UNITED KINGDOM: Hip hop and R 'n' B music label is partnering with Sony Ericsson and Carphone Warehouse in UK to offer limited edition handset

Record ID: 726073

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: Hip hop and R 'n' B music label is partnering with Sony Ericsson and Carphone Warehouse in UK to offer limited edition handset
  • Date: 17th April 2008
  • Summary: LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM (APRIL 11, 2008) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) KIM DE RUITER, MERCURY RECORDS COMMERCIAL AND NEW BUSINESS MANAGER SAYING: "It's about accessing a new market. For years and years the music industry has been about selling either pieces of plastic or units of music. And most certainly, for us to be able to enter into the hardware market place and to be able to take, both commercially and in terms of a marketing tool for our artists, a piece of the action - it's very exciting."
  • Embargoed: 2nd May 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVABRLZOT6PYXORVEXH09Q5WRHGK
  • Story Text: The convergence of music content and mobile devices is entering a new phase in the UK with the launch of the Def Jam handset.
    It's the first time a major music label has partnered with a mobile handset manufacturer in Britain to launch a branded phone that comes preloaded with music and videos including exclusive content from the label's artists.
    Kim De Ruiter, new business manager at Mercury Records, which oversees Def Jam in the UK, says "It actually looks like a music product. It's got a tracklisting on the back."
    De Ruiter adds that although only 10 thousand phones were manufactured for the initial rollout, there is a hope that this could be the start of something big.
    "It's about accessing a new market. For years and years the music industry has been about selling either pieces of plastic or units of music.
    And most certainly, for us to be able to enter into the hardware market place and to be able to take, both commercially and in terms of a marketing tool for our artists, a piece of the action - it's very exciting," says De Ruiter.
    Apple's iTunes music store is a success, but revenues from digital music streams have yet to come close to offsetting the loss in revenues caused by falling CD sales. So just over 25 years after the first CD was pressed - the search is very much on for the next viable model.
    Asked whether the move to create a Def Jam branded handset was part of a strategy to become less reliant on Apple for digital revenue, De Ruiter exclaims "Absolutely. The more ways you give consumers to purchase music legitimately the better."
    There is evidence that mobile music consumers will be spoilt for choice in 2008. In addition to the subscription services already available, new handsets such as Nokia's Comes With Music are scheduled to roll out in the coming year. Top U.S. hitmaker Timbaland has a deal with Verizon to produce a selection of songs exclusively for the mobile. The latest being a remix of Madonna's new single. In the UK, Vodafone customers will get to hear tracks from her new CD the week before it is released to shops.
    Mobile music really does seem to be going places.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register