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Word Entertainment

October 15, 2023

Word Entertainment is a Christian faith-based entertainment company based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is owned by Curb Records. Word Entertainment represents Francesca Battistelli, for King & Country, Switchfoot, Skillet, Sidewalk Prophets, Chris August, Big Daddy Weave, in addition to many others, and is home to Word Distribution, 25 Live, Word Music Publishing and Word Label Group's Word Records and Fervent Records.

Word Entertainment
Parent companyCurb Records
Founded1951 (1951)
FounderJarrell McCracken
Distributor(s)Word Distribution, Warner Music Group
GenreGospel, Christian
Country of originU.S.
LocationNashville, Tennessee
Official websitewordentertainment.com

History Edit

Word Records was founded in Waco, Texas, in 1951 by Jarrell McCracken, Baylor business major Henry SoRelle and radio and television executive Ted Snider.[1] The label's name is based on a 16-minute spoken word recording written and narrated by McCracken, the first recording released by the label, entitled "The Game of Life". The 23-year-old KWTX sportscaster in Waco had read an article by Jimmy Allen, a former athlete who became a Baptist preacher, and based his recording on the article which also is called "The Game of Life".[2] The event is based on a full length match between the forces of Good and Evil with Jesus Christ and Satan coaching the two teams.

Subsequent records focused on other spoken word recordings, but Word soon branched out into southern gospel music. Early employees for the label included Tom Norfleet, Kurt Kaiser and Ralph Carmichael.[2]

The label struggled initially until Marvin Norcross became an equity partner. By 1954, Word had become a publishing house as well.[2]

Several subsidiary labels were started over the years: Canaan Records in the sixties, Myrrh Records (1972)[3] and DaySpring Records in 1977, and Rejoice Records in the eighties. Two of these labels no longer exist today in their original form. The Myrrh Label was resurrected in 2005 as a praise and worship record label: Myrrh Worship.[3]

Larry Norman's Solid Rock Records had a distribution deal with Word from 1975 to 1980. Artists on Solid Rock included Norman, Randy Stonehill, Daniel Amos, Tom Howard and Mark Heard.

Light Records was distributed in the 1970s by Word Records before being sold to Ralph Carmichael in the 1980s.

Reunion Records signed a distribution and promotion contract in the 80s, the agreement lasted well into the 1990s. Today, Reunion Records is distributed through Provident Music Group.

Star Song was distributed by Word Records but left their distribution deal in the late 1980s to sign with Sparrow Records which was taken over by Chordant Distribution and then by EMI.

Distribution deals with other labels in the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s allowed Word Records to rise, representing Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Rich Mullins, Russ and Tori Taff, Paul Smith, The Imperials, Petra, Sandi Patti, Kenny Marks, Wayne Watson, Carman, The Archers featuring Steve Archer, White Heart, Gaither Vocal Band, Bill Gaither Trio, Point of Grace, Love Song, Sweet Comfort Band, The Nelons, Happy Goodman Family featuring Rusty Goodman, Florida Boys, Guardian and other artists.

In the 1976, McCracken sold part interest in his label to the American Broadcasting Company.[2] 10 years later, ABC merged with Capital Cities, Inc. and forced McCracken out of the company.[2]

In 1983, Chris Christian signed a distribution deal to move his label Home Sweet Home Records from Benson Records to Word Records, today it is still active and remains under the independent ownership of Chris Christian.

From 1984 to 1990, Word was distributed in the general market by A&M Records and then by Epic Records until 2002.

In 1992, Capital Cities ABC sold Word to Thomas Nelson, Inc. for $72 Million,[4] and Nelson made two major changes—developing the present swirling W logo for book products which was unveiled in 1995, and also moving its headquarters from Waco, Texas, to its present headquarters in Nashville. Nelson split the record label and book publishing arms in 1996 when the labels were sold to Gaylord Entertainment.[5][6][7] In an agreement with Gaylord, Thomas Nelson continued to use the "Word Publishing" name for its book imprint until 2002, at which time it became "W Publishing Group" and retained the swirling W logo. A highly controversial ad campaign introduced at the CBA convention in 2002 created litigation, settled later.

