Smash Arts and Rhino Entertainment Release Bedtime Beats(TM): The Secret to Sleep

Smash Arts and Rhino Entertainment Release Bedtime Beats(TM): The Secret to Sleep

First-Ever All-Classical Music Package Based on Scientific Findings Demonstrating the Power of Soft Music as Sleep Remedy Due in Stores September 12

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Institutes of Health (NIH) estimate some 40 million Americans suffer from one or more chronic, long-term sleep disorders, and perhaps another 20 million have frequent difficulty sleeping soundly at night and staying fully alert during the day (National Institutes of Health, NIH News, "Study Finds Possible Mechanism for Link Between Sleep Disturbances and Metabolic Syndrome," www.nih.gov/news/pr/apr2005/nia-21.htm).

To address this widespread problem, Smash Arts, in a joint venture with Rhino Entertainment, will release the 2-CD set, Bedtime Beats(TM): The Secret to Sleep -- the first-ever all classical music package created in response to an investigational study supporting classical music as a sleep remedy -- on September 12, 2006. Bedtime Beats(TM): The Secret to Sleep will be available at regular retail outlets and at www.rhino.com or www.bedtimebeats.com for a suggested retail price of $18.98.

The results from that study, authored by Hui-Ling Lai, Ph.D., RN, and Marion Good, Ph.D., FAAN of Case Western Reserve University's Francis Payne Boulton School of Nursing were published as "Music Improves Sleep Quality in Older Adults" (Journal of Advanced Nursing, 49 (3), February 2005, p.234-244). The study found that soothing music -- specifically music with a tempo of 60-80 beats per minute (BPM) -- resulted in significantly better sleep quality, better perceived sleep quality, longer sleep duration, greater sleep efficiency, and more. To view the study: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2004.03281.x.

In creating Bedtime Beats, Cindy Bressler and Lisa Mercurio of Smash Arts selected music of the same tempo of 60-80 BPM. This first installment of Bedtime Beats series comprises over 120 minutes of classical music that meets this criterion and includes works by Bach, Tchaikovsky, Debussy, Chopin, Mozart, Beethoven, Vivaldi, Puccini, and others. To make the CDs as soothing as possible, the music was meticulously mastered to reduce variations in tempo and volume. People of all ages can benefit from the package, provided they listen daily for at least two weeks at the outset and begin listening to the CDs at least 15 minutes before bedtime.

Bedtime Beats is co-created by Smash Arts, a New York-based music, lifestyle and entertainment development firm headed by Cindy Bressler and Lisa Mercurio, both former senior entertainment executives. Mercurio promoted and participated in the creation of the immensely popular classical music series Set Your Life to Music during her tenure at Universal Music Group. While flying on a business trip to the west coast, they came across an editorial by Peggy Northrup, editor-in-chief of More, the award-winning magazine celebrating women 40 and over.

The editorial addressed a problem many women face today: trouble sleeping; up in the middle of the night, tossing and turning. Bressler tore out the editorial and passed it to Mercurio declaring, "There's something in this."

Knowing the abundance of research on the topic of insomnia, Mercurio researched the topic of music therapy, determined to produce a unique musical sleep remedy that had scientific merit. She identified the study and with Bressler set out to create a music therapy kit, based on the findings in the study, to address not only their own occasional sleeplessness, but also that of their friends, family and the millions of Americans who have trouble sleeping.

Using soft music to lull oneself to sleep is as old perhaps as the problem itself. The second CD of the double-disc Bedtime Beats package is the famous opening "Aria" of Bach's Goldberg Variations. Over 280 years ago, Bach was commissioned by the Count Von Keyserlingk to compose music that the court harpsichordist, Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, could play to the insomniac Keyserlingk to prevent restless nights. The count was so pleased with the resulting music that he called it "my variations," and through the years the Variations have taken on the name of the harpsichordist who played them: The Goldberg Variations.

Bressler says, "It seems that the more we talk about it, the more we find that everyone knows someone who has or has had a sleep problem. Maybe it's your husband, or your wife, or your daughter or your grandmother. The problem is everywhere."

BEDTIME BEATS: THE SECRET TO SLEEP
TRACK LISTING:

Disc 1

1. Vivaldi: Guitar Concerto In D Major
2. Ravel: Piano Concerto In G Major
3. Vaughn Williams: Fantasia On Greensleeves
4. Satie: Gymnopedie No. 1
5. Satie: Gymnopedie No. 3
6. Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 in E Flat Major
7. Ravel: Pavane
8. Puccini: Chrysanthemums
9. Mozart: Adagio For Violin In E Major
10. Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 2
11. Respighi: Villanella
12. Faure: In Paradisum

Disc 2

1. J. S. Bach: Goldberg Variations, "Aria"
2. Tchaikovsky: Andante Cantabile
3. Debussy: The Girl With The Flaxen Hair
4. Mozart: Elvira Madigan
5. Chopin: Nocturne In E Flat Major
6. J. S. Bach: Harpsichord Concerto In F Minor
7. Mozart: Clarinet Quintet In A Major
8. Saint-Saens: The Swan
9. Albinoni/Giazotto: "Adagio"
10. Faure: Pavane For Orchestra
11. Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 14 In C Sharp Minor

Source: Rhino Entertainment

CONTACT: Lellie Capwell, +1-818-238-6246, lellie.capwell@wmg.com, for
Rhino Entertainment

Web site: http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/apr2005/nia-21.htm

Web site: http://www.bedtimebeats.com/

Web site: http://www.rhino.com/media

Web site: http://www.rhino.com/

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