Reggaeton Goes Wireless With WiderThan
06 April 2006 - 12:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
Genre Icon Tony Touch and Rising Stars Nandy and Pokoloko License
Exclusive Content to WiderThan LAS VEGAS, April 5
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Committed to offering today's hottest
mobile music content, WiderThan (NASDAQ:WTHN), a leading global
provider of integrated mobile entertainment solutions for wireless
carriers, today announced exclusive licensing deals with legendary
hip-hop artist and disc jockey, Tony Touch, and two rising
Reggaeton stars, Nandy and Pokoloko. The announcement was made at
CTIA Wireless 2006 in Las Vegas. Reggaeton music is a blend of
dancehall and hip-hop genres, with additional influences from
electronic, bomba, plena, and other Latin styles. With more than 40
million residents in the United States, Hispanics comprise the
largest and youngest minority group in the nation with a median age
of 26. (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, July 2004) WiderThan's
exclusive rights to content from key Reggaeton artists will enable
U.S. carriers and global carriers to capitalize on the growing
demand from today's youth for popular, contemporary music on their
mobile handsets -- anytime and from anywhere. Tony Touch, also
known as Tony Toca, has helped to pioneer the Reggaeton sound that
is now recognized all over the world. Under the agreement with
Touch Entertainment, Inc., WiderThan gains exclusive wireless
rights to Tony Touch's most recent album, "The ReggaeTony," which
reached Number 11 on Billboard's Top Latin Albums chart and Number
67 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Through its signature
WiderMusic Service Platform(TM), WiderThan is currently offering 15
Tony Touch master tones, 15 ringback tones, 5 voice master tones,
12 voice ringback tones and 10 wallpapers to wireless carriers
across the world. "Wireless is a crucial distribution tool.
WiderThan is a strategic partner who is helping us push artists
like myself into new markets and launching up- and-coming artists,"
said Tony Touch. "Tony Touch has been instrumental in the rise of
Reggaeton, and we expect that he will play a similar role in the
mobile entertainment market, as it continues to explode in the
U.S., Asia and other parts of the world," said Adrian McAloon,
senior director, content and licensing at WiderThan. Nandy is a
rising star who propelled into the Reggaeton landscape in early
2005 with support from one of the genre's most prominent disc
jockeys, DJ Kapony. Nandy has been recently signed to both Sony
Latin as a songwriter and producer and independent Reggaeton
fixture, Infinite Muzik, as an artist. With WiderThan's contract
with Infinite Muzik, Inc., Nandy's hit single, "Calentando," is
currently available as a master tone and a ringback tone. A
bilingual Reggaeton trio, Pokoloko has entranced fans of all
languages, from New York to Miami, from Chicago to the southwest,
and down to Costa Rica. Through its contract with Omni
Entertainment, Inc., later this month WiderThan will offer carriers
27 master tones and ringback tones from their debut album,
"Moverse," as well as voice tones, voice ringback tones and
wallpapers. "One in seven Americans is of Hispanic descent.
Hispanic youth, in particular, are a key market for our customers,
as they have tremendous buying power," said McAloon. "WiderThan is
committed to securing today's hottest content for mobile carriers,
and we continue to see significant value from partnering with top
artists, such as Tony Touch, Pokoloko and Nandy." About WiderThan
WiderThan is a leading provider of integrated mobile entertainment
solutions for wireless carriers. Our applications, content and
services enable wireless carriers to provide a broad range of
mobile entertainment, such as ringback tones, music-on-demand,
mobile games, ringtones, messaging and information services, to
their subscribers. WiderThan currently provides mobile
entertainment solutions to more than 45 wireless carriers in over
20 countries, including SK Telecom in Korea, Cingular Wireless,
Sprint Nextel, T- Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless in the United
States, Bharti Airtel in India and Globe Telecom in the
Philippines. DATASOURCE: WiderThan CONTACT: Maya Lee of
Fleishman-Hillard, +1-212-453-2317, or , for WiderThan Web site:
http://www.widerthan.com/
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