L.A. Based Nickels Group Brokers Death Row Deal For Buongiorno

Wireless content providers Buongiorno have entered into a licensing agreement with Death Row Records for their entire music and artist catalog. The deal was brokered by Los Angeles company The Nickels Group.

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) November 12, 2004 -- Death Row Records, the cult rap and hip hop record label, has struck a deal to provide its fans with mobile phone truetones*, wallpapers, ringbacks, video tones and videos of its artists for the first time. The exclusive content, including material from Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg, Tupac and Kurupt, will be distributed on a global basis via a digital rights management deal arranged by Daryl " Dogman" Young and Jonas Hudson, co-founders of the entertainment industry specialists The Nickels Group through leading European digital media company Buongiorno.

The pioneer of the hugely popular gangsta rap, Death Row Records, was created by former Bobby Brown bodyguard turned mogul, Suge Knight, in 1992. Since then, the label has sold close to 50 million units worldwide, generated close to $750 million in revenue and launched the careers of such cult status artists as Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur, all of whom have gone platinum many times over. As a marketing consultant to Death Row from its inception, Darryl Dogman" Young worked closely with Suge for over 10 years and can be said to have been very instrumental in these successes.

Suge Knight, Founder and CEO of Death Row Records stated: Having worked so closely with the founders of The Nickels Group over the past ten years, I couldnt think of anyone more capable of putting this content into the right hands. I have always known Dogman and Jonas to be on the cutting edge of marketing and production for film and music properties. We are proud to do business with them and, with the additional assistance of Buongiorno, look forward to becoming leaders in the digital and wireless space."

This very exciting mobile content, which will include * truetones of original classics such as Tupacs anthem, How Do You Want It" and Snoop Doggs classic Who Am I (Whats My Name)", as well as Death Row artists videos and previously unreleased photographs, will be marketed and distributed by Buongiorno. The content will initially be available in the UK, as well as in South Africa through telecommunications company, Teljoy, with a US distribution agreement to follow.

Says Burton Katz, managing director of Buongiono UK: Gangsta rap has a cult status all over the world - it makes sense to give fans of Death Row Records artists more ways to access both the music and the visuals. Mobile content is the perfect medium - the benefit of ringtones and wallpaper is that they enable music lovers to personalise their mobile phone with content that is a constant reminder of their heroes."

Jonas and Daryl confirm: As a result of our relationships with entertainment figures from film, television and music, we have been able to develop strategic partnerships with entities as diverse as Death Row Records to Microsoft. With Death Row Records we have access to its artists material on an exclusive basis – a deal which includes providing photographs that have never previously been seen by the public. This should prove to be a real draw for rap and hip hop enthusiasts, which is why we needed Buongiornos expertise and experience – its proven track record in this field in Europe will ensure that fans get a consistently first rate service. We also envision being able to strike these same kinds of deals with many more artists and celebrities in the future with equal success. The demand is enormous."

Truetones are mobile phone ringtones that are the original song, rather than an electronic version of it.

About The Nickels Group
The Nickels Group was co-founded by Jonas Hudson and Darryl Dogman" Young several years ago. Having worked together on several film, music and online projects, the two knew they had to merge their respective talents and form the company known as The Nickels Group.

The Nickels Group is a consortium of film, music and event producers who have worked with the top musicians, filmmakers and corporations in the world. They have created alliances with celebrities, filmmakers, musicians and athletes to provide unique and entertaining content for all global mediums from digital distribution to major theatrical film releases.

The Nickels Group produces and aggregates original celebrity, sports, music, and entertainment True Tones, Video Tones and Wallpapers. The Nickels Group works with network distributors, software companies, and hardware companies to develop content for the next generation of distribution and wireless devices.

About Buongiorno Vitaminic SpA
Buongiorno Vitaminic SpA (Italy, Nuovo Mercato, ticker: BVIT) is a leading European media company in the market of design, production and/or aggregation and distribution of multimedia contents, mainly in the field of entertainment services via e-mail and telephone. In addition to operating with local teams in Europe (Italy, the UK, Spain and Portugal, France, Germany, Austria) and in Mexico, Buongiorno Vitaminic also works in the Middle East and South Africa through distribution partnerships with major mobile operators.The Group closed 2003 with a Value of Production of Euro 55.37 million, and a positive gross operating margin(Ebitda) of Euro 518K,; the Group expects to achieve an organic turnover growth by over 30% for 2004, with a 10% Ebitda margin and a positive free cash flow.

On June, 10th 2004, Buongiorno Vitaminic signed the agreement for the purchase of the 95.1% of the share capital of Gsmbox SpA, one of the leading mobile media companies in Italy and Spain, leader in interaction and TV participation segment. Consequently to the transaction, and together with the above mentioned objectives, Buongiorno Vitaminic forecasts 2004 pro-forma revenues (based on the total year pro-forma consolidation) equal to Euro 80 millions. The company operates with two business lines – digital marketing services and value-added consumer services for wired and wireless telephony – whose synergies enhance the content aggregation of digital marketing and technology management skills of a team of over 350 professionals in Europe, coming from 18 different countries.

PUBLICITY CONTACT:
Nancy Byron
it" Girl PR
310.577.1122 O
213.709.1056 C
Nancy@itgirlpublicrelations.com

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