Word Records is a Christian faith-based entertainment company based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is owned by

Curb Records Curb Records (also known as Asylum-Curb and formerly known as MCG Curb) is an American record label started by Mike Curb, originally as Sidewalk Records in 1963. From 1969 to 1973, Curb merged with MGM Records where Curb served as President of ...

, and is a part of Word Entertainment. It is distributed by Warner Records (the former Warner Bros. Records).

History

In 1951, Word Records was founded in Waco, Texas by Jarrell McCracken, Baylor business major Henry SoRelle and radio/television executive Ted Snider. 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 is also called "The Game of Life". 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. McCracken was familiar with play-by-play broadcasting, having created virtual baseball games for radio broadcast based on wire reports. McCracken originally presented "The Game of Life" on Sunday nights, at various churches around the central Texas area. Everywhere he presented "The Game of Life", he got requests for copies. Eventually, he had a short run of records pressed to offer at churches where he spoke. The fictional radio station in the recording has the call letters "WORD", which was printed on the label of the custom record. After being asked by a friend when he was going to release a follow-up, McCracken then decided to pursue the label on a more serious level.Based on an interview with Jarrell McCracken, May 1997, Waco, TX Subsequent records focused on other spoken word recordings, but Word soon branched out into

southern gospel Southern gospel music is a genre of Christian music. Its name comes from its origins in the southeastern United States. Its lyrics are written to express either personal or a communal faith regarding biblical teachings and Christian life, as ...

music. Early employees for the label included Tom Norfleet, Kurt Kaiser and Ralph Carmichael. The label struggled initially until Marvin Norcross became an equity partner. By 1954, Word had become a publishing house as well. Several subsidiary labels were started over the years: Canaan Records in the 1960s,

Myrrh Records __NOTOC__ Myrrh Records (also known as Myrrh Worship) was an American Christian music record label. According to ''Encyclopedia of American Gospel Music'', the label was instrumental in developing a popular following for contemporary Christian ...

in 1972, DaySpring Records in 1977, and Rejoice Records in the 1980s. Two of these labels no longer exist in their original form. The Myrrh label was resurrected in 2005, as a praise and worship record label,

Myrrh Worship __NOTOC__ Myrrh Records (also known as Myrrh Worship) was an American Christian music record label. According to ''Encyclopedia of American Gospel Music'', the label was instrumental in developing a popular following for contemporary Christian ...

. Canaan Records was also re-opened in early 2007, with Dave Clark at the helm.

Larry Norman Larry David Norman (April 8, 1947 – February 24, 2008) was an American musician, singer, songwriter, record label owner, and record producer. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of Christian rock music and released more than 100 album ...

'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. In 1983,

Chris Christian Chris Christian (born Lon Christian Smith on February 7, 1951 is an American songwriter, record producer, and a record label executive. His songs have been recorded by Elvis Presley, Olivia Newton-John, Hall and Oates, Natalie Cole, Sheena East ...

signed a distribution deal, to move his label Home Sweet Home Records from Benson Records to Word Records. It is still active, and remains under the independent ownership of

Light Records Light Records is a gospel record label founded in 1966 by Ralph Carmichael, as a joint venture with the Waco, Texas-based Word Records. It is a subsidiary of the MNRK Music Group. History Light Records' first roster included Ralph Carmichael, ...

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

Reunion Records Reunion Records is a contemporary Christian record label based in Brentwood, Tennessee, that operates under the Provident Label Group. The label was founded in 1982, by Dan Harrell and Mike Blanton. History The label was formed by Amy Grant's m ...

signed a distribution and promotion contract in the 1980s. The agreement lasted well into the 1990s. Today, Reunion Records is distributed through Provident Label Group. Star Song Communications 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 to the top, virtually housing a who's-who in Christian music. They distributed, promoted and advertised the biggest names in

contemporary Christian music Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and s ...

. Artists included: Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith,

Rich Mullins Richard Wayne Mullins (October 21, 1955 – September 19, 1997) was an American contemporary Christian music singer and songwriter best known for his worship songs " Awesome God" and "Sometimes by Step". Some of his albums were listed by ''CC ...

