History

In 1986, after Ted Turner sold MGM to Kirk Kerkorian

Kirk Kerkorian

Kerkor "Kirk" Kerkorian is an American businessman who is the president/CEO of Tracinda Corporation, his private holding company based in Beverly Hills, California. Kerkorian is known as one of the important figures in shaping Las Vegas and, with architect Martin Stern, Jr...

, MGM formed MGM Music for the licensing of music of which MGM owns the rights. Turner kept the MGM film library and rights to the soundtracks. MGM Music focuses on releasing soundtracks. It manages the music and music publishing rights of MGM films made after Turner sold the company as well as the music and music publishing rights of United Artists

United Artists

United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....

 and Orion

Orion Pictures

Orion Pictures Corporation was an American independent production company that produced movies from 1978 until 1998. It was formed in 1978 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and three former top-level executives of United Artists. Although it was never a large motion picture producer, Orion...

 films.

While MGM Music utilizes unrelated record companies to release soundtracks MGM owns, they did issue a limited edition CD on their own, the Thunderbird 6

Thunderbird 6

Thunderbird 6 is a 1968 British science-fiction and adventure film written by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, directed by David Lane and produced by Century 21 Cinema...

soundtrack album with only 1,500 copies made.

MGM founded MGM Records

MGM Records

MGM Records was a record label started by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946, for the purpose of releasing soundtrack albums of their musical films. Later it became a pop label, lasting into the 1970s...

 in 1946, but was sold to PolyGram

PolyGram

PolyGram was the name of the major label recording company started by Philips from as a holding company for its music interests in 1945. In 1999 it was sold to Seagram and merged into Universal Music Group.-Hollandsche Decca Distributie , 1929-1950:...

 in 1972 including rights to the MGM Records name plus a 10 year license to use the MGM lion logo. MGM Records, including its artists, was absorbed into PolyGram's Polydor Records

Polydor Records

Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...

 in 1976. However, after its absorption, PolyGram continued releasing MGM soundtrack albums and reissues until 1982. Turner parent Time Warner

Time Warner

Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...

 now owns the rights to MGM soundtracks issued by MGM/PolyGram Records which are licensed to former TW subsidiary Rhino Entertainment

Rhino Entertainment

Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company. It is owned by Warner Music Group.-History:Rhino was originally a novelty song and reissue company during the 1970s and 1980s, releasing compilation albums of pop, rock & roll, and rhythm & blues successes...

.