Word Records of Canada

February 2002

Word Entertainment Canada closing

MOST COMPANIES would be preparing to celebrate after nearly 40 years of business, but the staff at Word Entertainment Canada may not have a chance to mark this anniversary. In late December, the staff at Word -- once one of Canada's largest distributors of Christian music and books -- were informed that the company was shutting down for good.

The Richmond-based company, which was founded in 1962 by Gerry Scott and sold to a secular corporation in 1989, began laying off its employees in January. It will have ceased operations altogether by the end of April.

Word has had several owners since Scott sold it to the American Broadcasting Company, which owned Word's American counterpart at the time.

ABC eventually sold Word to Thomas Nelson, the Christian publishing firm, which in turn sold Word's music division to Gaylord Entertainment, a Nashville-based firm that owns the Grand Ole Opry and a hotel chain.

In November, Gaylord announced it was selling Word to AOL Time-Warner for $84.1 million -- considerably less than the $120 million they had paid Nelson. Gaylord also instructed the Canadian company to close up shop.

Scott told ChristianWeek that the closure of his former business highlights the risk Christians take when they sell their business to non-Christians. "When Christians owned the companies, most of them had a spiritual commitment, which was the reason they got into the business in the first place. In a lot of cases, that goes down the tubes," he said.

It is unclear who will distribute the books and music that would have been Word's responsibility in Canada. A Warner Music Canada spokesman said his company did not have the rights to Word's music in Canada, and Word president Terry Dawes declined to comment for this story, while negotiations with prospective distributors were still under way.

Author Peter T. Chattaway
Source:
http://www.canadianchristianity.com/cgi-bin/bc.cgi?bc/bccn/0202/word