Sparrow Records
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| Sparrow Records | |
|---|---|
| Parent company | EMI CMG |
| Founded | 1976 |
| Founder | Billy Ray Hearn |
| Genre | Worship, Christian, Rock, Rap, Gospel, R&B |
| Country of origin | USA |
| Official website | sparrowrecords.com |
Sparrow Records is a popular Christian music record label; a division of EMI. Sparrow Records was founded in 1976 by Billy Ray Hearn, then A&R director at Myrrh Records.[1] Purchased by EMI in 1992, it is now part of the EMI Christian Music Group,[2] and has been named by Billboard Magazine as "America's Best Christian Music Record Label".[citation needed] As of 2005, Sparrow features many of Contemporary Christian Music's popular and up-and-coming artists, including Avalon, Matt Redman, Steven Curtis Chapman, Switchfoot, and ZOEgirl.
Another popular production of Sparrow Records is the annual WOW Worship series, which is an annual compilation of the greatest hits in Worship music, and can be seen and purchased in practically any popular music store. This series, once only focused on worship music, now also includes compilations of Christian hits in Rock, Rap, Gospel, and R&B Music as well.
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[edit] History
In February 1976, Billy Ray Hearn founded Sparrow Records in Canoga Park, CA, signing such culturally pivotal artists as Keith Green, John Michael Talbot, and Matthew Ward and Annie Herring from 2nd Chapter of Acts. By this time, members of the Jesus Movement were growing up. Consequently, "Jesus music" began to catch on with record-buying suburban teens and college kids. Billy Ray knew that there were all kinds of people out there who loved all kinds of music.
In the years to come, Sparrow and its newly formed Birdwing label, established to create and promote traditional church and children's music, began to thrive. Music Machine, Birdwing's first full priced children's album, sold more than one million copies. In this formative time, a legacy was born: "In the early days," says Billy Ray, "the emphasis was in growing the music, and in getting the right artists, having the right foundations in the artists and the philosophy of the company, and the product."
In 1984, the signing of Steve Green and Steve Taylor sent a signal from the company that "style of music" was not the driving force of the label but "quality of the artist" was.
As sales began to dramatically increase, logistical decisions needed to be made. For one, what to do about shipping when your warehouse is attached to your office, just minutes from the westernmost edge of North America? Distribution was slow; as a result, stores were constantly out of Sparrow's product. So, in 1989, Sparrow moved its warehouse operations to Jacksonville, IL, and in short order, Sparrow Distribution became renowned for its speed and efficiency.
In 1991, Billy Ray realized that it was time to be closer to Christian Music's hub. So, Sparrow moved its offices to Nashville, TN, and continued to lead the industry with the success of new artists such as BeBe and CeCe Winans, Margaret Becker, and Steven Curtis Chapman.
Continued potential for growth prompted yet another risk to take, as EMI Music - the third largest music company in the world - expressed interest in acquiring Sparrow. Facing possible perceptions of selling-out, and after much prayer and pastoral and business counsel, Billy Ray decided that such a move was best. "The main reason I did it was to take our artists to the next level," he remembers. Bill Hearn agrees: "They provided us the necessary resources to support our artists and gave us the needed distribution to get our product out to more people," he says.
In 1995, after emergency heart surgery, Billy Ray Hearn decided to semi-retire. In his place came his son, Bill. Bill Hearn had grown up in the family business, taking on the responsibilities of the shipping department, customer service, and telephone sales, before stepping into his niche roles of marketing and sales VP and eventually President of the Sparrow label.
An heir to a legacy, Bill Hearn took on his new role as CEO with a prepared heart. He took his father's dreams and furthered them beyond all expectations. One of his first orders of business was to take corporate philosophy with him to the Christian and gospel industry at large. He worked hard to see that Christian and gospel music got its proper recognition through SoundScan, a sales tracking system that, up until 1995, did not record music sales from Christian retail stores.
Soon after his transition, Bill Hearn oversaw the creation of EMI Christian Music Group itself. Through a series of partial and full label and publishing catalog acquisitions, a new, much larger family was born out of Billy Ray Hearn's dream for Sparrow. Today, its labels include Sparrow, Forefront, and EMI Gospel, in addition to joint ventures with Gotee Records, Tooth & Nail/BEC Recording and sixstepsrecords. Together with EMI CMG Publishing and EMI CMG Distribution, EMI Christian Music Group is the most streamlined and efficient system in the Christian music industry.
[edit] Sparrow Records Artists
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[edit] References
- ^ Mount, Daniel J. (2005). A City on a Hilltop? The History of Contemporary Christian Music, 48 - 50, 53. Retrieved on 2007-02-12.
- ^ Hendershot, Heather (2004). "Why Should the Devil Have all the Good Music? Christian Music and the Secular Marketplace", Shaking the World for Jesus: Media and Conservative Evangelical Culture. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press, 56. ISBN 0-226-32679-9.
- ^ http://www.sparrowrecords.com/artists/artists.aspx?id=67578
