Capitol Christian Music Group (Capitol CMG) (formerly known as
EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...
Christian Music Group) is an American music group that, since 2013, is under the ownership of
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
. It is based in
Brentwood, Tennessee
Brentwood is a city in Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 45,373 as of the 2020 United States census.Sparrow and
ForeFront Records
ForeFront Records is a contemporary Christian music and Christian rock record label founded in 1987 by Dan R. Brock, Eddie DeGarmo, Dana Key, and Ron W. Griffin. It was purchased by EMI in 1996 from Dan R. Brock and Eddie DeGarmo, and is a divis ...
as well as the industry's distribution company and a publishing company.
Capitol CMG features artists such as
Chris Tomlin
Christopher Dwayne Tomlin (born May 4, 1972) is an American contemporary Christian music singer, songwriter, and worship leader from Grand Saline, Texas, United States, who has sold over 7 million records. He is a member of Passion Conferences an ...
,
TobyMac
Toby McKeehan (born Kevin Michael McKeehan; October 22, 1964), better known by his stage name TobyMac (styled tobyMac or TOBYMAC), is an American contemporary Christian music singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He was first known f ...
,
Amy Grant
Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She began in contemporary Christian music (CCM) before crossing over to pop music in the 1980s and 1990s. She has been referred to as "The Queen of Christia ...
,
Jeremy Camp
Jeremy Thomas Camp (born January 12, 1978) is an American contemporary Christian music singer and songwriter from Lafayette, Indiana. He has released eleven albums, four of them RIAA-certified as Gold, and two live albums. Camp's original musi ...
,
Michael W. Smith
Michael Whitaker Smith (born October 7, 1957) is an American musician who has charted in both contemporary Christian and mainstream charts. His biggest success in mainstream music was in 1991 when " Place in This World" hit No. 6 on the '' ...
,
Newsboys
Newsboys (sometimes stylised as newsboys) are a Christian rock band founded in 1985 in Mooloolaba, Queensland, Australia, by Peter Furler and George Perdikis. Now based in Nashville, Tennessee, the band has released 17 studio albums, 6 of which ...
,
Matt Redman
Matthew James Redman (born 14 February 1974) is an English Christian worship leader, singer-songwriter and author. Redman has released 16 albums, written 8 books, and helped start three church-plants. He is best known for his two-time Grammy Aw ...
,
Matthew West
Matthew Joseph West (born April 25, 1977) is an American contemporary Christian musician, singer-songwriter, and actor. He has released five studio albums and is known for his songs "More", "You Are Everything", and " The Motions". He was nomin ...
, and
CeCe Winans
Priscilla Marie Winans Love, known professionally as CeCe Winans, (born October 8, 1964) is an American gospel singer. She rose to prominence as a member of the duo BeBe & CeCe Winans; before launching an acclaimed solo career. Winans has been a ...
.
History
The music group was founded by
Billy Ray Hearn
Billy Ray Hearn (April 26, 1929April 15, 2015) was the founder and chairman of the Capitol Christian Music Group (formerly EMI Christian Music Group) the world's largest Christian music label.McNeil, W. K. Encyclopedia of American gospel music. ...
in February 1976 as
Sparrow Records
Sparrow Records is a Christian music record label and a division of Universal Music Group.
History
Sparrow Records was founded in 1976 by Billy Ray Hearn, then artists and repertoire (A&R) director at Myrrh Records. Purchased by Thorn EMI in ...
. Sparrow was acquired by EMI in 1992. Formerly known as
EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...
Christian Music Group, Capitol CMG is a division of
Capitol Music Group
Capitol Music Group (CMG) is an American front line umbrella label distributed by Universal Music Group which oversees handling of record labels assigned to UMG's Capitol Records division. It was inherited from UMG's acquisition of EMI's catalog ( ...
, which is now a Universal Music Group company. Over the years, the venture has grown from a scrappy family-owned independent music label to a multi-faceted business that includes Capitol CMG Label Group (Sparrow Records, ForeFront Records, sixstepsrecords, Hillsong and Credential Recordings), Capitol CMG Publishing,
Motown
Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...
Gospel (formerly EMI Gospel) and Capitol Christian Distribution.
The company's roster features names in the Christian and gospel communities, among them
Amy Grant
Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She began in contemporary Christian music (CCM) before crossing over to pop music in the 1980s and 1990s. She has been referred to as "The Queen of Christia ...
,
Jeremy Camp
Jeremy Thomas Camp (born January 12, 1978) is an American contemporary Christian music singer and songwriter from Lafayette, Indiana. He has released eleven albums, four of them RIAA-certified as Gold, and two live albums. Camp's original musi ...
,
Michael W. Smith
Michael Whitaker Smith (born October 7, 1957) is an American musician who has charted in both contemporary Christian and mainstream charts. His biggest success in mainstream music was in 1991 when " Place in This World" hit No. 6 on the '' ...
,
Smokie Norful
Rev. W.R. "Smokie" Norful, Jr. is an American gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be d ...
,
Tye Tribbett
Tyrone "Tye" Tribbett (born January 26, 1976) is an American gospel music singer, songwriter and keyboardist. He is choir director and founder of the Grammy-nominated and Stellar Award-winning gospel group Tye Tribbett & G.A. (short for 'Greater ...
,
Britt Nicole
Brittany Nicole Waddell, better known by her stage name Britt Nicole (born August 2, 1984) is an American vocalist, songwriter and recording artist. She has mainly charted as a Christian pop artist, but in 2012 found her debut mainstream single, ...
