Rhino Records has issued the following update in the wake of recent reports that the company had closed its doors:

The Reports Of Rhino's Demise Were An Exaggeration

Thank you to everyone for your heartfelt and passionate words about the recent events at Rhino. As many of you know, we had to reduce our staff yesterday (September 23rd), and it was a very difficult day. We had to say goodbye to some great Rhinos who will be sorely missed.

But, a lot of misinformation is making its way through chat rooms and the blogosphere -- including misplaced rumors that we have closed our doors -- and we want to take this opportunity to offer some perspective.

Rhino is still a company of more than 100 passionate music lovers. We remain firmly committed to the core principles that made us the company you know and love: creating the best, most informative, innovative, and fun CD, vinyl, and digital music products, and doing everything we can to showcase the amazing artists and catalog with whom we work. In the coming weeks, we will bring an extensive revamp to Rhino.com which we think will help us compensate for the loss of so many retail outlets in the past few years. We will also be releasing several unique Rhino Handmade titles, including titles by Chris Bell, Jan & Dean, MC5, Wilson Pickett, and yes, The Monkees - titles that are very much in the vein of great Rhino releases from the past. And that's just a few of the projects we're working on, so please don't worry that we've gone away!

Obviously, as the music industry undergoes rapid change, every company needs to think differently and to shift how they get the artists' music to the fans. This is not the first time we've had to confront this challenge at Rhino. Over the years, our staff has grown and contracted. But then it's also grown again, along with changes and opportunities in the marketplace. With every industry downturn, there are nay-sayers who predict our demise or complain that the "new" Rhino is not like the "old" Rhino. Well, we've got a 31-year track record, numerous awards, and a recent string of some of the most creatively diverse offerings in our history that refutes those pundits. Our unique social and environmental mission programs remain intact. And we remain totally committed to being an artist-centric company devoted to bringing our artists' music to the fans in the most thoughtful and creative way possible. This is who we are and will continue to be.

With gratitude,

Team Rhino

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