, Russ and Tori Taff, Benny Hester,

Paul Smith Paul Smith or Paul Smith's may refer to: Music * Paul Smith (composer) (1906–1985), American film music composer * Paul Smith (pianist) (1922–2013), Los Angeles jazz pianist * Paul Smith (rock vocalist) (born 1979), vocalist and songwriter of ...

, the Imperials,

Petra Petra ( ar, ٱلْبَتْرَاء, Al-Batrāʾ; grc, Πέτρα, "Rock", Nabataean Aramaic, Nabataean: ), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu or Raqēmō, is an historic and archaeological city in southern Jordan. It is adjacent to t ...

, Helen Baylor, Sandi Patti, Kenny Marks,

Wayne Watson Wayne may refer to: People with the given name and surname * Wayne (given name) * Wayne (surname) Geographical Places with name ''Wayne'' may take their name from a person with that surname; the most famous such person was Gen. "Mad" Antho ...

, Carman, the Archers featuring

Steve Archer Steve Archer (born January 5, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and producer. He is a pioneer of the genre of Jesus music, later to become known as contemporary Christian music. He is the former lead singer of the Archers, a contemporary ...

White Heart White Heart, also listed as Whiteheart, was an American contemporary Christian music and pop-rock band which formed in 1982. White Heart's discography includes thirteen albums, the most recent of which was released in 1997. Original members Bill ...

Gaither Vocal Band The Gaither Vocal Band is an American southern gospel vocal group, named after its founder and leader Bill Gaither. On March 1, 2017, it was announced that the Gaither Vocal Band lineup consisted of Reggie Smith, Wes Hampton, Adam Crabb, Todd ...

, Bill Gaither Trio, Point of Grace, Love Song, Sweet Comfort Band, the Nelons, Happy Goodman Family featuring Rusty Goodman, Florida Boys,

Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unite ...

Phil and Brenda Nicholas Nicholas are an American traditional black gospel music husband and wife duo from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Los Angeles, California, and they started their music recording careers in 1981, as a quartet, with the release of ''Tell the World' ...

and other artists. In the 1976, McCracken sold part interest in his label to the American Broadcasting Company. 10 years later, ABC merged with Capital Cities/ABC, Inc. and forced McCracken out of the company. From 1984 to 1990, Word was distributed in the general market by A&M Records, and then by

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

until 2002. In 1992, Capital Cities/ABC sold Word to Thomas Nelson, Inc. for $72 million, and Nelson made two major changes—developing the present swirling "W" logo for book products which was unveiled in 1995. Headquarters moved from Waco, Texas, to its present headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee. Nelson split the record label and book publishing arms in 1996, when the labels were sold to

Gaylord Entertainment Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc. () is a hotel, resort, entertainment, and Mass media, media company named after National Historic Landmark the Ryman Auditorium, built as a tabernacle by Captain Thomas G. Ryman in 1892 and later the home of the ...

. 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 and settled later. After Colin Reed took over Gaylord Entertainment in 2001, the hotelier made corporate changes at the company, including the ousting of longstanding president Roland Lundy. The Word Entertainment group was sold to then- AOL Time Warner in 2002. That same year, former

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

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

, Squint Entertainment, and Everland Entertainment into the Word Label Group, and reducing in-house staff.

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 Jr. Edgar Miles Bronfman Jr. (born May 16, 1955) is an American businessman who currently serves as a Managing Partner at Accretive LLC, a private equity firm focused on creating and investing in technology companies. He previously served as CEO of ...

to form a newly independent Warner Music Group. In March 2016, it was announced that Mike Curb acquired 100% of Word Entertainment (excluding the print music division) from Warner Music Group. However, WMG has continued to distribute Word's output for the general market. The print music division (Word Music and Church Resources), excluding Word Publishing, was subsequently acquired by The Lorenz Corporation in February 2017.

Artist roster

''This is a list of artists, past and present, who have recorded for Word Records over the past several decades:''

Current

Meredith Andrews Meredith Frances Sooter (born January 19, 1983), known professionally as Meredith Andrews, is a contemporary Christian music artist, songwriter, and worship leader. She has won two Dove Awards. Biography Andrews grew up in Wilson, North Carol ...

* About a Mile *

Chris August Christopher August Megert (born March 20, 1982) is an American Contemporary Christian musician who performs under the stage name Chris August. August began recording as a secular musician before switching to Christian music. His song "Starry Nig ...

