Nicki Farag

PROMOTION PROMOTION: Def Jam has upped Nicki Farag to VP Promotion, EVP Promo Rick Sackheim announced today. In her new post, Farag, who joined the company in 2003 and will relocate from NYC to the Santa Monica office, will help strategize and coordinate the release of records at Top 40 radio, devise marketing plans and create awareness for Def Jam releases via multi-media platforms, among other duties. She'll also pretend to be interested when Sackheim (to whom she'll report) talks about "riding inside the tube" in Australia. "Nicki is a true Def Jam favorite, among both our artists and radio programmers across the board," Sackheim declared. "It's been an inspiration to work together with her in the Promotion Department for a decade now." For her part, Farag thanked label chief Steve Bartels and Sackheim, counting herself "proud, thrilled and grateful for this opportunity." (6/16a)