Sony BMG Close to Exclusive Music Video Deal With AOL

CNet: That's good news for Sony BMG obviously, because it hopefully opens up a significant new source of revenue for the label amidst an era of declining CD sales...(The New York Post reported that AOL could pay more than $25 million for rights to Sony BMG's video catalog...) "A deal could be announced within a couple of weeks, but details still need to be worked out on how much exclusivity AOL will get as part of the deal and how much that exclusivity is worth." Granting AOL any amount of exclusivity (with respect to the videos) would certainly be a departure from other online music video deals, in which labels have granted access to more than one online service.

Universal and Warner already have similar deals (minus the exclusivity) in place, granting online access to its music video catalogs and EMI is reportedly working on one too with several interested parties...While labels have often allowed online services access to videos for promotional purposes, labels are turning to their catalogs of videos as a new source of revenue through a fee-per-view or through advertising revenue sharing. This trend will only increase as broadband usage continues to grow, cellular networks improve and newer video compression technology yields even smaller file sizes to make the viewing experience faster and more entertaining...