Rhino Entertainment
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Rhino Records | |
|---|---|
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| Parent company | Warner Music Group |
| Founded | 1978 |
| Founder(s) | Harold Bronson and Richard Foos |
| Distributing label | Rhino Records (In the US), WEA (Outside the US) |
| Genre(s) | Various |
| Country | US |
| Official site of Rhino Records | |
Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label.
Originally, Rhino was known for releasing retrospectives of famous comedy performers, including Richard Pryor, Stan Freberg, Tom Lehrer, and Spike Jones. But in recent years, Rhino has also been 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 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. By the mid-1980s most of their releases were reissues of previously released recordings licensed from other companies. Creative packaging and superior sound quality soon made Rhino one of the most respected reissue labels. They also continued to produce new music, with releases on subsidiary labels such as RNA (Rhino New Artists) and Forward as well as the main Rhino label. However, their artists tended to generate more critical acclaim than public interest; sales totals in the low five figures or less were routine for Rhino-produced albums, and the less costly, less risky reissue business became the company’s real reason for existence.
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 WEA, 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, they 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 bands as Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Yes, The Doobie Brothers, Chicago, and The Doors, 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. Among Rhino’s soundtrack releases: Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, Easter Parade, North by Northwest, Casablanca, King Kong, Doctor Zhivago, and Superman: The Movie.
Rhino also owns the rights to The Monkees’ master tapes and film footage (which they acquired from Raybert Productions in the late 1980s), and thus has released home videos and CDs from the group.
In 2004, Time Warner spun off its music divisions and today Rhino is part of the newly-organized Warner Music Group.
Rhino’s retrospective compact disc releases are often remastered to restore or improve upon the original analog release’s audio quality, a common practice now.
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.
Similar companies include Hip-O Records and Legacy Recordings.
