Rent Soundtrack Moves Up the Charts  12/1/05

"RENT" Goes Up and Up and Up; Soundtrack Jumps on Charts, Downloads and Ringtones

NEW YORK, NY -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 12/01/05 -- The original motion picture soundtrack to the film "RENT" has jumped to the No. 47 and 57 slots on next week's Billboard and Soundscan charts, selling a grand total of 137,330 copies, it was announced today by Warner Bros. Records.

The two-disc set of the entire soundtrack and the single CD set of highlights, both produced by Grammy-winning hitmaker Rob Cavallo (Green Day, Goo Goo Dolls) currently holds the No. 1 and No. 5 slots for most downloaded CDs on the iTunes Music Store. The anthemic single, "Seasons of Love," which debuted in the top 10 on the iTunes single chart, has remained in the Top 20 for a staggering four months!

The music from "RENT" has soared in popularity in the mobile world as well as the Internet, and is currently one of the biggest selling ringtones for the Warner Bros. Records label.

Warner Bros. Records has teamed up with Sony Pictures to donate a portion of the proceeds of the ringtones to three charities -- Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS, the National Marfan Foundation and the Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation.

"Rent, The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack," features performances by acclaimed actress Rosario Dawson, "Law & Order's" Jesse L. Martin, Tony award-winning actress Idina Menzel, Taye Diggs, Adam Pascal and newcomer Tracie Thoms.

One of the most influential and enduring productions in theater history, "Rent" was written by Jonathan Larson and based on Puccini's immortal opera "La Boheme." It tells the story of a group of free-spirited artists living and loving in New York's East Village in the midst of the AIDS epidemic. Winner of a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, four Tonys and numerous other awards, "Rent" has since gone on to become an international sensation with touring companies in Australia, Japan, Mexico, the UK, Brazil and elsewhere. The film version is produced by, among others, Robert DeNiro for Revolution Studios and directed by Chris Columbus of "Harry Potter" and "Mrs. Doubtfire" renown.

Commenting on his integral role in the music of "Rent Original Motion Picture Soundtrack," Rob Cavallo remarked, "Without straying too far from the original stylistic intent, I wanted to create arrangements that had a bit more authenticity, and a little less pure Broadway, feel to them. The setting for the story is the Lower East Side in the late '80s and to me that suggested a punk attitude. Doing music for the movie with its amazing cast allowed me to delve deeper into the wide variety of styles that make 'Rent' so rich, and in order to achieve that I called on a lot of my experiences in the studio with bands from Green Day and the Goo Goo Dolls to Fleetwood Mac and Eric Clapton."