Def Jam Hears Call For Wireless Content

To capitalize on hip-hop's dominance in the mobile media market, Russell Simmons' Def Jam Enterprises, in partnership with American Greetings Interactive, has launched Def Jam Mobile, a platform of wireless content services.

Included are Def Jam-branded mobile applications derived from various Def Jam properties, such as Def Jam Recordings, Def Comedy/Poetry Jam, Phat Farm and Baby Phat fashions, the Hip Hop Action Summit, Def Jam games with Electronic Arts and Def Films.

Simmons, who is also CEO of Rush Communications, said in a statement, "The hip-hop lifestyle has proven to be a global financial powerhouse. The launch of Def Jam Mobile represents more than music. It represents the entire hip-hop lifestyle, including games, film, TV, video, comedy, sports, fashion and news."

For example, the service offers Def Jam Mobile Snipes, an application for downloading mobile phone wallpaper images and graphics of Def Jam logos, artists like Chingy and Method Man and models like Melyssa Ford. Another is Def Jam Mobile Beatz, which provides such ringtones as custom beatbox vocals from Doug E. Fresh and original recordings by George Clinton. Games, news, mobile greetings and information services are also among the service's features.

AG Interactive senior VP/GM of mobile Bryan Biniak says additional applications are in development for launch later this summer. These include a Def Jam mobile video channel and a multimedia messaging service.

The content launch comes almost a year after AG Interactive and Rush Communications agreed to jointly develop a Def Jam mobile platform. The suite is available via the 10 U.S. wireless carriers using content-delivery technology BREW, the largest being Verizon Wireless. Carriers like Sprint and T-Mobile, which do not use BREW, will gain access to the content within two months.

For AG Interactive, the service represents an effort to focus on specific user demographics as a way to stand out in the crowded mobile entertainment market.

According to Biniak, the Def Jam partnership aims to provide a unique selection of content as a way to target young, urban African-American subscribers under a recognizable brand.

"We can't own ringtones, but we can own certain verticals," he says.

According to Forrester Research, 20% of African-American mobile subscribers regularly use mobile data services and download content, compared with only 7% of whites, making the former group a prime marketing target for wireless content services.

Indeed, the ringtone market has been overwhelmingly dominated by hip-hop tracks. But carriers and mobile content providers are interested in expanding the ringtone market into other genres and demographics.

In particular, the move to master-recording ringtones is expected to play a significant role in diversifying available ringtone content. Polyphonic ringtones were better-suited for electronica and hip-hop; rock songs did not reproduce well. As master ringtones feature actual song clips, guitar-driven tracks now sound much better and are expected to become a growing content category.

AG Mobile is already turning its attention to consumers beyond urban hip-hop users. It has a content relationship with Hispanic media powerhouse Univision and is pursuing a licensing agreement for master recordings, images and video with Concord, the eclectic label behind Ray Charles' album "Genius Loves Company."

"We want to see if you can have a meaningful content offering just by doing jazz," Biniak says. "Everybody is doing the hip-hop thing." ••••