A Santa Monica company headed by a former show business deal maker plans to announce today the acquisition of a San Francisco firm that pioneered the use of popular songs as cellphone ring tones, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Bellrock Media Inc.’s purchase of Moderati Inc., which has relationships with all the major U.S. mobile phone carriers, underscores the entertainment industry’s growing interest in distributing content to mobile phones. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Bellrock creates original programming for the Internet, mobile phones and other emerging distribution platforms.

“Moderati brings credibility and distribution with all the carriers,” said Bellrock President Peter Levin, a former lieutenant of Creative Artists Agency founder Michael Ovitz.

Moderati’s parent company, Faith Inc. of Kyoto, Japan, was an early provider of what the industry refers to as monophonic and polyphonic ring tones , or distilled renditions of popular songs , used through Japanese cellphone giants NTT DoCoMo Inc. and KDDI Corp.

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