Big news coming out of the Gospel industry. Jazzy Jordan, head of Gospel’s most successful record label has announced his retirement.
Industry insiders Hasan James and Sheilah Belle tell PATH that it’s OFFICIAL… There has been an industry shuffle over at Verity Records, as Stanley Brown (pictured below) replaces James “Jazzy” Jordan (pictured at top) as Executive Vice-President of Verity Records Music Group and Geo Bivins will be General Manager and Head of Promotions.
Prior to Jordan’s exit he held both titles, but apparently the shift has also included a restructuring. However, Jordan tells The Belle Report, “I am actually retiring from Verity and am very happy with the development of everything that is unfolding.”
When asked what’s next for the Music Mogul, Jordan said “I have some opportunities to work on several movies and other projects that ultimately will shift my residence to the West Coast.”
Jordan says he will be making a bigger announcement with more details about what he will be doing at the top of the year (2013).
Meanwhile, the remainder of Verity’s employees are staying put for the moment. But Stanley Brown says, “We are about to do some major things in 2013. Geo Bivins comes from the RCA side (Verity’s parent company) and we will have a bigger presence at radio and publicity. RCA is committed to growing the gospel brand and there may even be a name change from Verity to RCA Inspiration in the near future”.
Stanley Brown (right) was Sr. Director of A&R at the label for a little over two years and was responsible for signing Sunday Best Season 2 finalist, Latice Crawford and William Murphy.
For those of you old enough to remember, Stanley Brown has been in the music industry for over 25 years and has produced for artists such as Run DMC, The Temptations, India.Arie, Donald Lawrence, Dru Hill, Hezekiah Walker, Keith Sweat, T.D. Jakes, Bell Biv DeVoe, Will Downing, Vickie Winans, Salt-N-Pepa, Karen Clark-Sheard, Guy, Marvin Sapp, Christopher Williams and Bobby Brown to name a few. He has served as Vice President of A&R for Island Black Music and Senior Director of A&R for Motown Records.
Verity Records is already the top Gospel label in the world but has been accused of not going outside of the box or signing new talent.
Hopefully now with Brown at the helm, things will change providing growth for the company and more opportunity for the labels artists.
Below check out PATH’s last interview with Jazzy, as he tells his testimony and gives his perspective on the Gospel industry.