IN THE VAULTS

One expected result of the Time Warner-EMI merger--if it goes through--will be consolidation of the companies’ back catalog services. Imagine having classic recordings and archival items of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Frank Sinatra, the Beach Boys, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Metallica, Neil Young and Madonna all under one roof--with the power of parent company-to-be AOL to get it to the public.

The folks at Rhino Records have got to be salivating. Rhino, part of the Warner family, has in recent years steadily raised its presence there, first with Atlantic (definitive boxed sets of Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin), then Elektra (a Phil Ochs collection, among others) and lately Warner Bros. Records (highly praised Randy Newman, Alice Cooper and Sammy Davis Jr. boxes).

Neither Rhino nor Warner officials will speculate on the prospects, but Pete Howard, editor and publisher of the collectors-oriented monthly ICE, says that a similar consolidation in the Universal conglomerate has resulted in some positive catalog moves (a long-needed upgrade-in-progress of Motown’s archival releases).

“You’ll never see a Frank Sinatra or Beatles release with a Rhino logo on it--their organizations control their catalog,” Howard says. “But the merger does seem to push Rhino’s overall growth as king of the catalogs, and there will be a lot of new possibilities for them to get involved with.”