The Orchard Announces Raft Of New Top Artists Signings: Jon Secada, RJD2, Soulive & Guru!

NEW YORK (Top40 Charts/ Ignition Marketing) - Following the addition of several new labels to its catalog, The Orchard (NASDAQ: ORCD), a global leader in music and video entertainment, today announced deep digital partnerships with a diverse array of top artists across a variety of music genres. These artists will enjoy customized marketing and promotion programs, including the co-production of new original music and video content � in support of core physical and digital distribution services from The Orchard.

Platinum-selling artist Jon Secada's next album, Expressions, will be released on September 8, 2009. Following the release, Secada will perform several sold out shows in New York City.

Hip Hop producer/rapper RJD2, whose last album The Third Hand, came out on XL, will re-release his catalog with new bonus tracks and never before seen art and video. A new series of studio albums are expected for the beginning of 2010.

Jazz trio Soulive digitally released Up Here in the US on April 14th and will follow it with a physical release on July 7th. The group is currently celebrating their 10th anniversary with a 26 city North American tour.

Guru, the legendary innovator and American hip-hop star best known for the trailblazing hip-hop group Gang Starr and founder of the imitable Jazzmatazz series, will release Lost & Found, his fourth project through his own hip-hop label 7 Grand Records, on May 19th.

'Because Jon's music style speaks to so many different audiences, we don't need a distributor, but instead, a business partner who can work closely with our team and develop programs for Jon that span genres, languages, and regions,' commented Frank Fiore, Jon Secada's manager. 'The Orchard is unique in what they offer to artists and the platform they've built for their clients, and was the obvious choice for us.'

'The Orchard works with me to come up with creative approaches to reaching my fans, and then provides me with the support and services needed to execute my plans. Then, I tap their marketing expertise to reach the retailers, tastemakers, and fans,' commented RJD2. 'Not to mention, I can log right into ALWSM and create my own iPhone app!'