WOW Hits 2003 slated for October 1 release

On October 1, the WoW partnership of EMI Christian Music Group, Word Entertainment and Provident Music Group releases WoW Hits 2003 to the Christian retail market through Chordant Distribution Group and to general market outlets through EMI Music Distribution (EMD).

Thirty of the year’s top Christian artists and songs, including Steven Curtis Chapman, Nicole C. Mullen, Jars of Clay, Michael W. Smith, Avalon, CeCe Winans, Nichole Nordeman and Third Day, among 25 others, come together on this year’s double-CD project featuring an Adult Contemporary disc and Christian Hit Radio disc, plus three new artist bonus tracks. Also releasing this year is the first holiday project in the multi-platinum-certified WoW brand. Featuring 30 of Christian music’s top holiday songs, WoW Christmas (Word) is slated to release Oct. 1.

For the first time since the initial WoW project debuted in November 1995, the brand will feature a mail-in rebate coupon on the retail packaging, valid with the purchase of WoW Hits 2003 and WoW Christmas

“The idea behind the mail-in rebate is strategic,” says Scott Hughes, vice president of strategic marketing, EMI CMG. “We’re launching the first WoW Christmas release, the same street date as WoW Hits 2003 and our goal is to draw attention to both releases and reward consumers for buying both albums.”

WoW2003 also ushers in several changes to the album’s content and look. This year, the WoW committee, comprised of A&R representatives from the WoW partners, updated the criteria for song selection, resulting in two discs packed with Top 10 hits, such as Steven Curtis Chapman’s “Magnificent Obsession,” Michael W. Smith’s “Above All” and ZOEgirl’s “With All of My Heart.”

“This record is one of the best WoW albums ever,” Hughes said. “Last year’s project leaned more toward newer songs and newer artists. While they were great songs, they were not yet all radio hits. This year we created an album of Top 10 radio songs which include 12 No. 1 singles as well as 10 Top 5, and 3 Top 10. Consumers who buy WoW Hits will be very pleased because they will know and be familiar with the songs on the record. And if radio is a judge, they will be their favorites as well.”

WoW Hits 2003 also launches the new, updated packaging design for the entire WoW brand. After a soft introduction of a new WoW look to consumers in 2001, the WoW partners changed the new design, opting for a cleaner, less esoteric look.

“This new look is key. We’ve gone to a very clean, simple logo, so consumers can easily and quickly recognize it,” Hughes explained. “The old logo we initially started with in ‘95 was becoming outdated. Last year we began the rebranding process and realized we could be clearer with the word WoW. So this year we changed the logo to be bolder and more clear.”

Led by the $10 consumer rebate, WoW again embarks on a 12-month marketing initiative that targets the core market and aggressively seeks to grow music sales by creating new consumers. Plans are underway for a national and regional radio advertising and promotions campaign for maximum exposure around the Oct. 1 street date and during the holiday shopping season. WoW is also developing and securing third party Internet promotions featuring promotional/Internet sampling tools such as WoW jukebox players, e-postcards, user contests and other viral content. At retail, the album’s POP merchandising will also feature WoW Christmas — including front covers, hanging banner boards, floor displays and an endcap kit combining the rebate offer for WoW Hits and WoW Christmas.

Enhancing the album experience, WoW Hits 2003: The Videos (Sparrow), featuring this year’s top Christian music videos, will release simultaneously on Oct. 1 with the recorded project on both DVD and VHS.

Since its debut seven years ago, the WoW brand has sold more than 10 million records via its various WoW partnership projects: WoW Gospel (Provident), WoW Worship (Integrity Music/Word), as well as its specialty albums, WoW Gold (Provident) and WoW‘90s. WoW Hits 2002 continued in the platinum-selling tradition of all WoW Hits albums scanning 400,000 units in less than three months of its release.

As the Christian music industry’s leading tool to build and expand the genre, WoW has contributed to the sales of artist albums, growing Christian music’s overall marketshare and opening up promotional opportunities and new revenue avenues for artists’ projects. According to SoundScan, sales of Christian music’s annual Top 100 albums, Top 10 albums and Top 5 albums have grown 50 percent since the inception of WOW. A report from the American Research Group indicates that 74 percent of WoW consumers have also later bought an album by an artist they heard on a WoW disc. Moreover, total market Christian music sales have increased 9.4 percent from 1996 to 2001, totaling 31.9 million units in ’96 and 49.5 million in 2001 (source: SoundScan).

In addition to industry growth, the WoW brand has also contributed to numerous charitable causes, each year donating a portion of the albums’ sales to overall industry initiatives, and local and national organizations and ministries. In the last seven years, WoW has contributed more than $1.3 million in funds to numerous entities, including the Gospel Music Association, the Christian Music Trade Association, the Martin Luther King Foundation, Nashville-based Rocketown Ministries and Neighbors Who Care, among others.

WoW Hits 2003 Song List:

Disc One:

Steven Curtis Chapman "Magnificent Obsession"

Michael W. Smith "Above All"

CeCe Winans "Say a Prayer"

Point of Grace "You Will Never Walk Alone"

Nicole Mullen "Talk About It"

FFH "Open Up the Sky"

Mark Schultz "I Have Been There"

Caedmon’s Call "Who You Are"

Amy Grant "It Is Well/The River’s Gonna Keep On Rolling"

Nichole Nordeman "Holy"

Rachael Lampa "I’m All Yours"

Avalon "I Don’t Want to Go"

City On A Hill 2 "Holy Is Your Name"

Selah "Wonderful, Merciful Savior"

Newsong "Defining Moment"

Disc Two:

Third Day "Come Together"

Zoegirl "With All of My Heart"

Newsboys "It is You"

Jump5 "All I Can Do"

Plus One "Camouflage"

TobyMac "Irene"

Jars of Clay "I Need You"

Rebecca St. James "Song of Love"

Joy Williams "Surrender"

Salvador "Breathing Life"

Stacie Orrico "Security"

Jennifer Knapp "Say Won’t You Say"

Audio Adrenaline "Ocean Floor"

True Vibe "You Are the Way"

Out of Eden "Day Like Today"

Bonus Cuts:

Souljahz “All Around the World”

Paul Colman Trio “Turn”

Chris Tomlin “Enough”

For more information on WOW, visit www.sparrowrecords.com