Turner Entertainment Co., Turner Classic Movies, Apple and Rhino Records Offer Legendary Catalog for the First Time Online Including Such Greats as The Wizard Of OZ, D R. Zhivago, Gone With The Wind, Casablanca, And Singin' In The Rain

Turner Entertainment Company, Turner Classic Movies television network, and Rhino Records, the world's leading pop culture label, are bringing 10 years of audio soundtracks from classic Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, RKO, and early Warner Bros. Films to the Internet. Turner and Rhino will offer more than 80 musical treasures for the first time as digital releases with the initial 31 being released on the iTunes Music Store exclusively through the end of the year.

For nearly a decade, Turner and Rhino have teamed to create definitive soundtrack CDs for some of the greatest motion pictures ever made. Among the films that have received the Turner Classic Movies Music/Rhino Movie Music treatment are The Wizard of Oz (1939), Dr. Zhivago (1965), An American In Paris (1951), Singin' In The Rain (1952), Gone With The Wind (1939), Ben Hur (1959), That's Entertainment!, II, III (1974, 1976, 1994) and many others.

Turner, Rhino, and Apple will be working on a number of cross-promotional initiatives to spread the word about the release of these classic recordings. Apple will create a Turner Classic Movies section on the iTunes Music Store to highlight digital audio releases and the original theatrical trailers. Additionally, Apple will promote on iTunes promotional materials distributed throughout their Apple retail stores across the country.

Turner plans to incorporate promotional mentions of the digital releases on iTunes into their 24 hours of Mad About Musicals every Tuesday and Wednesday throughout the month of October, including tags during film introductions by host Robert Osborne. In addition, 60-second spots for a Mad About Musical Sweepstakes with prizes that feature a trip to New York City and attend the premiere of Phantom of the Opera, Apple iPods with 100 free song downloads from the iTunes Music Store and Warner Home Video and Rhino Records classic musicals DVD and CD Collections. The Mad About Hollywood movie musicals festival will feature An American In Paris (1951, Oct.19, 10:00 p.m.), Kismet (1955, Oct. 20), Singin' In The Rain (1952, Oct.19, 12 midnight) and Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (1954, Oct. 19, 8:00 p.m.) as part of the film's 50th anniversary. Turner will also include mentions in several key national print advertisements.

"It's great to be able to take our already successful partnership with Rhino Music into the digital arena with iTunes," said Tom Karsch, executive vice president and general manager, TCM. "Now that these classic songs are available in this format, we hope to introduce a new demographic to classic movie music."

"Over the past 10 years, Rhino has had the pleasure of working with Turner to develop a comprehensive CD reissue and marketing campaign for one of the most treasured libraries of popular American music ever recorded," says David Dorn, senior vice president of New Media Strategy for Rhino. "We think the release of these gems as digital downloads will help us find new audiences, and we're very excited to be working with the iTunes Music Store to kick things off."

"Now iTunes users can download their favorite songs from timeless musicals including The Wizard of OZ and Gone with the Wind and take them along anywhere on their iPods," said Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of Applications. "We are very pleased to be the only music download store to offer these classic soundtracks to movie fans."

"Classic musicals have taken on a life of their own since the introduction of DVD, leading to a broader audience than ever before," said George Feltenstein, WHV Senior Vice President, Warner Home Video Classic Catalog. "New generations are discovering and appreciating not only the movie musicals for which studios like MGM, Warner Bros. and RKO were famous, but the songs themselves which have become part of our American heritage. This is a terrific collaboration and another way to share these great songs with today's music fans."

Turner Classic Movies, currently seen in more than 69 million homes, is a 24-hour cable network from Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company. TCM presents the greatest motion pictures of all time from the largest film library in the world, the combined Time Warner and Turner film libraries, from the '20s through the '80s, commercial-free and without interruption. For more information, please visit the TCM Web site at www.turnerclassicmovies.com.

Based in Burbank, California, Rhino Entertainment was founded in 1978 in Los Angeles. Beginning with novelty records, then branching into archival reissues and definitive anthologies and various-artists series, the company is recognized as the world's leading pop culture label. With a commitment to a superior experience for the consumer, Rhino packs its products with bonus tracks, informative liner notes, photos, and the best sounding audio possible. Rhino's Home Video division is home to everything from oddball cult films and classic TV programs to longform live music performances and a line of action sports releases. Rhino is a part of the Warner Music Group. You can visit us on the Web at www.rhino.com.

Source: Rhino