27-Year Publishing Vet to Oversee Newly Combined Publishing and Print Music Divisions of Christian Entertainment Company
Word Entertainment—a Christian entertainment company offering an array of artist services including recorded music, publishing, merchandising, booking and marketing —today announced the appointment of Dale Mathews to Senior Vice President, Music Publishing and Church Resources, Word Entertainment. Mathews will oversee Word’s newly combined Publishing and Print Music operations, leading a unified team dedicated to serving Word Entertainment’s songwriters and artists, and equipping the church with a wide range of premier music products and other ministry resources. Based in Nashville, Mathews will report to Rod Riley, President and CEO, Word Entertainment. He was previously President of Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing.
“Dale’s track record speaks for itself,” said Riley. “His deep understanding of how to nurture songwriters, coupled with his tireless dedication to the church, makes him the perfect leader for this new role. Giving an executive of his caliber oversight of both our publishing and print music businesses will enable us to innovate and better serve our artists, songwriters and the church. I am thrilled to have Dale join our family and look forward to all of the future success he will bring to Word.”
“To join Word Entertainment, home to one of the most iconic music publishing houses in the history of Christian Music, is a huge honor for me,” said Mathews. “I have always admired this great company, from its amazing song catalog and church music legacy, to its reputation as being the industry leader in breaking new talent. I look forward to working with all of the songwriters, artists, and managers as we shape the future of Word Music’s publishing and print music businesses together.”
Mathews spent 27 years with Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing. Under Mathews’ direction, Brentwood-Benson was named Billboard’s Gospel Music Publisher of the Year every year since 2010. For four consecutive years (2008 – 2011), Mathews led the company in being named BMI’s Christian Music Publisher of the Year, while also capturing BMI’s Christian Song of the Year honors in 2011 and 2012, as well as GMA’s 2012 Song of the Year. Mathews is also the recipient of two Dove Awards. He has worked with such artists as Jars of Clay, Third Day, Kirk Franklin, Marvin Sapp, Laura Story and Jamie Grace, while managing the song catalogs of some of Christian Music’s most esteemed songwriters. Throughout his career, he has maintained a strong connection with the contemporary evangelical church market through his innovation and leadership in the area of Church Choir products and other church resources.
About Word Entertainment
A leader in the music industry for more than 60 years, Word Entertainment, a Warner/Curb company, is a unique, comprehensive entertainment company comprised of multi-faceted artist service departments including publishing, merchandising, booking, and online initiatives. Word Entertainment represents some of the top names and brands in Christian music, including Meredith Andrews, Chris August, BarlowGirl, Francesca Battistelli, Big Daddy Weave, Jason Castro, Patrick Ryan Clark, Everfound, For King and Country, Group 1 Crew, Dara Maclean, Point Of Grace and Sidewalk Prophets, and is home to 25 Entertainment, Word Distribution (representing Curb Records and Big Idea/VeggieTales among others), Word Print, Word Music Publishing, Word Films and Word Label Group’s Word Records and Fervent Records.
Source: Word Entertainment