,
Crowder
Crowder may refer to:
Places in the United States
*Crowder, Oklahoma
* Crowder, Mississippi
* Crowder, Missouri
*Crowder College
Crowder College is a public community college in Neosho, Missouri. It serves the Community College District of Newt ...
,
Newsboys
Newsboys (sometimes stylised as newsboys) are a Christian rock band founded in 1985 in Mooloolaba, Queensland, Australia, by Peter Furler and George Perdikis. Now based in Nashville, Tennessee, the band has released 17 studio albums, 6 of which ...
,
Matt Redman
Matthew James Redman (born 14 February 1974) is an English Christian worship leader, singer-songwriter and author. Redman has released 16 albums, written 8 books, and helped start three church-plants. He is best known for his two-time Grammy Aw ...
,
Tasha Cobbs Leonard
Natasha Tameika Cobbs Leonard (born July 7, 1981) is an American gospel musician and songwriter. She released the extended play ''Grace'' in 2013 with the hit lead single "Break Every Chain". The EP reached No. 61 on the '' Billboard'' charts. ...
Sheri Jones-Moffett
Sheri Jones-Moffett (born November 30, 1974 Sheri LeTrice Jones), is an American gospel musician. She started her music career, in 1992, with the Tri City Singers, which was a group assembled and led by Donald Lawrence. Her solo career got s ...
,
Colton Dixon
Michael Colton Dixon (born October 19, 1991) is an American singer-songwriter and musician from Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He placed seventh on the eleventh season of ''American Idol''.
Early life
Colton Dixon was born Michael Colton Dixon on Oct ...
,
Brian Courtney Wilson
Brian Courtney Wilson is an American gospel and contemporary Christian music singer.
Biography
Wilson was raised in the Chicago area. In his childhood, Wilson began singing with the adult male chorus with his father at the Rock of Ages Baptis ...
,
Mandisa
Mandisa Lynn Hundley (born October 2, 1976), known professionally as Mandisa, is an American gospel and contemporary Christian recording artist. Her career began as a contestant in the fifth season of ''American Idol'', in which she finished in ...
Matthew West
Matthew Joseph West (born April 25, 1977) is an American contemporary Christian musician, singer-songwriter, and actor. He has released five studio albums and is known for his songs "More", "You Are Everything", and " The Motions". He was nomin ...
,
Kari Jobe
Kari Brooke Jobe (born April 6, 1981) is an American contemporary Christian music singer and songwriter. Since her first album in 2009, she has received two Grammy Award nominations and ten Dove Award nominations, six of which she won.
Biograp ...
,
The Young Escape
The Young Escape (styled "THE YOUNG ESCAPE", "the young escape" , or TYE) is a Christian electronic pop band from Southern California, composed of siblings Ryan, McKenna, Kyrsten, and Luke Johns. The band signed to Capitol Christian Music Group ...
,
Merry Clayton
Merry Clayton (born December 25, 1948) is an American soul and gospel singer. She provided a number of backing vocal tracks for major performing artists in the 1960s, most notably in her duet with Mick Jagger on the Rolling Stones song "Gimme Sh ...
,
Riley Clemmons
Riley Elizabeth Clemmons BETTER FOR IT Work ID No.894268039 IPI No.779748265 (CLEMMONS RILEY ELIZABETH) is an American Christian musician, who plays Christian pop style contemporary worship music. She is known for her Christian radio hits, " Brok ...
and
Social Club Misfits
Social Club Misfits, known as Social Club from 2012 until 2016, is a Christian hip hop duo from Miami, Florida made up of rappers FERN and Marty Mar. They formed their musical partnership in 2011 and released their first free album, entitled ' ...
.
Labels
* Capitol Christian Distribution (formerly EMI CMG Distribution)
* Capitol CMG Group (formerly EMI CMG Group)
**
Credential Recordings
Credential Recordings is a pop and rock record label in Nashville, Tennessee. The label branched out after a distribution agreement with Lowercase People Records for Switchfoot singer Jon Foreman's solo EPs, which tend to be more folk-acoustic in ...
**
ForeFront Records
ForeFront Records is a contemporary Christian music and Christian rock record label founded in 1987 by Dan R. Brock, Eddie DeGarmo, Dana Key, and Ron W. Griffin. It was purchased by EMI in 1996 from Dan R. Brock and Eddie DeGarmo, and is a divis ...
** Motown Gospel (formerly EMI Gospel)
**
Sparrow Records
Sparrow Records is a Christian music record label and a division of Universal Music Group.
History
Sparrow Records was founded in 1976 by Billy Ray Hearn, then artists and repertoire (A&R) director at Myrrh Records. Purchased by Thorn EMI in ...
** Worship Together
* Capitol CMG Publishing
**Brentwood-Benson
**Meadowgreen Music
*
Hillsong Music
Hillsong Music is Christian music produced by Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia as well as offshoot churches, Hillsong London, and Hillsong Kiev. Hillsong albums are released and distributed by Hillsong Music. The main groups are Hillsong ...
(distribution)
*
sixstepsrecords
Passion Conferences (also referred to as Passion and the 268 Generation, originally named Choice Ministries) is a Christian organization founded by Louie Giglio in 1997. The organization is known for its annual gatherings of young adults betwee ...
(distribution)
See also
*
Christian record labels
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
*
EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...
*
List of record labels
File:Alvinoreyguitarboogie.jpg
File:AmMusicBunk78.jpg
File:Bingola1011b.jpg
Lists of record labels cover record labels, brands or trademarks associated with marketing of music recordings and music videos. The lists are organized alphabetically, b ...