Maranatha! Music


Maranatha! Music is a Christian music record label which was founded as a nonprofit ministry of Calvary Chapel in 1971. The label is distributed by Capitol Christian Music Group, a division of Universal Music.

Background

In the early 1970s Calvary Chapel was home to more than 15 musical groups
that were representative of the Jesus movement. In 1971, Maranatha! Music was founded as a nonprofit outreach of Calvary Chapel to popularize and promote a new, folk-rock style of hymns and worship songs influenced by the Jesus people. Some of the early Maranatha! recording groups were Sweet Comfort Band, Love Song, Chuck Girard, Children of the Day, The Way, Debby Kerner, Mustard Seed Faith, Karen Lafferty, and Daniel Amos. The label's first release was a various artists compilation entitled The Everlastin' Living Jesus Music Concert, in 1971.
Maranatha! also branched into the children's market segment. Premier products included Psalty the singing songbook and the Kid's Praise Kids. In the early 1990s this segment represented about 40% of company revenues.
In the 1980s, Maranatha! launched Broken Records, a label focusing on modern rock, punk and alternative music. The "Colours" series contained instrumental music in the vein of New Age artists, but the label avoided the term.

Awards

In 1990, Maranatha! was awarded the National Religious Broadcasters' President's Award. In 1991, the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Gospel Music Association.

Maranatha! Singers

Maranatha! Singers discography

Note: This series is the same as the Maranatha Colours projects except the song titles have been renamed. The original artist and music are retained.