Word Entertainment is a Christian faith-based entertainment company based in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. 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 Word Records is a Christian faith-based entertainment company based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is owned by Curb Records, and is a part of Word Entertainment. It is distributed by Warner Records (the former Warner Bros. Records). History In ...

and Fervent Records.

History

Word Records was founded in Waco,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, in 1951 by Jarrell McCracken, Baylor business major Henry SoRelle and radio and television executive Ted Snider. The label's name is based on a 16-minute

spoken word Spoken word is an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a 20th-century continuation of an oral tradition, ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetic ...

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 Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

preacher, and based his recording on the article which also is called "The Game of Life". The event is based on a full length match between the forces of Good and Evil with

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

and

Satan Satan, also known as the Devil, is a devilish entity in Abrahamic religions who seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the '' yetzer hara'', or ' ...

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. 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 sixties, Myrrh Records (1972) 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. 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 Star Song Communications is a Christian record label that was started in 1976 by Wayne Donowho, who recruited his friend Darrell Harris. It gained notoriety when it issued Resurrection Band's ground breaking debut album, Awaiting Your Reply in 1 ...

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 Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She began her music career in contemporary Christian music (CCM) before crossing over to pop music in the mid-1980s. Grant has been referred to as "Honorific ...

Michael W. Smith Michael Whitaker Smith (born October 7, 1957) is an American musician who has charted in both contemporary Christian music, contemporary Christian and mainstream charts. His biggest success in mainstream music was in 1991 when "Place in This Worl ...

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

, Russ and Tori Taff, Paul Smith,

The Imperials The Imperials is an American contemporary Christian music group that has been active for over 60 years. Originating as a southern gospel quartet, the innovative group would become pioneers of contemporary Christian music in the 1960s. There ...

Petra Petra (; "Rock"), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu (Nabataean Aramaic, Nabataean: or , *''Raqēmō''), is an ancient city and archaeological site in southern Jordan. Famous for its rock-cut architecture and water conduit systems, P ...

, Sandi Patti, Kenny Marks, Wayne Watson, Carman,

The Archers ''The Archers'' is a British radio soap opera currently broadcast on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word Radio broadcasting, channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now pr ...

featuring Steve Archer, White Heart, Gaither Vocal Band, Bill Gaither Trio, Point of Grace,

Love Song A love song is a song about love, falling in love, heartbreak after a breakup, and the feelings that these experiences bring. Love songs can be found in a variety of different music genres. They can come in various formats, from sad and emotion ...

, Sweet Comfort Band,

The Nelons The Nelons, formerly the Rex Nelon Singers, were an American southern gospel group based in Atlanta, Georgia. Group members included Kelly Nelon Clark, her husband Jason Clark, and Kelly's daughters Amber Nelon Kistler and Autumn Nelon Streetman. ...

, 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 The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast Television broadcaster, television and radio Radio network, network that serves as the flagship property of the Disney Entertainment division ...

. 10 years later, ABC merged with Capital Cities, Inc. and forced McCracken out of the company. 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 A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...

and then by

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

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, 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. 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, 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. In 2002, 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 the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

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 Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

music publishing office, absorbing Myrrh Records, Squint Entertainment, and Everland Entertainment into the Word Label Group, and reducing in-house staff. 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 Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#M ...

. 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

. 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.

Notable artists

Current

* About a Mile * Meredith Andrews * Francesca Battistelli *

Big Daddy Weave Big Daddy Weave is an American contemporary Christian band from Mobile, Alabama. Formed in 1998, the band is composed of Mike Weaver, Joe Shirk, Jeremy Redmon, Brian Beihl, and Raul Alfonso. Since 2021, they have been signed to Curb Records. ...

* Jason Castro * Dara Maclean * For King & Country * Love & the Outcome * Needtobreathe * Sidewalk Prophets * Skillet *

Switchfoot Switchfoot is an American rock music, rock band from San Diego, California. The band's members are Jon Foreman (lead vocals, guitar), Tim Foreman (bass guitar, backing vocals), Chad Butler (drum kit, drums, percussion), and Jerome Fontamillas (g ...

Former

* 4Him * Across the Sky * Steve Archer * Carolyn Arends * Wendy Bagwell and the Sunliters * Charles Billingsley * Kim Boyce * Anita Bryant *

Shirley Caesar Shirley Ann Caesar-Williams (Birth name, née Caesar; born October 13, 1938), known professionally as Shirley Caesar, is an American Gospel music, gospel singer. Her career began in 1951, when she signed to Federal Records at the age of 12. Thro ...

* Steve Camp *

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American country musician and actor. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour'' on CBS television from ...

* Bruce Carroll * Ashley Cleveland *

Billy Ray Cyrus William Ray Cyrus ( ; born August 25, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. Having released 16 studio albums and 53 singles since 1992, he is known for his hit single "Achy Breaky Heart", which topped the U.S. Hot Country Songs cha ...

Building 429 Building 429 is an American Christian rock band from Fayetteville, North Carolina. The band's name refers to Ephesians 4:29, a Biblical passage that (in the New International Version of the Bible) reads: "Do not let any unwholesome talk come ou ...

* Cynthia Clawson * Clay Crosse * Dakoda Motor Co. * Downhere * O'Landa Draper * Bryan Duncan * Evie * Gaither Vocal Band * Terri Gibbs * John Gimenez * Happy Goodman Family * Howard & Vestal Goodman * Rusty Goodman *

* Bruce Greer * Guardian * Mark Heard * Benny Hester * Nancy Honeytree * Ideola * Wes King * Tonio K * Rachael Lampa *

* Mark Lowry * Kenny Marks * Babbie Mason *

David Meece David Meece (born May 26, 1952) is an American contemporary Christian musician who enjoyed success in the mid-1980s and into the early 2010s, with more than thirty Top 10 hits, including several No. 1 songs. Education Meece grew up in Humble ...

* Mylon & Broken Heart *

Michael Omartian Michael S. 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. H ...

* Leon Patillo * Sandi Patty *

* David Phelps *

Leslie Phillips Leslie Samuel Phillips (20 April 1924 – 7 November 2022) was an English actor. He achieved prominence in the 1950s, playing smooth, upper-class comic roles utilising his "Ding dong" and "Hello" catchphrases. He appeared in the '' Carry On'' ...

* pureNRG * Salvador * Mark Schultz * George Beverly Shea *

Sixpence None the Richer Sixpence None the Richer is an American Christian alternative rock band that formed in New Braunfels, Texas, and eventually settled in Nashville, Tennessee. They are best known for their songs " Kiss Me" and " Breathe Your Name" and their cover ...

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, ...

* Paul Smith * Stellar Kart * Russ Taff * Steve Taylor *

* The Cathedrals * The Florida Boys * Dallas Holm * The Hoppers *

* The Inspirations Quartet * The Kingsmen * The Lefevres * The Lewis Family *

* BJ Thomas * Jaci Velasquez * Greg X Volz * Mike Warnke * Sheila Walsh * Wayne Watson * Daniel Winans * Point of Grace

References

External links