News
Warner on message
Tim Green at Midem in Cannes Jan 23 2006, 5:00pm
Warner Music has hinted it will launch a new kind of mobile music product: the SMS tone. Alex Zubillaga, Warner Music’s EVP of digital strategy and business development, said the first example will roll out with a German operator soon.
The SMS tone will comprise music and video and playback on receipt of a text message. Consumers can already personalise their SMS alerts, of course, but this is thought to be the first time a music major has specifically designed a music product to do so.
The launch is an example of Warner’s desire to create mobile-specific concepts. It has already built mobile ‘bundles’ such as the pack of tones and videos it sells via KDDI in Japan for 500 yen – and Zubillaga insists that such products will be factored into the company’s thinking at the A&R stage.
Warner is a zealous convert to mobile, having seen the part played by the medium in the success of Madonna’s Hung Up single. The song’s ringtone was released a month before Hung Up was released to radio stations. Warner believes this tactic was instrumental in making the single number one in 29 countries.
