Light Records

Light Records is a gospel record label started as a division of Lexicon Music, Inc., in Waco, Texas. It was founded in 1966 by Ralph Carmichael as a joint venture with the Waco, Texas-based Word. So Light Records as a contemporary Christian label and Lexicon Music, Inc. as music publishing company were born. Since the giant Word Records, Inc. was nearby, Light used Word as a distributor. This lasted until 1982, when Light switched to Elektra for distribution. This was a short-time deal. Today, Light is part of CGI/Light. Light's mainstays in the early years were Andrae Crouch, Ralph Carmichael, and the Continentals. Later, the label was the home of Contemporary Christian artists Dino, the Archers, John Fischer, the Resurrection Band, the Sweet Comfort Band, and the early Winans. The first label was yellow with black print. The Light logo was in the center-right, just above the center hole. Later, the label changed to a red color with a picture of a misty sunset. Carmichael bought out Word's portion of Light/Lexicon in 1980 after ABC/CapCities had purchased Word in 1974. Light was then purchased by Platinum Entertainment in 1993. After Platinum filed bankruptcy in 2001, it was renamed Compendia Music Group, and the Light label continued as an urban-gospel label. Compendia was purchased by Sheridan Square Entertainment in 2004 As of April 2010, Light records was owned by the Canadian media company Entertainment One and operated by U.S. music company eOne. Light Records is now a division of eOne Music.