BT duets with Sony on musicvideos

On-demand musicvid service to launch next month

By GORDON MASSON

British Telecoms giant BT has signed a deal allowing it to provide on-demand access to musicvideos from the record labels of Sony BMG on its next-generation TV service, BT Vision, due to launch next month.

The videos also will be available as of November through the BT Vision Download Store, a service offering film, television and music downloads to PCs and Microsoft-compatible portable devices.

The deal will give BT Vision customers early access to many of Sony BMG's newly released videos, including such acts as Foo Fighters, Jamiroquai, Justin Timberlake, Beyonce, Christina Aguilera and Bob Dylan.

BT Vision already has similar agreements with music operations as diverse as Warner Music, VPL, i-concerts, NBD and Eagle Rock. Other BT Vision deals involve content from BBC Worldwide, NBC Universal, Paramount, National Geographic Channel, HIT Entertainment, Nelvana and Turner Broadcasting.

Dan Marks, CEO of BT Television Services, called the agreement with Sony BMG "an important deal for BT Vision," adding many of the musicvids "will be exclusive to BT Vision for a period of time from their release."

Sony BMG's futures division senior VP Clive Rich said: "The BT Vision service puts consumers in control, bringing faster, easier and more convenient access to videos from our superstar artists, our video archives and our latest signings."