2. 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
7. Building Artist
Recognition
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
8. 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
9. Opportunities
Variety of talent to choose from
location is easy to utilize; promising artists all over NYC
Huge hip-hop fan base
10. Mixtape
s
Icons 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
11. 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
12. Spread the Word
TV commercials
NYC DJs at clubs make announcements
Radio Spots
Flyers, signs, etc
Billboards
14. 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
15. 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