President of Capitol CMG Publishing (CCMGP) Eddie DeGarmo will retire effective July 31, 2014, Bill Hearn, President/CEO of Capitol Christian Music Group (CCMG) and Evan Lamberg, President, North America, Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) announced today. Throughout the remainder of the year, DeGarmo will serve in an exclusive advisory role to Hearn, who will oversee, on an interim basis, day-to-day operations of the publishing company with CCMGP SVP Casey McGinty and Brentwood Benson Music Publications SVP Johnathan Crumpton.
“I’ve had the privilege and honor of working alongside and learning from Eddie for more than 20 years,” said Hearn. “Eddie is one of those extraordinary talents in the music industry with an uncanny ability to combine his gifted creative skills as an artist and writer with those of a strong business leader and developer of people. I will certainly miss working with him on a day-to-day basis but more importantly our industry will never be the same without his presence. He is truly one of a kind and his footprint on our community can never be filled.”
“Eddie DeGarmo is a rare and special music publishing executive who has helped build the single greatest Christian music publishing catalog our industry has ever seen. Not only does he understand the business incredibly well, but he connects with songwriters and artists at a very unique level. We will miss Eddie dearly and on a personal note, I have loved working with him over the last 20 years,” said Lamberg.
“My years at EMI and now Capitol CMG Publishing have been the capstone of a truly wonderful journey with music,” said DeGarmo. “I can’t imagine a better scenario and group of people to work alongside. I’ve had the honor of dreaming with most of the best songwriters in the business, coupled with the very ‘best in class’ staff and organization. I can’t thank Bill Hearn enough for his belief in me to build Capitol CMG Publishing. Bill is a true visionary as well as my dear friend. I also thank my longtime friend Evan Lamberg for his support. He has been instrumental in creating Capitol CMG Publishing, investing the strength of Universal Music Publishing Group fully into the Christian music genre.”
Throughout his over forty years in music, DeGarmo has had a storied career with success as an artist, songwriter, producer and businessman. He was one of the pioneers of contemporary Christian music as part of rock duo DeGarmo & Key, which was recently inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. DeGarmo has sold millions of albums and garnered numerous Grammy and Dove Award nominations. He co-founded ForeFront Records, where he developed multi-platinum and Grammy winning artists dc Talk, Stacie Orrico, Audio Adrenaline and Rebecca St. James. DeGarmo eventually sold ForeFront to EMI Christian Music Group to focus on his new venture, Meaux Music Publishing. In 2002, he rejoined EMI CMG as President of Publishing, and Meaux was subsequently acquired by EMI CMG in 2005. Under DeGarmo’s leadership, EMI CMG Publishing was named Christian Music Publisher of the Year every year since 2004 by both Billboard and ASCAP. In 2013, DeGarmo led the merger of EMI CMG Publishing with Brentwood Benson Music Publishing to create Capitol CMG Publishing, which holds the 2014 Christian Music Publisher of the Year title with BMI, ASCAP and Billboard.
Capitol CMG Publishing’s roster includes many of the industry’s top songwriters, such as TobyMac, Michael W. Smith, Kirk Franklin, Chris Tomlin, Casting Crowns, Third Day, Mandisa, Jeremy Camp, David Crowder, Matt Redman, Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, Aaron Lindsey, David Garcia, Tim Hughes, Jamie Grace, Brenton Brown and Leeland. CCMGP also encompasses many of the world’s most prominent Christian music catalogs, including sixsteps, Thankyou Music, Integrity, Hillsong, Gaither, Maranatha! Music, Emack (the publishing catalog of Gotee Records), the Lorenz Creative Services catalogs, Reunion Music (including the Eric Clapton hit “Change The World”) and the evergreen Sparrow catalogs. Songs from these historic catalogs have been recorded by music legends including Bob Dylan, Dolly Parton, Ray Charles, Linda Ronstadt, Amy Grant, Elvis Presley and Willie Nelson.