[Jonular]

"Here I Am To Worship," written by Tim Hughes, has impacted the church worldwide. It now carries the distinction of being EMI CMG Publishing and Thankyou Music's first-ever North American number one Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI) song. It is estimated that 45 million people have sung the song in North American churches, as well as at conferences and other congregational meetings.

"Here I Am To Worship" was first introduced by Worship Together in the United States at the NationWide San Diego Conference in March 2001 and offered as a "Free Song" download to more than 25,000 churches shortly after its debut on WorshipTogether.com, which now has over 250,000 registered members. CCLI, an organization that monitors the music sung in more than 140,000 churches across the US and various countries around the world, reported "Here I Am To Worship" entering its chart in the Spring of 2001 at number 1,642. The song quickly ascended the CCLI chart, becoming one of the fastest rising songs in its history, reaching the top position within three years. "Here I Am To Worship" is also No. 1 on the UK, Australia and New Zealand CCL Music Reproduction License Chart.

Eddie DeGarmo, President EMI CMG Publishing says, "Literally tens of millions of people have been impacted through Here I Am To Worship. Only once in a great while does a song come along that marries our innermost feelings with such a passionate anthem statement of our faith. We are extremely proud to be a part of this with Tim."

In addition to being the title track of his own national debut recording and winner of the 2003 Inspirational Recorded Song of the Year and 2004 Dove Awards Worship Song of the Year, Hughes' "Here I Am To Worship" has been recorded by acclaimed artists Michael W. Smith, Chris Tomlin, Jeremy Camp, SONICFLOOd, Rebecca St. James, Phillips, Craig and Dean, Plus One and John Tesh, among others. To date, EMI CMG Publishing has issued more than 125 mechanical licenses for the song, which first released in 2001 on the compilation project, I Could Sing of Your Love Forever 2 and has since appeared on multiple compilations, such as: WoW Worship, Worship Together TimeLife Series, Passion: Our Love Is Loud, IWorship Vol. 2 and Acquire The Fire. Cumulatively, album sales where the song has appeared have now surpassed 5 million copies. The song has also been licensed for 586 print, sync and other uses, including 88 songbooks, choral arrangements, orchestrations and other print products.

With "Here I Am To Worship," EMI CMG Publishing now publishes or administers 5 of the top 10 and 8 of the top 20 songs used in American church services on a weekly basis, including:

1 Here I Am To Worship, Tim Hughes
6 You Are My King, Billy James Foote
7 God Of Wonders, Marc Byrd, Steve Hindalong
9 The Heart of Worship, Matt Redman
10 Forever, Chris Tomlin
14 We Fall Down, Chris Tomlin
15 I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever, Martin Smith
20 Better Is One Day, Matt Redman

"I am convinced that Kingsway/EMI has been given the task to find and develop writers whose songs will have a lasting effect on today's church, inspiring believers, strengthening faith, bringing hope, deliverance and healing in times of greatest need," says John Paculabo, Managing Director of Kingsway Communications Ltd. "Some of the songs that pass through our hands today, will become the great hymns of the Church of tomorrow. God has entrusted us with a serious and awesome mission that will impact hundreds of millions of lives in the years, decades and centuries ahead."

Hughes is a songwriter and recording artist for EMI CMG Publishing, Thankyou Music and Worship Together. At 26, he has already led worship for literally tens of thousands of youth across the globe for the past seven years while on staff with Soul Survivor, a youth mission that is sweeping the UK and most recently the U.S. with the purpose to mobilize young people to change the world, one community at a time. Soul Survivor holds eight gatherings in seven different countries per year with some events drawing as many as 22,000
attendees. He is also the author of "Here I Am To Worship" published by Regal Books, which released in April 2004 and offers practical tips for worship leaders but also challenges motivations behind being a leader of people.

Hughes's new album, When Silence Falls, released this week amidst wide critical acclaim. Its songs offer answers to some of the most difficult questions about worshipping through hard circumstances. "Beauty of Your Peace" speaks of finding the power of God's peace. "Whole World in His Hands" is about knowing that God is ultimately in control, even when life feels like it is changing too fast and nothing's guaranteed. "Consuming Fire" searches to know more of an infinite God while wrestling with our finite human nature. The song, "Beautiful One," which has also been recorded by Jeremy Camp and By The Tree for their 2004 releases, is already No. 360 on the CCLI U.S. chart and No. 144 on the Canadian chart. This is significant for a song that has not been released on an album until this year.

For more information regarding Tim Hughes, visit www.emicmg.com, www.passionforyourname.com or www.timhughesmusic.com.

Brentwood, Tennessee-based EMI CMG was founded in 1994. It is the world's largest Christian music company, operating the Sparrow, ForeFront, Worship Together, and EMI Gospel record labels. CMG also owns EMI CMG Distribution and EMI CMG Publishing. EMI CMG is a unit of The EMI Group.

For more information on Tim Hughes, click here.