EMI lets YouTube carry music videos

EMI lets YouTube carry music videos

	Published : Thu, 31 May 2007 22:32 By : Agencies Print this Story

LOS ANGELES (AP) - EMI Music, home to recording artists such as Coldplay, Norah Jones and Keith Urban, has reached an agreement with Google Inc.'s YouTube that lets the Web site carry music videos and other content from EMI artists and clears the way for users to post videos with select EMI content, the companies said Thursday.

With the deal, San Bruno-based YouTube now has permission to host videos from all four of the world's major recording companies. YouTube reached agreements with the other music labels in October, but Britain-based EMI had been the lone holdout.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

EMI Music, a unit of EMI Group PLC, will receive a cut of revenue from ads shown on YouTube when EMI content is being viewed, said Chris Maxcy, head of business development for YouTube.

'Through this agreement EMI Music and its artists will be fairly compensated for their work,' EMI Chief Executive Eric Nicoli said in a statement.

Previous deals struck by the company with other record labels and TV networks have also included ad revenue-sharing.

Under the terms of the agreement, EMI will make its artists' music videos available on the site. Computer users will also be allowed to use content from select EMI artists in videos they create and post on the site.

Like other record labels, EMI will be able to identify when its video or audio material is being used in user-generated videos on the Web site and have it removed, should it opt to do so.

'There will be cases where maybe a particular artist doesn't want to participate and the labels need to respect that,' Maxcy said. 'In those cases, that content will be removed.'

Video and songs by The Beatles, for example, will not be available on YouTube, EMI said.

YouTube has quietly rolled out technology that uses word search and other filtering systems to track content on the site. The company is also exploring other methods, including audio and video fingerprinting, Maxcy said.

Google shares rose 69 cents to $497.91 Thursday.