Cut record company putting out books (4)
I believe the answer is:
mown
'cut' is the definition.
(past tense of 'mow')
'record company putting out books' is the wordplay.
'record company' becomes 'motown' (Motown is an American record label).
'putting out' suggests deleting specific letters.
'books' becomes 'OT' (Old Testament).
'motown' with 'ot' taken away is 'MOWN'.
(Other definitions for mown that I've seen before include "Block of cast metal" , "(Of grass) cut" , "Cut down with a blade" .)