"WOW" is a series of annual compilation albums featuring contemporary Christian music dating from 1995. Comprising songs submitted by each partner label, the annual WOW Hits releases are usually double CD sets. The series was officially cancelled in 2019. Throughout its run, the WOW franchise evolved into one of the most successful collections of Christian music.
Background The birth of the WOW record project can be traced to Grant Cunningham, A&R Director at Sparrow Records. In November 1994, Cunningham made a business trip to EMI Limited in London, which at the time was the parent company of Sparrow Records. There, he noticed that several British record labels were issuing an annual CD of top-rated songs, known as the NOW series, containing collections of pop songs. Cunningham brought the idea back to Sparrow. Sparrow executives suggested a similar project be developed for Christian pop music and he was assigned the task of getting the project off the ground.
Released in late 1995, WOW 1996 was the first in the WOW Series and the first recording put together by the three major Christian record companies of the time: Word Records (now Word Entertainment), Sparrow Records (formerly part of EMI Christian Music Group), and Reunion Records (now part of Sony's Provident Label Group). Still today, after each submitting label agrees to a reduced master royalty, the final decision on the tracks to be included is made by committee. Production, marketing, and distribution for the "WOW Hits" series was handled by EMI Christian Music Group, and from 2013, by Capitol Christian Music Group, which is now a Universal Music Group company.
In 1999, the annual WOW Worship series was launched. Rather than using the year, each release is identified by the color of the cover. The worship series and hits series are today among the best-selling members of the product brand. Beginning in 2008, WOW began releasing separate single-disc collections spread throughout each year, rather than a two-disc collection toward the end of each year. In addition to WOW Hits, which focuses on the most popular pop and pop-rock music, plans call for either single-disc WOW Rock Hits and WOW Pop Hits collections released twice a year.
Released annually WOW Series WOW Series was the first and most successful series of WOW collections, and contains the following albums:
Title Details Peak chart positions Certifications US US Christ WOW 1996 Release date: November 7, 1995 Label: Sparrow, EMI Formats: CD, Cassette tape, Music download 144 7 US: Platinum WOW 1997 Release date: October 29, 1996 Label: Sparrow, EMI Formats: CD, Cassette tape, Music download 71 1 US: Platinum WOW 1998 Release date: November 4, 1997 Label: EMI Formats: CD, Cassette tape, Music download 52 2 US: Platinum CAN: Gold WOW 1999 Release date: October 20, 1998 Label: EMI Formats: CD, Cassette tape, Music download 51 2 US: 2× Platinum CAN: Gold WOW 2000 Release date: October 26, 1999 Label: Sparrow, EMI Formats: CD, Cassette tape, Music download 29 1 US: 2× Platinum CAN: Gold
Wow Hits In 2000, the WOW Series was rebranded to WOW Hits, forming the second and also the most successful series of WOW collections. In 2008, the WOW Series contemplated releasing three single discs per year instead of the annual double discs customers were used to. Only one single disc was ever released, WOW Hits 1. in the spring of 2008, before reverting to the annual format. It is not known why the publishers decided to return to the annual format instead of the new format, which was inspired by the Now That's What I Call Music! series, which releases three discs annually. It contains the following albums:
