RCA Inspiration

RCA Inspiration (formerly Verity Gospel Music Group) is a gospel music group operating under Sony Music Entertainment.

RCA Inspiration
Parent company	Sony Music Entertainment (SME)
Founded	2005 (2005)
Distributor(s)	Sony Music Entertainment (mainstream) Provident-Integrity (Christian)
Genre	Gospel
Country of origin	United States
Location	New York, NY
Official website	www.rcainspiration.com

History

Inception

In late 2002, BMG completed the purchase of the Zomba Group for US$2.74 billion and as a part of that deal, acquired the gospel label Verity Records. In 2004, BMG purchased GospoCentric Records and its sublabel B'Rite Music, which already had ties with Zomba since before the purchase.^[1][2] When BMG restructured the Zomba labels into the Zomba Label Group, those labels were initially moved there, however, in 2005, Zomba amalgamated its gospel interests in the new Zomba Gospel and operated it under the Zomba Label Group. The new group consisted of Verity Records, GospoCentric Records and four artist owned imprints: Quiet Water Entertainment (Donald Lawrence), Fo Yo Soul Entertainment (Kirk Franklin), New Life Records (John P. Kee) and F. Hammond Music (Fred Hammond).^[3] When BMG and Sony formed Sony BMG, Zomba Gospel (as a part of the Zomba Label Group) was shifted under the BMG Label Group as an amalgamation of BMG's interests in the merger.

Rebrandings

In August 2008, Sony purchased Bertelsmann's half of their Sony BMG merger.^[4] Since Bertelsmann kept the BMG name, Sony renamed the BMG Label Group to RCA/Jive Label Group in early 2009^[5] and began the process of rebranding Zomba as the Jive Label Group.^[6][7] In another move to eschew the Zomba name, Zomba Gospel was rebranded as Verity Gospel Music Group, taking its name from their flagship label.^[8] Over a year after Jive disbanded in mid 2011, RCA Inspiration became the name for Verity Gospel Music Group by early 2013.

Labels

• Fo Yo Soul
• GospoCentric Records
• B-Rite Music
• Quiet Water Entertainment
• Verity Records

Awards

In May 2009, Verity Gospel made gospel music history being the first gospel label to hold the top four song positions on the R&R Gospel charts.^[9] The songs were:

1. "Souled Out" - Hezekiah Walker & LFC
2. "Back II Eden" - Donald Lawrence & Co
3. "Praise Him In Advance" - Marvin Sapp
4. "Peace & Favor Rest On Us" - Kurt Carr & The Kurt Carr Singers

Artists

Per source^[10]

• Crystal Aikin
• Tamar Braxton
• Kurt Carr
• Latice Crawford
• Darnell Davis
• Dee-1
• Kirk Franklin
• Christon Gray
• The Greater Allen Cathedral
• Travis Greene
• Deitrick Haddon
• Fred Hammond
• Israel Houghton
• Jahméne
• Le'Andria Johnson
• She'nice Johnson
• Deon Kipping
• Donnie McClurkin
• William Murphy
• Jason Nelson
• Tasha Page-Lockhart
• Marvin Sapp
• Richard Smallwood
• Hezekiah Walker
• The Walls Group

See also

• List of record labels
• Jive Label Group
• Zomba Group of Companies

External links

• Official website

References

1. Collins, Lisa (October 20, 2001). "Gospo, B'rite Pact with Zomba". Billboard. 113 (42): 33.
2. Price, Deborah Evans (October 12, 2004). "Zomba Buys GospoCentric". Billboard.
3. Price, Deborah Evans (July 2, 2005). "Zomba Ramps Up Gospel Biz". Billboard. 117 (27): 33–34.
4. Hefflinger, Mark (August 5, 2008). "Bertelsmann Sells Stake in Sony BMG for $1.2 Billion". DMWMedia.com. Digital Media Wire, Inc. Archived from the original on 2008-11-22. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
5. Gallo, Phil (January 14, 2009). "Keith Naftaly joins RCA/Jive". Variety.com. Reed Business Information. Retrieved 2009-12-12.
6. Billboard Staff (June 1, 2009). "UJA To Honor RCA/Jive Chief Barry Weiss". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on 2012-07-28. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
7. "Zomba Now Jive". Hits Daily Double. January 25, 2009.
8. "Verity Gospel Music Group Takes Home 13 Stellar Gospel Music Awards". GospelCity.com. GospelCity.com. January 2008. Archived from the original on 2010-01-15. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
9. Marovich, Bob (May 5, 2008). "Verity Gospel Music Group Makes Chart History". TheBlackGospelBlog.com. The Black Gospel Blog. Retrieved 2009-12-12.
10. "RCA inspiration". 5 October 2014. Archived from the original on 5 October 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)