Gotee Records
Country: United States of America
Gotee Records is a record label founded by Christian hip hop performer Toby McKeehan (known professionally as TobyMac), Todd Collins, and Joey Elwood. The label began as a production company. At the time of the label's founding, McKeehan was a member of dc Talk.
McKeehan and Collins intended to produce Out of Eden's Lovin' the Day, but they couldn't find a label to sign the act to, and so formed Gotee Records and began distributing the band's material on their own. The label was a part of EMI Christian Music Group. However, they bought back EMI's minority share to become fully independent again as of March 31, 2008. Toby McKeehan is currently the president of the company and as of 2009, the label is currently distributed by Warner Bros. Records.
McKeehan got the name "Gotee" from the song "Socially Acceptable" on dc Talk's album Free at Last. A member of the band GRITS was doing the background vocals, and he was saying, "Let it go, T, let it go." ("T" refers to Toby). McKeehan happened to be growing a goatee on his face at the time, and when Mark Heimermann pointed out the coincidence, he decided to name his new record company, "Gotee Records".
However, McKeehan does not publish his own albums under this title; instead he publishes his own records under the same label dc Talk was signed to, ForeFront Records. He owns the name the Gotee Bros.
In May 2015 Gotee was acquired by Zealot Networks. Zealot's Nashville office is headed by former Gotee artist John Reuben. As part of the acquisition Gotee is still operated independently.