Title Details Peak chart positions Certifications Sales US US Christ WOW Hits 2001 Release date: October 24, 2000 Label: Sparrow, EMI Formats: CD, Cassette tape, Music download 36 1 US: 2× Platinum WOW Hits 2002 Release date: October 23, 2001 Label: Sparrow Formats: CD, digital download 52 2 US: Platinum WOW Hits 2003 Release date: October 1, 2002 Label: Chordant Formats: CD, digital download 34 1 US: Platinum WOW Hits 2004 Release date: October 7, 2003 Label: EMI Formats: CD, digital download 51 1 US: Platinum WOW Hits 2005 Release date: October 5, 2004 Label: EMI Formats: CD, digital download 39 1 US: Platinum CAN: Gold WOW Hits 2006 Release date: October 4, 2005 Label: Chordant Formats: CD, digital download 42 1 US: Platinum WOW Hits 2007 Release date: October 3, 2006 Label: EMI Formats: CD, digital download 38 1 US: Platinum WOW Hits 2008 Release date: October 2, 2007 Label: EMI Formats: CD, digital download 56 2 US: Gold WOW Hits 1 Release date: April 8, 2008 Label: EMI Formats: CD, Digital Download 99 4 WOW Hits 2009 Release date: October 7, 2008 Label: Word Formats: CD, Digital Download 31 1 US: Platinum WOW Hits 2010 Release date: October 6, 2009 Label: Word Formats: CD, Digital Download 33 1 US: Platinum US: 338,000 WOW Hits 2011 Release date: October 5, 2010 Label: Word Formats: CD, Digital Download 26 1 US: Gold WOW Hits 2012 Release date: September 27, 2011 Label: Provident Formats: CD, Digital Download 35 1 US: Gold US: 284,000 WOW Hits 2013 Release date: September 25, 2012 Label: EMI Formats: CD, Digital Download 39 1US: Gold US: 282,000 WOW Hits 2014 Release date: September 24, 2013 Label: Capitol CMG Formats: CD, Digital Download 29 1 US: Gold US: 162,000 WOW Hits 2015 Release date: September 30, 2014 Label: Capitol CMG Formats: CD, Digital Download 23 1 US: Gold US: 155,000 WOW Hits 2016 Release date: September 25, 2015 Label: Capitol CMG Formats: Digital download, CD 55 1 US: 140,000 WOW Hits 2017 Release date: September 23, 2016 Label: Capitol CMG Formats: Digital download, CD 64 1 WOW Hits 2018 Release date: October 6, 2017 Label: Capitol CMG Formats: Digital download, CD 113 3 WOW Hits 2019 Release Date: October 5, 2018 Label: Capitol CMG Formats: Digital download, CD — 5
WOW Gospel WOW Gospel are released annually, beginning with WOW Gospel 1998. The focus of this series is gospel, and the compilation has been issued every year since 1998. Since the release of WOW Gospel 2003, a major metropolitan city that has been influential in the field of gospel music has been honored on the album cover. For instance, New York, NY was honored due in part to the September 11, 2001 tragedy, and so on. The exception is WOW Gospel 2009 in which the United States of America was honored due to the previous year's election. Another exception was when Atlanta was honored twice - first in 2007 and 2013. However, for Wow Gospel 2014 and Wow Gospel 2015, they did not recognize a city, however used a different background for the cover. The series consists of the following albums: WOW Gospel 1998 WOW Gospel 1999 WOW Gospel 2000 WOW Gospel 2001 WOW Gospel 2002 WOW Gospel 2003 WOW Gospel 2004 WOW Gospel 2005 WOW Gospel 2006 WOW Gospel 2007 WOW Gospel 2008 WOW Gospel 2009 WOW Gospel 2010 WOW Gospel 2011 WOW Gospel 2012 WOW Gospel 2013 WOW Gospel 2014 WOW Gospel 2015 WOW Gospel 2016 WOW Gospel 2017 WOW Gospel 2018 WOW Gospel 2019
WOW Worship The WOW Worship series was released annually beginning with WOW Worship Blue in 1999. The focus on this series is praise and worship. The first album features songs performed by the worship leaders who wrote them, including Darlene Zschech's "Shout to the Lord". It is a partnership between Integrity Music, Maranatha Music and Vineyard Music. After several years, it switched to a contemporary Christian music format, where CCM recording artists perform praise and worship songs in their style. The series features ten albums.
