Ashley Rappoport, Chelsea Eagle, Hilary Kee, Elijah Clark-Ginsberg, Jayme Pounders
Ashley Rappoport, Chelsea Eagle, Hilary Kee, Elijah Clark-Ginsberg, Jayme Pounders
Company Background
American Hip-Hop record label owned by Universal Music Group
1984 - Created by Rick Rubin in his NYU dorm
Russell Simmons joined Rubin shortly after
Their first singles were a success, which lead to a distribution deal with CBS and Columbia Records
Lyor Cohen became president in 1988
Russell Simmons, and currently L.A. Reid, are the most recent owners of the company
Strengths
Market Conscious
Label recognition
Networking
Ideal location - Manhattan
Great eye for talent and potential
Exclusive to who they sign; credibility
WeaknessesDeclining record sales
Limited audience; generally only appeals to hip-hop / R&B fans
The Company Hierarchy
Icons (Jay-Z, Mariah Carey, Kanye West)
Artists with medium-sized fanbase (Aaron Fresh, Lady Sovereign, Curren$y)
Unknown (Ace Hood, Big Sean, Natasha)
Mixing Hip-Hop From One Artist to the Next.
Building Artist Recognition Within the Company
Leveraging the popularity of known artists to build lesser known ones
Get Def Jam artists’ songs all over NYC radio stations: Hot 97, Hot 108 Jams, Z-100
Threats
Vast amount of record labels nationwide as well as direct competition in the Manhattan area
Pirated Music/ P2P File-sharing
Most popular music among Americans is Country and Rock
Opportunities
Variety of talent to choose from
location is easy to utilize; promising artists all over NYC
Huge hip-hop fan base
MixtapesIcons featured in lesser known artists’ songs
Likewise, lesser known artists have guest appearances in the icons’ music as well
start branding the mixtapes months in advance of release
TV commercials and radio spots
Central Park Performance
Def Jam will host a mainstage performance featuring both iconic and unknown artists.
Mixtape Preview; premiere a collection of the songs
Livestreamed worldwide
Goal: Give unknown artists exposure
Spread the Word
TV commercials
NYC DJs at clubs make announcements
Radio Spots
Flyers, signs, etc
Billboards
Mixing hip-hop from one fan to the next.
Club Crawl Afterparties
After the Central Park performance and other big events
First 1,000 concert attendees get pass allowing them to go to the afterparties
Icons and smaller artists pair up, and go to different clubs
Fans have the chance to meet the artists and other fans
Getting the Fans Involved
Contest featured on Def Jam’s facebook page
Winner will have the chance to be Def Jam’s Next Big Thing
Fans vote on winner
Given the opportunity to record with one of Def Jam’s major recording artists
Winner and several of his/her friends given special backstage access at Central Park Performance
Mock Flyer / Billboard
Why These Ideas Work
Inter-artist communication
Artist to fan communication
Fan-to-fan communication
BudgetCentral Park Performance: $2.8 million
Production costs: $3 million
10,000 ticket sales @ $20 = $200,000
Promotional Costs: $4.6 million