* For King & Country * Francesca Battistelli * Big Daddy Weave * Blanca * Jason Castro * Everfound * Family Force 5 (changed name to FF5) * Group 1 Crew * Love & the Outcome * Dara Maclean * Needtobreathe * Point of Grace * Sidewalk Prophets *

Stars Go Dim Stars Go Dim (SGD) is an American pop rock band from Tulsa, Oklahoma that formed in late 2007. The band originally consisted of Chris Cleveland (vocals, piano, and guitar), Joey Avalos (guitar), Michael Wittig (bass guitar), and Lester Estelle ...

We Are Messengers We Are Messengers are a Christian band originally from Monaghan, Ireland, but have been based in the US since 2015. Their first studio album, '' We Are Messengers'', was released in 2016 through Word Records and Curb Records. The album hit the to ...

* Zealand Worship

Former

* 4Him * Across the Sky *

Dick Anthony Dick Anthony is a forensic psychologist noted for his writings on the validity of brainwashing as a determiner of behavior, a prolific researcher of the social and psychological aspects of involvement in new religious movements. Academic career ...

* The Archers * Wendy Bagwell and the Sunliters * Helen Baylor * Charles Billingsley * Calvin Bridges *

Anita Bryant Anita Jane Bryant (born March 25, 1940) is an American singer known for anti-gay activism. She scored four "Top 40" hits in the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including "Paper Roses" which reached No. 5 on the charts. She was th ...

* Building 429 *

Shirley Caesar Shirley Ann Caesar-Williams (born October 13, 1938), known professionally as Shirley Caesar, is an American gospel singer whose career has spanned seven decades. She has won 11 Grammys in addition to Dove Awards and Stellar Awards; Caesar is kno ...

* Carman *

Bruce Carroll Bruce Carroll (born December 5, 1953), is an American CCM singer and multi Grammy and Dove Award winning recording artist. Biography Carroll first began performing in a trio with his siblings at age 12; he played folk music in various venues in ...

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

The Cathedrals The Cathedral Quartet, also known as the Cathedrals, was an American southern gospel quartet who performed from 1964 to December 1999. The group's final lineup consisted of Glen Payne (lead), George Younce (bass), Ernie Haase (tenor), Scott ...

Patrick Ryan Clark Patrick Ryan Clark (born August 31, 1977) is an American Christian musician. He released an album, ''Translation'', with Foreverything Records, in 2006. His subsequent release, an extended play, ''Search and Rescue'', was released in 2008, by For ...

* Ashley Cleveland *

Clay Crosse Clay Crosse (born Walter Clayton Crossnoe, February 11, 1967) is a contemporary Christian music artist. He has won four GMA Dove Awards, and is probably best known for the single "I Surrender All." Music career Clay Crosse grew up in Memphis, Te ...

* Billy Ray Cyrus *

Dakota Motor Co Dakoda Motor Co. (also Dakoda Motor Company) is an American Surf rock, alternative rock, Christian rock band. History Dakoda Motor Co. formed in the early 1990s; by Peter King, a professional surfer and host of the MTV show ''Sandblast''.John B ...

* Dana * Downhere *

Bryan Duncan Bryan Edward Duncan (born March 16, 1953) is an American contemporary Christian music artist. He is known for being lead singer of the group Sweet Comfort Band, solo career, and involvement with the Nehosoul Band. He is currently involved with ...

* O'landa Draper and the Associates *

Evie Evie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Evie (given name) * Evie (singer), American contemporary Christian music singer Evelyn Tornquist (born 1957) * Evie (wrestler), ring name of New Zealand female professional wrestler Cheree Crowl ...

The Florida Boys The Florida Boys were a male vocal quartet in Southern gospel music. The group was founded in 1946 by J. G. Whitfield. Originally named The Gospel Melody Quartet, the group was renamed in 1954. From the 1950s until 2007, the group was led by L ...

John Gimenez John Gimenez was an American Pentecostal evangelist. He was a pastor, international overseer and bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christian ...

* Happy Goodman Family * Amy Grant * Bruce Greer *

Holy Soldier Holy Soldier was a Christian glam metal band from Los Angeles formed in 1985. Background The band was originally formed in early 1985 by bassist Andy Robbins and guitarist Jamie Cramer. The band gained a strong local following before signin ...

