Inception In late 2002,
BMG completed the purchase of the
Zomba Group for US$2.74 billion and as a part of that deal, acquired the gospel label
Verity Records. In 2004, BMG purchased
GospoCentric Records and its sublabel B'Rite Music, which already had ties with Zomba since before the purchase. When BMG restructured the Zomba labels into the
Zomba Label Group, those labels were initially moved there, however, in 2005, Zomba amalgamated its gospel interests in the new
Zomba Gospel and operated it under the Zomba Label Group. The new group consisted of Verity Records, GospoCentric Records and four artist owned imprints: Quiet Water Entertainment (
Donald Lawrence), Fo Yo Soul Entertainment (
Kirk Franklin), New Life Records (
John P. Kee) and F. Hammond Music (
Fred Hammond). When BMG and Sony formed
Sony BMG, Zomba Gospel (as a part of the Zomba Label Group) was shifted under the BMG Label Group as an amalgamation of BMG's interests in the merger.
Rebrandings In August 2008, Sony purchased
Bertelsmann's half of their
Sony BMG merger. Since Bertelsmann kept the
BMG name, Sony renamed the BMG Label Group to
RCA/Jive Label Group in early 2009 and began the process of rebranding Zomba as the
Jive Label Group. In another move to eschew the Zomba name, Zomba Gospel was rebranded as Verity Gospel Music Group, taking its name from their flagship label. Over a year after Jive disbanded in mid 2011, RCA Inspiration became the name for Verity Gospel Music Group by early 2013. ==Labels==