After Colin Reed took over Gaylord Entertainment in 2001,[citation needed] the hotelier made corporate changes at the company, including the ousting of longstanding president Roland Lundy, and sold off the Word Entertainment group to then-AOL Time Warner in 2002.[8] In 2002, former Atlantic Records Christian division manager Barry Landis briefly took the position of president of the label group division. Word went through a period of restructuring, closing their Los Angeles music publishing office, absorbing Myrrh Records, Squint Entertainment, and Everland Entertainment into the Word Label Group, and reducing in-house staff.[9] Curb Records also gained a stake in the company during this time. In 2004, the company was sold again as part of Time Warner divestiture of its music division, selling it to a group of investors led by Edgar Bronfman to form a newly independent Warner Music Group. Canaan Records was re-opened in early 2007 with Dave Clark at the helm. Canaan Records was eventually shuttered.

In March 2016, it was announced that Mike Curb acquired 100 percent of Word Entertainment (excluding the print music division, which was eventually sold to The Lorenz Corporation) from Warner Music Group.[10] WMG has continued to distribute Word's output for the general market. Also in 2016, it was announced that Joseph Prielozny, the former Reach Records producer, would be in charge of the hip-hop imprint which is to be called 4 Against 5. They announced the name of the imprint when they signed Steven Malcolm to their roster.

Roster Edit

Current Edit

Former Edit

See also Edit

References Edit

  1. ^ The Vernon Daily Record, Tue, December 4, 1951, Page 3
  2. ^ a b c d e Mount, Daniel J. (2005). A City on a Hilltop? The History of Contemporary Christian Music. p. 50. Retrieved February 12, 2007.
  3. ^ a b Price, Deborah Evans (April 23, 2005). "NEWSLINE: Word Label Group". Billboard Magazine. Vol. 117, no. 17. p. 8.
  4. ^ (unsigned) (November 1992). "In the News: EMI Buys Sparrow, Thomas Nelson Buys Word". CCM Magazine. Vol. 15, no. 5. p. 4. ISSN 1524-7848.
  5. ^ Milliot, Jim (December 2, 1996). "With Word sale, Nelson to focus on core business". Vol. 243, no. 49. Publishers Weekly. p. 12.
  6. ^ "GAYLORD ENTERTAINMENT COMPLETES PURCHASE OF WORD RECORDS AND MUSIC FROM THOMAS NELSON". Business Wire. January 7, 1997. p. 1071302.
  7. ^ Price, Deborah Evans (December 7, 1996). "Gaylord buys Word's music companies". Billboard Magazine. Vol. 108, no. 49. p. 6.
  8. ^ Price, Deborah Evans (December 8, 2001). "Sale To Warner Brings Word Into Major Leagues". Billboard Magazine. Vol. 113, no. 49. p. 8.
  9. ^ Price, Deborah Evans (March 9, 2002). "Word restructures, Woos Landis". Billboard Magazine. Vol. 114, no. 10. p. 6.
  10. ^ Rau, Nate (March 2, 2016). "Curb Records acquires Word Entertainment". The Tennessean. Retrieved August 1, 2016.

External links Edit

  • Word Entertainment website
  • Word Records History with artist roster, Billboard pop performance, photo gallery, more.
  • Word Records role in The History of Christian Stand-up Comedy
  • Chris Christian Entertainment - Home Sweet Home Records

