In one instance, MGM Records released the highly successful soundtrack album of a film made by another studio, Columbia Pictures's Born Free (1966).

Their first soundtrack was of Till the Clouds Roll By, a 1946 film based on the life of composer Jerome Kern.

In order to fit the songs onto the record sides the musical material needed editing and manipulation.

[1] Aba Daba Honeymoon, performed by Debbie Reynolds and Carleton Carpenter in the film Two Weeks With Love, became the first soundtrack single to become a national hit, selling a million copies and charting at No.

The Rhino Records editions of these albums featured literally the entire scores, including outtakes.

Rhino also released a full-length two-disc album of the score of Gone with the Wind, recorded from the soundtrack in the original mono.

For several years in the late 1940s-early 1950s, MGM operated a radio syndication business, producing The MGM Theater of the Air and a variety of other series based on inactive movie properties such as Dr. Kildare, Andy Hardy, Maisie, and Crime Does Not Pay.

The MGM record pressing plant also manufactured the electrical transcriptions used to distribute the shows to local stations.

[5][6] Other MGM subsidiaries and distributed labels included: Kama Sutra (from 1965 until Kama Sutra's sister label Buddah Records took over distribution in 1969), Ava, Heritage, Lion and Metro (for budget albums), Leo (children's records), Hickory, MGM South, Pride, CoBurt, L&R, and Lionel.

MGM moved successfully into the rock and roll era with many hit records by Connie Francis, Herman's Hermits, the Animals, the Cowsills, Lou Christie, the Osmonds, and Cub-subsidiary singer Jimmy Jones, whose hits were on MGM in the UK.

Four albums and two singles were released under this arrangement before Allen Klein bought the Cameo-Parkway catalog and renamed the label ABKCO.

[9] Other notable MGM artists of this genre include Hank Williams Jr., Sheb Wooley, Conway Twitty, Sandy Posey, Marvin Rainwater, Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith, Roy Acuff, Carolina Cotton, Jimmy Newman, Mel Tillis, Marie Osmond, Jim Stafford and C.W.

MGM's film soundtracks are owned by Warner Bros. Entertainment via its WaterTower Music unit[3] and the catalogs of a few other artists also have new owners.

Frank Zappa regained control of his MGM/Verve recordings (including those with his group the Mothers of Invention) in mid 1977 after two years of negotiations.