Why Your Church Should Cancel CCLI

A Closer Look at the Licensing Industry Behind Modern Worship

Introduction: What Is CCLI?

CCLI (Christian Copyright Licensing International) presents itself as a service for churches — a way to legally project lyrics, copy music, and use praise songs in worship. But behind the helpful branding lies a much deeper and more disturbing reality:

CCLI is not just a convenience — it’s a revenue engine that financially supports the worship industry, celebrity worship movements, and ideologically compromised institutions.

I. The Rise of the Worship Licensing Industry

Over the last 30 years, the praise and worship movement has grown from a fringe subculture into a billion-dollar industry. With the rise of overhead projectors, worship bands, and digital church media, the question emerged: Who owns the songs churches sing?

CCLI answered that question — by selling licenses.

  • Churches pay annual fees
  • They report which songs they use
  • Those royalties go to publishers and artists — many of whom are tied to charismatic megachurches and corporate record labels

This may have seemed innocent at first. But it created a perverse incentive structure:
The more a church sings industry-created songs, the more royalties flow to the top — and the more the church becomes dependent on the industry.

II. CCLI Is a Division of SESAC — A For-Profit Licensing Giant

Most churches are unaware that CCLI is owned by SESAC, a for-profit performance rights organization (PRO). Dwarfed in representation among all genres by BMI and ASCAP (who represent ~85% of writers versus the ~12-15% represented by SESAC), SESAC’s ownership of CCLI has seen it overrepresenting in the Christian Contemporary Music (CCM) market (SESAC controls ~35% of CCM/worship royalties) as it has reportedly signed top worship leaders and gospel artists to exclusive royalty deals.

Why does this matter?
Because SESAC can now profit two ways:

  1. As the publisher receiving CCLI royalties
  2. As the legal rep of the artists they sign

It’s a vertical monopoly: SESAC represents the artist, owns the license platform (CCLI), and collects the royalties. Churches unknowingly fund this closed loop.

III. SESAC and CCLI Are Owned by Blackstone — A Globalist Megafirm

In 2017, Blackstone, a massive New York-based private equity firm, acquired SESAC and by extension, CCLI.

This means that every time your church submits a CCLI report or renews a license, money flows to Wall Street.

Blackstone’s ideology is deeply at odds with biblical Christianity:

⚠️ Woke Capitalism

  • Promotes ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) policies
  • Funds progressive DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) initiatives

⚠️ Political Influence

  • Donates heavily to Democratic candidates
  • CEO Stephen Schwarzman has backed left-wing economic policies

⚠️ China Ties

  • Blackstone has invested billions into Chinese tech and real estate
  • These ventures support a regime hostile to religious freedom

⚠️ Anti-Conservative Priorities

  • Owns shares in left-leaning media outlets
  • Partners with Big Tech companies that censor free speech
  • Dominates urban housing markets that undermine traditional homeownership

IV. The Worship Industry’s Compromise

Blackstone’s acquisition of SESAC/CCLI is not just financial — it’s ideological. Worship music, once the product of pastors and theologians, is now:

  • Composed by branded teams
  • Published by for-profit firms
  • Licensed by Wall Street interests
  • Consumed by churches with little theological discernment

This is not neutral. It is the secularization of worship.

Churches that license their praise music through CCLI are unintentionally:

  • Funding false teachers
  • Enriching celebrity ministries
  • Advancing secular, globalist agendas
  • Encouraging musical forms shaped more by industry than by Scripture

V. The Case for Cancelling CCLI

It’s time to break free.

You don’t need CCLI if:

  • You use free, anonymous music from sites like Free Church Songs
  • You stick to public domain hymns or original compositions
  • You desire a pure worship practice, untainted by industry ties

CCLI isn’t protecting churches — it’s profiting from them.

VI. What to Do Next

  1. Evaluate your music catalog
    • Who wrote the songs you sing?
    • What movements are you platforming?
  2. Cancel your CCLI license
    • Follow our guide to cancel your account
    • No reporting is needed if you stop using their catalog
  3. Switch to free, sound alternatives
    • Use vetted resources that prioritize biblical theology over celebrity branding
    • Consider Free Church Songs as your new source for congregational music

Final Thought: What About Smaller Artists?

You might be asking: If my church cancels CCLI, what will become of smaller worship artists whose music we use?

Keep in mind, the overwhelming amount of music reported to CCLI comes from the “Big 4” theologically compromised worship movements: Hillsong, Bethel, Elevation, and Passion. Reporting your church’s performance of a song generates almost nothing in terms of income for an individual artist, but the normalization of the reporting system (and connected supply of copyrightable materials like printed music and tracks for live performance) is what keeps the CCLI-SESAC-Blackstone domination loop of Christian worship music turning. Consider supporting your favorite doctrinally sound worship artists directly, rather than contributing to the worship music industrial complex.