Rhino

About Rhino

Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label, owned by Warner Music Group. Rhino was originally a novelty song and reissue label in the 1970s and 1980s, releasing compilation albums of Pop Music, Rock & Roll, and R&B hits from the 1950s through the 1980s. They were also known for releasing retrospectives of famous comedy performers, including Richard Pryor, Stan Freberg, Tom Lehrer, and Spike Jones. Starting in the early 1990s, Rhino transitioned into a full-fledged entertainment unit specializing in home video/DVD re-issues of television shows such as The Transformers, G.I. Joe, Jem, The Lone Ranger, My Favorite Martian, and Mystery Science Theater 3000, and compact disc releases of select artists and movie soundtracks. Rhino started as a record shop in 1973 by Richard Foos. It became a record label five years later thanks to the effort of then-store manager Harold Bronson. Their early releases were mostly novelty records (with their first single being Wild Man Fischer's "Go To Rhino Records") and some punk rock singles; the difficulties involved in getting airplay and distribution for such material eventually caused Foos and Bronson to take the label in other directions. One of their earliest reissues was by acquiring the rights to the White Whale label including The Turtles. By the mid-1980s most of their releases were reissues of previously released recordings licensed from other companies. Superior sound quality (remastering of the original tapes was done under the direction of Bill Inglot) and creative packaging made Rhino one of the most respected reissue record label getting rave reviews from music collectors, fans, and historians. Rhino was quick to get into the Compact Disc market, releasing dozens of oldies CDs at the dawn of the CD age in 1984. Their retrospective compact disc releases are often remastered to restore or improve upon the original analog releases audio quality.

In 1986, Rhino signed a six-year distribution agreement with Capitol Records. In 1989 Rhino and Capitol’s parent EMI made a deal to jointly acquire Roulette Records; Rhino received the US rights to Roulette's catalog, excluding jazz. When the distribution deal with Capitol ended in 1992, Rhino signed a new distribution deal with Atlantic Records, and in turn Time Warner bought a 50% stake in the record company. In 1998, Time Warner bought the other half of Rhino; thus the company became a wholly owned unit of Time Warner and, in 1999, it formed the Rhino Handmade imprint of limited edition reissues. It is through this merger that the label has released remastered editions of collections from such musicians as Fanny, The Ramones, The Grateful Dead, Emerson, Lake and Palmer,The Beach Boys, Yes, The Doobie Brothers, The Cars, Chicago, Tom Paxton, The Doors, and most recently The Bee Gees; as well as soundtracks spanning the Turner-owned pre-1986 MGM and pre-1948 Warner Bros. periods, as well as WB's own post-1948 period. Rhino's soundtrack releases include Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, Easter Parade, North by Northwest, Casablanca, King Kong, Doctor Zhivago, Superman, and Finian's Rainbow.

In 2004, Time Warner spun off its music divisions and today Rhino is part of the newly organized Warner Music Group. Rhino also started the Rhino Handmade division of limited edition releases available primarily from their website. All of these Handmade reissues are limited to about 3000 copies or less and once sold out are not repressed. In addition to dealing with archive material, the label also manages the US distribution or worldwide production of compilations for more recent Warner acts, including still-active artists such as Enya, New Order, and Chicago. In May 2007, Warner Strategic Marketing in the UK was dissolved and from its ashes formed Rhino Records UK. The division has two main factions - TV advertised compilations (For example Pure Garage Rewind Back To The Old School) and Catalogue material from the Warner vaults. Led Zeppelin's 2007 release Mothership serves as the labels biggest success to date.

Website: www.rhino.com