The extended agreement means a continuation of the successful partnership between EMI CMG Publishing and Kingsway’s ThankYou Music, to sign, develop and promote worship music songwriters for both publishing houses which now includes Tim Hughes (“Here I Am To Worship”), Matt Redman (“Blessed Be Your Name”), Vicky Beeching, Stuart Townend and Brenton Brown.

“ThankYou Music songs have had life-changing impact in the church in North America. EMI CMG has been honored to partner with Kingsway and Thank You Music in this important endeavor and understand the privilege that it will be to carry our alliance into the future,” said Bill Hearn, president and CEO of EMI CMG.

DeGarmo added: “I am grateful for opportunity that EMI CMG Publishing has had to introduce so many anointed worship songwriters and their songs. In addition to the already stellar roster of writers between our two publishing companies and our successful co-ownership of the Thank You Music catalog, the horizon sparkles with promising new songwriters whose music will be influencing the world in the future as well as classic catalog worship songs that will never go out of style.”

In addition to the co-publishing relationship, EMI CMG Publishing, by the way of a 2001 acquisition, continues to administer 50 percent of ThankYou Music’s catalog, which currently includes more than 4,000 songs.

The opportunity to bring such powerful resources to today’s church that enhance our worship, strengthen believers, and encourage discipleship is simply humbling and breathtaking,” said John Paculabo, managing director of Kingsway Communication. “This partnership has been none other than God inspired, and we are privileged and grateful to have been allowed to join together in such an awesome endeavor.”

According to the most recent survey by Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI), Hughes’ “Here I Am To Worship” is the most performed song in churches in the United States. That song is also the #1 song in Canada, Australia and New Zealand in 2005. Additionally, Redman’s “Blessed Be Your Name,” “Heart of Worship” and “Better is One Day” were also in the U.S. CCLI Top 25 for the quarterly period ending in August 2005. Brenton Brown, who has just joined the Thank You Music roster, has two of his songs in the Top 25 – “Lord Reign Me In” and “Hallelujah” (co-written with Brian Doerksen) at 22 and 23 respectively.

In the United Kingdom, Kingsway’s home country, five of the top 12 songs were by ThankYou Music writers, including “In Christ Alone” (Stuart Townend/Keith Getty) at #3; “How Deep Is The Father’s Love For Us (Stuart Townend) at #6; and Hughes’ “Here I Am To Worship” at #9.

Brown is among the writers that DeGarmo sees having a big impact in the near future. Recently signed to EMI CMG Label Group for a solo recording contract, the South African born and former worship pastor at Oxford Vineyard in the UK, Brown is known for his thoughtful approach to theology, pastoral approach to people, and scriptural approach to songwriting. His Worship Together debut CD is scheduled to release in 2006.

Vicky Beeching, an Oxford University-educated songwriter who has been writing worship songs for the church for more than 10 years, will release her full-length Sparrow Records’ debut, Yesterday, Today & Forever, in January 2006. Her brand of rock worship has been compared to contemporaries Redman, Hughes, Chris Tomlin and David Crowder but with a female perspective.

Other writers on the verge of prominence in the U.S. are Lex Buckley, a female worship leader from Australia, who currently works with Hughes at Soul Survivor Ministries in the United Kingdom, and Matt Maher, a youth leader from Ohio who is the leading modern worship songwriter in the Catholic Church. EMI CMG Publishing and ThankYou Music have partnered with Catholic music publisher Spirit and Song to expand Maher’s presence beyond his current community.

According to DeGarmo, the partnership between EMI CMG Publishing and Kingsway has been as profitable as it has been life-changing since the two companies began working together in 1998. Evidence of that success include catalog earnings which have increased more than 1000 percent in seven years; and 11 million unit sales of records containing EMI CMG Publishing/ThankYou Music songs.

When EMI Christian Music Publishing began representing the ThankYou Music catalog in the U.S. and throughout the Western Hemisphere in 1998, EMI CMG also launched its WorshipTogether.com web site, which was one of the tools that catapulted ThankYou Music’s worship songs to the forefront in the U.S. and beyond. The web site, a resource for church music leaders all over the world, distributes one free song each week in addition to selling CDs, songbooks and digital sheet music through its on-line store. It has made EMI Christian Music Publishing songs much more accessible to churches across the world, and has dramatically grown in membership from 50,000 members to 320,000 members since 2001.

As a full-service publisher, EMI CMG Publishing represents more than 300 writers and 30,000 songs. Its artist/writers are signed to ForeFront, Sparrow, Tooth & Nail / BEC and EMI Gospel including Stacie Orrico, Switchfoot, Smokie Norful, Steven Curtis Chapman, Newsboys and Jeremy Camp among others. EMI CMG Publishing also administers catalogs for top-selling artists Third Day and Casting Crowns and for labels Gotee Records, Six Steps and InPop Records. EMI CMG Publishing also owns a 50 percent interest in Thank You Music, the United Kingdom’s most prolific worship music publishing company which includes the current #1 CCLI song in the world “Here I Am To Worship”. EMI CMG Publishing was named 2004 Christian Music Publisher of the Year by ASCAP, BMI and Billboard Magazine.

EMI CMG Publishing is a part of Brentwood, Tennessee-based EMI Christian Music Group, which was formed in 1994. It is the world’s largest Christian music company, and is a unit of EMI Music, the third largest music company in the world.