NASHVILLE, TN (Tricia Whitehead/ www.gospelmusic.org) - The Worship Network and Word Records have partnered to create Visual Tracks, described as the next generation of performance tracks. The first 20 Visual Tracks in the new series, featuring songs originally made by popular artists Casting Crowns, MercyMe, Carrie Underwood, BarlowGirl, Chris Tomlin,
Natalie Grant and others, are set to release at Christian retail in July, announced Bruce Koblish, president of The Worship Network and Tim Marshall, senior vice president of Artist Relations and
Music Publishing for Word.
The Word Visual Tracks series takes digitally mastered songs from today's top praise & worship and Christian music artists to create a DVD performance track that is enhanced by The Worship Network's stunning video and photographic images. The video is designed to provide a visual and emotional backdrop for music performances in many settings including church services, concert events and others.
The Worship Network is very pleased to join with Word which has always been a leader in performance tracks, to create this exciting new tool. We are seeing more churches and worship artists incorporate media technology into their worship services and other events, and the Visual Tracks provide something they have never had before ' a user-friendly resource that offers a powerful visual context for their music presentations,? said Koblish, who added that this partnership represents his company's overall strategy of expanding The Worship Network's impact beyond the broadcast spectrum to additional media platforms.
Added Marshall: �We saw a need in the market for this type of visual product - one that was geared more toward the church soloist and allowed them to add a visual element to their special music. It was natural for us to partner with The Worship Network for this kind of product as no one does inspirational and worship imagery better than they do. Because this type of product has never been offered at the performance track level and because of the quality of the new tracks, the response at retail has been overwhelming.
The Visual Tracks, as with all Word Tracks, will offer a demonstration track with vocal along with performance tracks in three keys. If the original song included background vocals, the Visual Track will also offer the option to perform the song with or without background vocals. The track's video and photo images are synched with music, intended to be displayed as a video behind the music performer. The DVDs also feature a lyric on? and off? option.
The first 20 Visual Tracks feature a diverse collection of current and recent songs. The Worship Network and Word partnership calls for 20 additional tracks to be added to the series by this fall with another 60 planned for 2007. The first tracks to be available at retail in July include:
Song Titles As Made Popular By:
Call On Jesus Nicole C. Mullen
Cry Out To Jesus Third Day
Do They See Jesus In Me Joy Williams
Held Natalie Grant
How Great Is Our God Chris Tomlin
I Am Mark Schultz
I Can Only Imagine MercyMe
I Need You To Love Me BarlowGirl
Jesus, Take The Wheel Carrie Underwood
Lay It Down Jaci Velasquez
Lifesong Casting Crowns
On My Knees Jaci Velasquez
Praise You In This Storm Casting Crowns
Redeemer Nicole C. Mullen
Remember Me Mark Schultz
Untitled Hymn (Come To Jesus) Chris Rice
Voice of Truth Casting Crowns
Who Am I Casting Crowns
Wonderful, Merciful Savior Selah
You Raise Me Up Selah