October 15, 2023
word, entertainment, christian, faith, based, entertainment, company, based, nashville, tennessee, owned, curb, records, represents, francesca, battistelli, king, country, switchfoot, skillet, sidewalk, prophets, chris, august, daddy, weave, addition, many, ot. Word Entertainment is a Christian faith based entertainment company based in Nashville Tennessee It is owned by Curb Records Word Entertainment represents Francesca Battistelli for King amp Country Switchfoot Skillet Sidewalk Prophets Chris August Big Daddy Weave in addition to many others and is home to Word Distribution 25 Live Word Music Publishing and Word Label Group s Word Records and Fervent Records Word EntertainmentParent companyCurb RecordsFounded1951 1951 FounderJarrell McCrackenDistributor s Word Distribution Warner Music GroupGenreGospel ChristianCountry of originU S LocationNashville TennesseeOfficial websitewordentertainment wbr com Contents 1 History 2 Roster 2 1 Current 2 2 Former 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksHistory EditWord Records was founded in Waco Texas in 1951 by Jarrell McCracken Baylor business major Henry SoRelle and radio and television executive Ted Snider 1 The label s name is based on a 16 minute spoken word recording written and narrated by McCracken the first recording released by the label entitled The Game of Life The 23 year old KWTX sportscaster in Waco had read an article by Jimmy Allen a former athlete who became a Baptist preacher and based his recording on the article which also is called The Game of Life 2 The event is based on a full length match between the forces of Good and Evil with Jesus Christ and Satan coaching the two teams Subsequent records focused on other spoken word recordings but Word soon branched out into southern gospel music Early employees for the label included Tom Norfleet Kurt Kaiser and Ralph Carmichael 2 The label struggled initially until Marvin Norcross became an equity partner By 1954 Word had become a publishing house as well 2 Several subsidiary labels were started over the years Canaan Records in the sixties Myrrh Records 1972 3 and DaySpring Records in 1977 and Rejoice Records in the eighties Two of these labels no longer exist today in their original form The Myrrh Label was resurrected in 2005 as a praise and worship record label Myrrh Worship 3 Larry Norman s Solid Rock Records had a distribution deal with Word from 1975 to 1980 Artists on Solid Rock included Norman Randy Stonehill Daniel Amos Tom Howard and Mark Heard Light Records was distributed in the 1970s by Word Records before being sold to Ralph Carmichael in the 1980s Reunion Records signed a distribution and promotion contract in the 80s the agreement lasted well into the 1990s Today Reunion Records is distributed through Provident Music Group Star Song was distributed by Word Records but left their distribution deal in the late 1980s to sign with Sparrow Records which was taken over by Chordant Distribution and then by EMI Distribution deals with other labels in the 1970s 1980s and early 1990s allowed Word Records to rise representing Amy Grant Michael W Smith Rich Mullins Russ and Tori Taff Paul Smith The Imperials Petra Sandi Patti Kenny Marks Wayne Watson Carman The Archers featuring Steve Archer White Heart Gaither Vocal Band Bill Gaither Trio Point of Grace Love Song Sweet Comfort Band The Nelons Happy Goodman Family featuring Rusty Goodman Florida Boys Guardian and other artists In the 1976 McCracken sold part interest in his label to the American Broadcasting Company 2 10 years later ABC merged with Capital Cities Inc and forced McCracken out of the company 2 In 1983 Chris Christian signed a distribution deal to move his label Home Sweet Home Records from Benson Records to Word Records today it is still active and remains under the independent ownership of Chris Christian From 1984 to 1990 Word was distributed in the general market by A amp M Records and then by Epic Records until 2002 In 1992 Capital Cities ABC sold Word to Thomas Nelson Inc for 72 Million 4 and Nelson made two major changes developing the present swirling W logo for book products which was unveiled in 1995 and also moving its headquarters from Waco Texas to its present headquarters in Nashville Nelson split the record label and book publishing arms in 1996 when the labels were sold to Gaylord Entertainment 5 6 7 In an agreement with Gaylord Thomas Nelson continued to use the Word Publishing name for its book imprint until 2002 at which time it became