JFH News: Gotee Records Announces Jess Loper As the New General Manager

GOTEE RECORDS ANNOUNCES JESS LOPER AS THE NEW GENERAL MANAGER

NEWS SOURCE: Merge PR
February 19, 2025

NASHVILLE, TENN. (FEBRUARY 19, 2025) Gotee Records announces Jess Loper as the new General Manager for the independent label. She will report to Joey Elwood, now the CEO of Bell Partners Christian Music, of which Gotee Records is the primary imprint in the new agreement announced earlier this month with Bell Partners.

Previously, Loper has held the position of VP of Brand Management (Gotee Records) and Publishing (Emack Music) as well as handled A&R for artists Jon Reddick, Hollyn, Aaron Cole, Joseph O’Brien, Charly Beathard, and RENEE, cultivated writer relationships for Emack writers Tyrus Morgan, Hunter Leath, Ben Shive, and Lindsey Sweat, assisted with film and TV placements (ESPN, Fox Sports, ABC, NBC & VH1) and handled administration for Man Cub Music (Bryan Fowler & Micah Kuiper).

“As a company, we’ve changed so much over the last 10 years, and our staff, I think, is pound for pound the best in the business because our job titles do not speak to the breadth of what each person does,” shares Joey Elwood. “Jess is an example of this incredible versatility as she has touched every facet of our business (Brand Management, Publishing, Label Services, and Operations) in her eight years at Gotee. So, it’s with tremendous excitement that we want to announce her appointment to GM, and we see this transition for her as an inevitable step in her progress as a leader in our industry and at Gotee.”

Jess Loper began her career as an Editor with Business Wire in the newsroom, which services the Associated Press with press releases for publicly held companies. From there she took her love of words into the music industry in the A&R department at Capitol CMG/Universal Music. In this position, she was an integral part of the production process for CMG’s roster of artists (Amy Grant, Chris Tomlin, Kari Jobe, TobyMac, Passion/sixstepsrecords) while also working with business affairs, union negotiations, and film & TV licensing for the label.

In 2017, she joined the team at Gotee Records as VP of Brand Management (Gotee Records) and Publishing (Emack Music). Most recently, she launched Without Labels Collective, a company that focuses on music supervision and licensing for film & television (The Jesus Music Documentary, Trinity Broadcasting Networks, The Huckabee Show, Compassion International, and Thrive just to name a few). This new venture is also focused on educating and supporting songwriters & artists on the business side of the creative process. She serves on the Board of the CMPA and works closely with the GMA Dove Awards. Her greatest role in life has been getting to be a mom to Brody (16) & Kellen (13). In the Spring of 2022, she married her favorite songwriter, Brent Loper, on the front porch of their little farmhouse in Culleoka, TN.

ABOUT GOTEE RECORDS: In 1992 a production team of three talented guys with diverse tastes shared a love for music. Producers Joey Elwood and Todd Collins, along with Grammy-winning artist TobyMac, launched Gotee Records in 1994 after unsuccessfully finding a label deal for the R&B trio Out of Eden. With a steady focus on artistry, the new label expanded to reflect the diverse interests of its founders. Within 12 months, Christafari, GRITS, and Johnny Q. Public were signed, easily representing four different music categories: R&B, reggae, rap, and rock. In the 25-plus years since Gotee’s founding as a record label, it has launched the careers of Relient K, Jennifer Knapp, Sonicflood, Jamie Grace, and more recently Capital Kings, Ryan Stevenson, Hollyn, and Aaron Cole. The present-day in the Gotee story is much like the label’s early days. Through all the changes in the tumultuous music industry, the boutique label’s independent spirit is maintained through a steady focus on artist development and diversity. In 2025, Bell Partners Worldwide acquired Gotee Records launching a new division, Bell Partners Christian Music, aimed at expanding the global reach of Christian music artists. Gotee executives Joey Elwood and Toby McKeehan (tobyMac) will continue in leadership roles at Gotee as well as at Bell Partners Christian Music, with Elwood serving as CEO of the latter.

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