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Carole King's Rockingale Records Announces New Deal with Ryko Distribution

LOS ANGELES, CA - Rockingale Records, the label started by superstar singer and songwriter Carole King in 2001, announced their new association with Ryko Distribution.

The first album to benefit from the new distribution deal is King's 'The Living Room Tour', a double CD, which debuted at #17 on the Billboard Top Albums chart upon its release last year. Billboard magazine said, "Carole King is a timeless treasure, so being invited to experience her intimate Living Room tour on CD is pure bliss." The album has sold more than 330,000 nationwide.

Upcoming plans for Rockingale Records in 2007 include a DVD of King's highly regarded The Living Room Tour, which will be released in the first half of the year. Also slated are CD reissues of several of King's previous albums, including "Colour of Your Dreams," and her Rockingale debut, "Love Makes the World," both of which include bonus material. Rockingale Records continues to be the home for all new Carole King releases, to include a series of songwriter demos.

"The idea behind Rockingale is a simple one; to deliver Carole King's music to her fans and to build a creative atmosphere for new and special releases," says Lorna Guess, Rockingale's Chief Operating Officer. "We're thrilled to be associated with Ryko. Not just because of their passion for Carole's music, but for their passion and dedication to music, period. Sometimes it takes a little time to find the perfect match, and we have that now with Ryko."

Ryko President Jim Cuomo says "I feel like a kid on Christmas. There is just no real way to fully express it...If we are truly defined by the artists we represent and the music they create, then something very, very special and very defining just happened to all of us at Ryko. Carole brings to the Ryko culture an artistic intangible of such quality and proportion that it has us all on a musical high that just won't quit. Carole King and Ryko...Together again for the first time."

In fall 2006, Carole King embarked on her first-ever tour of Australia and New Zealand. She was also working on her first autobiography, and appeared on HBO's Def Poetry in February, 2007. Ryko Distribution, an award-winning retail sales and marketing company, sells music and video releases from their proprietary label Rykodisc as well as from third-party record and video labels.

Ryko Distribution Filmworks has rapidly evolved into one of the preeminent distributors of DVD theatrical works. With unique label distribution relationships and specialties in varying niches, Ryko Distribution, along with sister companies ADA and WEA, has formed a distribution network that further establishes WMG as the independent music distribution leader in the U.S.