Speaking to Music Week earlier this year, Capitol Music Group CEO & chairman Tom March identified the global potential for faith-based music.
“There are people of faith all around the world, let’s get to them,” said March of the ambitions for breakthrough artist Josiah Queen, who is signed to Capitol Christian Music Group.
Now that focus on international growth for faith-based music is ramping up with a major new deal unveiled today. Universal Music Group’s Capitol Christian Music Group (CCMG) and Capitol Records have announced a joint venture deal with a rising London-based Christian & gospel music company, Wings Music Group.
Under the terms of the new agreement, select Wings Music Group artists will have access to Capitol Music Group’s expertise and promotional muscle to expand their opportunities and fanbases around the world.
Through the joint venture, Wings and Capitol/CCMG will jointly sign, develop and market selected artists from the Wings roster and pipeline. Wings Music Group remains an independent company.
Wings Music Group’s roster includes more than 100 artists across its services, including Sondae, LIN D, Jonathan Ogden, Ally Minju and CityAlight. In the JV announcement, CCMG noted that Wings has “established itself as one of the most dynamic independent companies operating at the intersection of faith, music and global culture”.
Music Week understands that the international opportunities were a key element in Capitol Christian Music Group and Wings Music Group coming together on the JV.
They have a real passion for artist development and we are excited to leverage our expertise to provide Wings’ artists with the global platform they need
Tom March
While faith-based music has a strong domestic appeal in the US, there is recognition of the increasingly global nature of Christian & gospel music in terms of streams and ticket sales. Josiah Queen, who has 5.1 million monthly Spotify listeners, is one example of an artist expanding his reach beyond the US. He played a sold-out show at London’s Troxy last month.
Given the global footprint of Wings, the JV is unique within the Capitol Christian Music Group system as the UMG company partners with a UK-based label that has been built around developing artists both in the US and internationally.
The joint venture has been unveiled as Capitol Christian Music Group marks its 50th anniversary. There was an early clue that Wings Music Group might be linking up with the major when co-founder Chris Lawson Jones attended CCMG’s annual partner summit in Nashville in August.
Founded in 2020 by Lawson Jones and fellow former Integrity Music executive Brad Heydon, Wings Music Group describes itself as a fast-growing independent music company focused on discovering, developing and scaling the next generation of Christian & gospel artists.
“Built around artist ownership, creative ambition and long-term partnership, Wings provides global distribution, publishing administration, management and strategic development to an expanding international roster,” said a statement.
Christian & Gospel music is on the rise globally, posting double digit increases last year across Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and more. In the US, the genre’s streaming numbers grew by more than 18% in 2025 alone, according to Luminate data.
This is an unprecedented time of growth for our genre, one that requires bold ideas and real innovation to make the most of the opportunity in front of us
Chris Lawson Jones
“Chris and Brad have built in Wings a modern, global music operation with huge ambitions to fuel continued growth in the genre with their exceptional artists,” said Tom March, chairman and CEO of Capitol Music Group. “They have a real passion for artist development and we are excited to leverage our expertise to provide Wings’ artists with the global platform they need.”
Brad O’Donnell, president of Capitol Christian Music Group, said: “Wings is one of the most exciting music companies in contemporary Christian & gospel music globally. We are thrilled to partner together to help them continue to build their impressive successes around the world.”
Chris Lawson Jones said: "This is an unprecedented time of growth for our genre, one that requires bold ideas and real innovation to make the most of the opportunity in front of us. Capitol CMG brings decades of Christian & gospel expertise, while Capitol brings the ambition and global infrastructure to take the music further than it’s been before, which is exactly why we wanted to partner with them.
“Our artists now have access to world-class people and resources when they need help maximising the reach and impact of their music. This kind of model, a major and an indie building together and playing to each other's strengths, is where I believe our industry is heading, and I'm proud we get to help shape that future."
PHOTO: (L-R) John Janick, chairman and CEO of Interscope Capitol; Brad Heydon, co-founder and COO, Wings Music Group; Chris Lawson Jones, founder and CEO, Wings Music Group; Brad O’Donnell, president of Capitol Christian Music Group; Tom March, chairman and CEO of Capitol Music Group. (Photo credit: Aaron Bean)
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