Title Details Peak chart positions Certifications US US Christ US Gospel WOW Worship: Blue Release date: June 15, 1999 Formats: CD & Cassette Label: Word (Christian Market) & Word/Epic (General Market) 144 1 — US: 2× Platinum CAN: Platinum WOW Worship: Orange Release date: March 28, 2000 Formats: CD & Cassette Label: Word (Christian Market) & Word/Epic (General Market) 65 1 — US: Platinum CAN: Gold WOW Worship: Green Release date: March 20, 2001 Formats: CD & Cassette Label: Word (Christian Market) & Word/Epic (General Market) 78 3 — US: Gold CAN: Gold WOW Worship: The Platinum Collection Release date: 2002 Formats: CD (6-discs) Label: Word — — — WOW Worship: Yellow Release date: March 18, 2003 Formats: CD Label: Provident 1 — US: Platinum WOW Worship: Red Release date: March 9, 2004 Formats: CD Label: Word 62 2 — WOW Worship: Aqua Release date: April 4, 2006 Formats: CD Label: Provident 75 2 — US: Gold WOW Worship: Purple Release date: March 2, 2010 Formats: CD Label: Word 93 3 — US: Gold WOW Gospel Worship Release date: August 23, 2011 Formats: CD Label: Capital CMG — — 16 WOW Worship: Lime Release date: March 11, 2014 Formats: CD, Digital Download Versions: Regular and Deluxe Editions Label: Provident 76 4 —
WOW Essentials WOW Essentials was first released in August 2008. It contains twelve songs that are "essential to Christian music life." The first album features songs from Chris Tomlin, Casting Crowns, and many others. The focus of this series was to showcase favorite and well-known songs picked from the most recent years, and consists of the following albums:
Title Details Peak chart positionsUS ChristWOW Essentials Release date: August 5, 2008 Label: EMI Formats: CD 13WOW Essentials 2 Release date: March 17, 2009 Label: Reunion, Integrity Formats: CD 24
Released occasionally WOW Christmas WOW Christmas is a series of compilation albums featuring Christmas music as recorded by contemporary Christian music artists. The series is released sporadically, beginning in 2002, and consists of the following albums:
Title Details Peak chart positions Certifications Sales US US Christ US Holiday WOW Christmas: Red Release date: October 1, 2002 Label: Word Formats: CD 45 1 3 US: Platinum WOW Christmas: Green Release date: October 4, 2005 Label: Word Formats: CD 54 2 US: Gold WOW Christmas: White Release date: September 27, 2011 Label: Word Formats: CD 61 2 3 US: 127,000 WOW Christmas: Blue Release date: September 24, 2013 Label: Word Formats: CD 49 2 3 WOW Christmas: Gold Release date: October 13, 2017 Label: Word Formats: CD — 12
Released once
WOW #1s Title Details Peak chart positions Certifications US US Christ WOW #1s Release date: April 5, 2005 Label: Provident Formats: CD, Digital Download 58 1 US: Gold WOW #1s: Yellow Release date: March 1, 2011 Label: Word Formats: CD, Digital Download — 9
Other albums WOW The 90s - Released in 1999. All of the songs in this collection were contemporary Christian music hits during the 1990s. Marketing and distribution responsibilities for this title was delegated to Word Entertainment. WOW Gold - Released in 2000. It was a single 2-CD/2-cassette collection of contemporary Christian music from the 1960s to the time it was released. Marketing and distribution for this title was given to Brentwood Records (now Provident Music Group). WOW for the Children, a single disc released in the year 2000. It includes twelve songs on a single CD. The tracks are a mix of top gospel, CCM and CWM songs. It was compiled especially for the charitable organization Feed the Children. The album was not available commercially but was only given as a gift to donors. WOW Gospel Christmas (2007) WOW Gospel Christmas - Single Disc Edition (2013) WOW Gospel No. 1s (2007) WOW Gospel Smooth Jazz Tribute (2007) WOW Gospel Essentials (2008) WOW Gospel Essentials 2 (2009) WOW Gospel Worship WOW Gospel the 90s WOW Gospel the 2000s