The WOW partnership announces the upcoming release of its new album WOW Hits 1 featuring 19 of the biggest artists and most current hits in Christian music, including three new artist bonus cuts, in stores April 8th. This latest installment of the WOW Hits brand marks the launch of a new product initiative to release three single-disc WOW Hits projects per year. Each album will include the most current songs from today’s leading pop, rock, adult contemporary and worship artists offering fans more music, more often, while creating year-round traffic for retail.

WOW Hits 1 is also the only place to find the new radio single “So Great” recorded by Michael W. Smith, Israel Houghton and Christy Nockels, formerly of the husband/wife duo Watermark. “So Great” is the first song to be recorded from the unprecedented gathering of award-winning songwriters in Scotland, UK Jan 7th – 11th, who wrote songs collectively to generate income for the poorest of the poor.

In addition to the new single at radio, WOW Hits 1 will be supported by an aggressive retail campaign focused on in-store merchandising and extensive catalog presence. Plus, www.wowonline.com will host internet promotions and provide a place for fans to listen to Christian music’s best songs, watch the latest music videos, learn stories behind the hits, and more.

With more than 20 million records sold, WOW is the most-successful brand in Christian music history. The WOW partnership comprises Provident Label Group, EMI/CMG and Word Entertainment.

About Compassionart:

Founded by Delirious? frontman Martin Smith and his wife Anna, Compassionart is a charity based in Littlehampton, England that is dedicated to seeing works of art generate income for ongoing global relief for the poorest of the poor. Toward that goal, Compassionart gathered some of the world’s greatest songwriters in Scotland, UK to write 10-12 songs. Working together toward this common goal involving no personal gain, the internationally recognized songwriters far surpassed that objective completing 22 new songs, including “So Great.” Written by Paul Baloche, Steven Curtis Chapman, Stu G (Delirious?), Israel Houghton, Tim Hughes, Graham Kendrick, Andy Park, Matt Redman, Martin Smith (Delirious?), Michael W. Smith and Darlene Zschech, one hundred percent of the proceeds derived from the songs will go directly to charity.Together these songwriters account for at least 40 million albums sold, 76 No. 1 songs, nine GRAMMY® Awards, 98 Dove Awards, two Stellar Awards, two American Music Awards, and 78 current CCLI Top 500 songs sung by millions in churches around the world.

In addition to the songwriters, the publishers, managers, copyright institutes and agents involved have all waived their rights and are donating their efforts on these songs to Compassionart. A portion of the proceeds from WOW Hits 1 will also support the Compassionart initiative. For more information on the charity, go to Compassionart.co.uk.

Check out the songs on WOW Hits 1 and the other great WOW releases here.