Anyone who’s attended a Toronto Raptors game, with its ‘more is better’ approach to marketing, will know that music – preferably loud, with a driving dance beat – is integral to the experience.

With this in mind, The Toronto Raptors and BMG Music Canada are launching a new cd.

Fast Breaks features various artists typically heard at Raptors games such as A Tribe Called Quest, Snap, and Reel to Reel. It also features a remake of the classic Sly and the Family Stone tune ‘Take You Higher’ by Raptors Acie Earl and Carlos Rogers.

‘We’re very much targeting teens,’ says Joyce Van Zeumeren, senior manager, consumer marketing for the team. Van Zeumeren says that the cd, which retails for $14-plus, will be available in stores in and around Toronto – within a 75-mile radius, in accordance with nba rules – starting mid-February.

According to Van Zeumeren, a campaign will break at the same time with transit posters, radio and tv spots, using the theme ‘Open the Dome. The Raptors cd is going through the roof.’ The campaign was developed by Echo Advertising in Toronto.

There will be in-arena presence as well, with the Raptors Dance Pack working the songs into dance routines during breaks in the game.

The Raptors is the third nba team to release its own cd, following on the heels of The New York Knicks and the Chicago Bulls, which both released cds last year.

According to Van Zeumeren, the cd from the ever-popular Bulls sold more than 100,000 copies.