“This purchase is really a coup for Malaco,” states Tommy Couch, Sr., president of Malaco Music Group. “We are very excited to add the AIR catalog to our own, which will make it the richest and largest collection of gospel music held throughout the world.”  Alan Freeman, former CEO for AIR Records agrees, “This is a beautiful fit, joining these two independent companies together. We are losing the older generation of gospel artists and this genre of music [gospel], which is defined by American history and culture, has been served well by both AIR Records and Malaco as these labels have sought to preserve IT as well as be torchbearers for it, carrying it into the future. I see this venture as a positive step in the right direction for continuing this legacy.”

AIR will continue to cultivate new talent and work with its active artist roster which includes Grammy nominee Dottie Peoples, Luther Barnes and the Red Budd Community Choir,  Maurette Clark Brown, Rev. F.C. Barnes, and Timothy Wright. Freeman will act as consultant to the label from his Atlanta office while operation of the label will be based at Malaco Music Group Headquarters in Jackson, Mississippi. Peoples just released a powerful new project, Live in Memphis, He Said It, which is expected to top all previous releases by her and other projects are slated to release in August and September by Luther Barnes and Clark respectively.

Malaco has had its eye on AIR for some time, having watched them grow throughout the years into a very strong indy label. Ron Freeman, Alan’s father, created AIR in 1980 as a natural outgrowth of a business he began in 1968, One Stop Record House, in Atlanta. Having created a booming gospel record business in his wholesale outfit, he decided to try his hand in the production and distribution of gospel audio and launched the label selling sermons given by local preachers. This side of the business was so successful, Freeman was encouraged to release gospel music albums and the first, Rough Side of the Mountain, by Reverend FC Barnes and Janice Brown, was a #1 Billboard Hit for two years following its release and has become one of the most treasured traditional gospel recordings in history and is now considered a classic.

The year 2005 marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of AIR Records and there is much reason to celebrate. With the award-winning roster mentioned above, as well as the many other popular artists who began their careers with AIR (For example, the signing of The Christianaires in 1984 who are now with Marxan, distributed through Malaco) and retired with AIR (The Swanee Quartet), Couch relates, “It doesn’t get much better than this. We [at Malaco] know that we have made history with the milestones created by artists signed to our rosters, such as The Mississippi and Georgia Mass Choirs, and because of our longevity in an industry that sees labels come and go like a summer storm, we have been able to watch AIR cultivate its own success and ride its waves comfortably into the twenty-first century. We are also impressed with the quality of product and integrity of artists signed to that label and look forward to many good years with this new alliance.”

For more information regarding AIR and Malaco, visit the following web-sites: www.malaco.com and www.airgospel.com. For information on individual artists, visit their individual sites or contact Jenny Rogers at mediajenny@charter.net.