Verizon deal lets users join Rhino Retro

By Chris Marlowe

Verizon Wireless said Tuesday that the Rhino Retro Club is the latest subscription offer available exclusively to its customers. The content comes from leading catalog label Rhino Records and Warner Music Group artists.

Consumers with appropriately sophisticated handsets can join the Rhino Retro Club for $3.99 a month. Membership benefits include one free ring tone and one free wallpaper each month the subscription is active, along with artist biographies and news, album recommendations, music trivia and other constantly updated material related to Rhino and such WMG artists as Aretha Franklin, the Doors, the B-52's, Echo and the Bunnymen and Chicago.

David Dorn, senior vp new media at Warner Strategic Marketing, said the product will appeal to an older audience that grew up with this music as well as to younger consumers who are hearing it for the first time.Rhino Retro Club content can be accessed directly from the user's phone and does not require a computer. It is offered as part of Verizon's Get It Now library.

Wicked Wireless built the application WMG is using, building on a relationship the two companies established when they created a mobile music club for the band Jet.

"These are the first generation of an entire service offering we've developed for the music labels so they can leverage their content," Wicked Wireless CEO Dennis Adamo said. "It's a whole entertainment experience for consumers using their mobile phone."

Verizon also announced Ringtalker, a new Get It Now product released in partnership with developer dotPhoto Inc. This is a collection of more than 100 customized talking ring tones and sound clips, each of which conveys a distinct personality.

contact dadamo@wickedwireless.com for more information