The Hoppers The Hoppers (until 1981: Hopper Brothers and Connie) are a multi award-winning Southern Gospel group from North Carolina. They have performed together for several decades and have achieved significant popularity due to widening the playing field ...

* The Imperials * Wes King * The Kingsmen * Rachael Lampa *

The Lefevres The LeFevres, or The Singing LeFevres, were an American Southern gospel singing group, active for nearly 50 years in the middle of the twentieth century. The LeFevres were a family from Smithville, Tennessee, and their singing group centered on b ...

The Lewis Family The Lewis Family is a family of gospel and bluegrass musicians from Lincolnton, Georgia. They are known as the "First Family of Bluegrass Gospel". Background The family was founded by Pop and Mom Lewis (Roy Lewis Sr. and Pauline Lewis, née H ...

Liberation Suite Liberation Suite (sometimes LibSuite) was a Jesus Music era Christian rock band. They originated in San Marcos, Texas but soon moved to Great Britain, where they found their greatest success. ''Cross Rhythms'' characterizes the band as having a "sp ...

Mark Lowry Mark Alan Lowry (born June 24, 1958) is an American singer, comedian, minister and songwriter. He is best known for co-writing the song "Mary, Did You Know?" and being a member of the Gaither Vocal Band from 1988 to 2001, and 2009 to 2013, alo ...

* Kenny Marks * Babbie Mason * David Meece * The Mercy River Boys * Morning Chapel Hour Choir *

* The Nelons *

Michael Omartian Michael Omartian (born November 26, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, keyboardist, and music producer. He produced number-one records in three consecutive decades. He has earned 11 Grammy Awards nominations and won three. He sp ...

* Sandi Patti *

* David Phelps * Leslie Phillips * pureNRG * Rachel Rachel *

Salvador Salvador, meaning "salvation" (or "saviour") in Catalan, Spanish, and Portuguese may refer to: * Salvador (name) Arts, entertainment, and media Music *Salvador (band), a Christian band that plays both English and Spanish music ** ''Salvador'' ( ...

* Mark Schultz *

George Beverly Shea George Beverly Shea (February 1, 1909 – April 16, 2013) was a Canadian-born American gospel singer and hymn composer. Shea was often described as "America's beloved gospel singer"Michael Ireland, "America's 'Beloved Gospel Singer,' George Bever ...

* Sixpence None the Richer *

Janet Lynn Skinner Janet Lynn Skinner (born July 5, 1955) is an American gospel musician, and she is the present music minister of Destiny Church in Twinsburg, Ohio. Her first and only album, ''The Beginning'', was released by Onyx Records in 1982. This was foll ...

Chris Sligh Charles Christopher Sligh (born April 13, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, producer and pastor who was a finalist on the sixth season of ''American Idol'', finishing in tenth place. He has released 14 albums since 2001 as a solo artist, wi ...

* Michael W. Smith *

Stellar Kart Stellar Kart was an American pop punk band from Phoenix, Arizona, signed to Inpop Records and Capitol Records. The band released their first album, '' All Gas. No Brake'', in February 2005. Most of their singles have been accepted exclusively o ...

Russ Taff Russell Taff (born November 11, 1953) is an American gospel singer and songwriter who grew up in Farmersville, California. He has sung a variety of musical styles throughout his career including: pop rock, traditional Southern gospel, contempora ...

Randy Travis Randy Bruce Traywick (born May 4, 1959), known professionally as Randy Travis, is an American country music and gospel music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor. Active from 1978 until being incapacitated by a stroke in 2013, he has recor ...

* Jaci Velasquez *

Veridia Veridia, often stylized in all capital letters as VERIDIA, is an American alternative rock band from Nashville, Tennessee. Formed in 2013, the group now consists of Deena Jakoub (vocals), Brandon Brown (guitar), and Kyle Levy (drums). The band' ...

Mike Warnke Michael Alfred Warnke (born November 19, 1946) is an American Christian evangelist and comedian who was exposed in 1992 for inventing stories of his past as a Satanist. Before being debunked by the Christian magazine ''Cornerstone'', he was ...

* Kelli Williams

References

External links