W Publishing Group and retained the swirling W logo A highly controversial ad campaign introduced at the CBA convention in 2002 created litigation settled later After Colin Reed took over Gaylord Entertainment in 2001 citation needed the hotelier made corporate changes at the company including the ousting of longstanding president Roland Lundy and sold off the Word Entertainment group to then AOL Time Warner in 2002 8 In 2002 former Atlantic Records Christian division manager Barry Landis briefly took the position of president of the label group division Word went through a period of restructuring closing their Los Angeles music publishing office absorbing Myrrh Records Squint Entertainment and Everland Entertainment into the Word Label Group and reducing in house staff 9 Curb Records also gained a stake in the company during this time In 2004 the company was sold again as part of Time Warner divestiture of its music division selling it to a group of investors led by Edgar Bronfman to form a newly independent Warner Music Group Canaan Records was re opened in early 2007 with Dave Clark at the helm Canaan Records was eventually shuttered In March 2016 it was announced that Mike Curb acquired 100 percent of Word Entertainment excluding the print music division which was eventually sold to The Lorenz Corporation from Warner Music Group 10 WMG has continued to distribute Word s output for the general market Also in 2016 it was announced that Joseph Prielozny the former Reach Records producer would be in charge of the hip hop imprint which is to be called 4 Against 5 They announced the name of the imprint when they signed Steven Malcolm to their roster Roster EditThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed July 2018 Learn how and when to remove this template message Current Edit About a Mile Meredith Andrews Francesca Battistelli Big Daddy Weave Jason Castro Dara Maclean For King amp Country Love amp the Outcome Steven Malcolm Ty Brasel Needtobreathe Sidewalk Prophets Skillet Switchfoot Former Edit 4Him Across the Sky Steve Archer Carolyn Arends Wendy Bagwell and the Sunliters Charles Billingsley Anita Bryant Shirley Caesar Bruce Carroll Ashley Cleveland Billy Ray Cyrus Building 429 Cynthia Clawson Clay Crosse Dakota Motor Co Downhere O landa Draper Bryan Duncan Evie Gaither Vocal Band John Gimenez Happy Goodman Family Howard amp Vestal Goodman Rusty Goodman Amy Grant Bruce Greer Guardian Wes King Rachael Lampa Love Song Mark Lowry Kenny Marks Babbie Mason Rich Mullins Michael Omartian Sandi Patti Petra David Phelps pureNRG Salvador Mark Schultz George Beverly Shea Sixpence None the Richer Chris Sligh Skypark Michael W Smith Paul Smith Thurlow Spurr and the Spurrlows Stellar Kart Russ Taff The Archers The Cathedrals The Florida Boys The Hemphills The Hoppers The Imperials The Inspirations Quartet The Kingsmen The Lefevres The Lewis Family The Nelons Jaci Velasquez Greg X Volz Mike Warnke Wayne Watson Point of GraceSee also EditList of Christian record labelsReferences Edit The Vernon Daily Record Tue December 4 1951 Page 3 a b c d e Mount Daniel J 2005 A City on a Hilltop The History of Contemporary Christian Music p 50 Retrieved February 12 2007 a b Price Deborah Evans April 23 2005 NEWSLINE Word Label Group Billboard Magazine Vol 117 no 17 p 8 unsigned November 1992 In the News EMI Buys Sparrow Thomas Nelson Buys Word CCM Magazine Vol 15 no 5 p 4 ISSN 1524 7848 Milliot Jim December 2 1996 With Word sale Nelson to focus on core business Vol 243 no 49 Publishers Weekly p 12 GAYLORD ENTERTAINMENT COMPLETES PURCHASE OF WORD RECORDS AND MUSIC FROM THOMAS NELSON Business Wire January 7 1997 p 1071302 Price Deborah Evans December 7 1996 Gaylord buys Word s music companies Billboard Magazine Vol 108 no 49 p 6 Price Deborah Evans December 8 2001 Sale To Warner Brings Word Into Major Leagues Billboard Magazine Vol 113 no 49 p 8 Price Deborah Evans March 9 2002 Word restructures Woos Landis Billboard Magazine Vol 114 no 10 p 6 Rau Nate March 2 2016 Curb Records acquires Word Entertainment The Tennessean Retrieved August 1 2016 External links EditWord Entertainment website Word Records History with artist roster Billboard pop performance photo gallery more Word Records role in The History of Christian Stand up Comedy Chris Christian Entertainment Home Sweet Home Records Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Word Entertainment amp oldid 1144115211, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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