celtic influence, whether it is modern (e.g. Iona, Maire Brennan, Michelle Tumes) or traditional (e.g. The Crossing, Beyond The Pale, Isle of Light).

Naturally, both our stylistic and religious standards are the result of subjective interpretations, and we reserve the right to be the final authority over what is included, and may reject certain artists for any reason.

See elsewhere in this FAQ for information about how we determine what songs are included in the CelticChristianTunes.com Radio playlist.

5. I'm looking for specific information about a certain artist. Can you help me find it?

Usually, following the links in our "Artist Links" sections is the best way find the information you are looking for. However, if that doesn't work, send us a message and we'll see what we can do.

6. I'm looking for sheet music for a certain artist. Can you help me find it?

Usually, following the links in our "Artist Links" sections is the best way find the information you are looking for. Alternatively, you can check with your local music store to see if sheet music has been published.

7. I wish to hire a musician of a certain style for an upcoming church service / wedding / event. Can you suggest someone in my area?

Unfortunately, in most cases we have little information about the types of gigs each artist is available to play, or where each artist is located geographically. We recommend you use your search engine of choice to attempt to locate artists, or perhaps search through local wedding planning directories for available artists.

8. How do you choose what songs are included in the CelticChristianTunes.com Radio playlist?

Our method for determining what songs are included in the CelticChristianTunes.com Radio playlist is similar to that for other resources at CelticChristianTunes.com (see elsewhere in this FAQ), but for the sake of variety, our standards for radio play are a bit more liberal.

All tracks have some Celtic influence, whether traditional or modern. Almost all tracks featured are by artists who have publicly stated that they are Christians, but not all of them. On rare occasions, a track might be included by a secular artist who has not made a public proclamation of faith of which we are aware, if the song nonetheless has some special meaning to a Christian audience. For example, our playlist includes the song "Nearer My God to Thee" performed by Eileen Ivers, though Ivers plays to generally secular audiences and has not made a public proclamation of faith of which we are aware.

9. Why do you use Live365.com to provide your radio stream?

There are two primary reasons for this: (a) economic considerations, and (b) Live365.com generates traffic to the CelticChristianTunes.com website from music listeners who would probably otherwise not be aware of our existence.

Because Live365.com subsidizes their services through advertising (both graphic and audio), our costs are low, and we are able to provide CelticChristianTunes.com as a free service to our audience. If you would prefer to hear CelticChristianTunes.com Radio without ads, you can subscribe to Live365.com's ad-free service.

As for website traffic considerations, the goal of CelticChristianTunes.com is to introduce Christians to Celtic music, to introduce Celtic listeners to Christianity, and to provide information to people who are already fans of this genre of music. Consistent with these goals, traffic is important. Live365.com makes a lot of internet radio listeners aware of the CelticChristianTunes.com website who might not otherwise visit.

10. Does CelticChristianTunes.com sell music?

Yes, we have a small selection of CD titles to choose from at very reasonable prices; just click the "Music Store" button on the left side of this page.

As an alternative, you can order CDs through Amazon.com and downloads from the iTunes Music Store using links we've provided on the Artist Links pages. If you buy music through those links, we'll get a small commission for each purchase. You can download iTunes here.

11. I think some of your ads have questionable content. Isn't this a Christian site?

Currently, there are two kinds of ads on CelticChristianTunes.com over which we have little or no control.

These are Live365 ads (both graphic and audio) that are present when you listen to CelticChristianTunes.com Radio. We have specified that no adult, alcohol, or tobacco related ads may play, but beyond that, Live365 can play any ad they want. Occasionally these ads are offensive to some. Generally the products or services advertised themselves are not offensive, but Live365 produces ads for their own services, and despite repeated requests by us and many other Christian broadcasters, they continue to play ads with subtle occult themes, or which use the Lord's name in vain. If you are offended by this, we encourage you to express yourself to Live365 directly by going to Live365's Help site and clicking on "Contact".

We also display ads served by Google. This system attempts to display ads that are appropriate for each individual page based upon the words that are found in the page. However, as you might expect, occasionally the ads miss the mark. Generally these should not be offensive, but they might contain links to secular music information or products.

We regret that these ads cannot always be 100% appropriate, but also want to stress that we have little control over them.

12. I hate advertising! Why must do you do this?

Running CelticChristianTunes.com costs money. There are three sources that supply this money: advertising, donations, and the site owner's personal funds. Though we appreciate any donations people choose to make, they have never covered more than a small fraction of the cost of running the site. We expect that advertising will cover less than half of our costs. Any remaining expenses will come out of Cory's pocket. Frankly, those pockets are sometimes empty.

The harsh reality is that without money, CelticChristianTunes.com could not exist. So, the choice becomes simple. What is worse: CelticChristianTunes.com with ads, or no CelticChristianTunes.com at all? Though we would love to do away with them, they are the only option at this point.