MUMBAI: By early next year, BBC World Service plans to venture into the Internet medium with a new web music service. The as yet unnamed service is still to receive an approval of broadcast rights from the BBC end and will include content from iPlayer, reports The Guardian.
The web music service will tap the corporation’s vast audio archives that include the Old Grey Whistle Test, the John Peel Sessions and the Six Music hub. It will also include hundreds of tracks recorded as part of the BBC’s exclusive deal to cover Glastonbury, as well as a bank of sessions recorded as part of the Radio 1 Live Lounge.
The web service will initially include 1,300 tracks and videos from BBC radio and TV shows. The service will later expand to more than 50,000 tracks and 3,000 hours of video, say reports.
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Users of the service can stream tracks for free as they will be an ad-funded service from BBC Worldwide, the corporation’s commercial arm. Users can also download to own and play the digital rights-free tracks across any brand of media player.
A BBC Worldwide spokesman confirmed the project was in development, saying the organisation is “exploring a range of opportunities around direct-to-consumer websites and the utilisation of the BBC music archive along with other web content”.
BBC worldwide has already tied up with EMI and is reported to be in talks with three other major labels – Warner, Sony BMG and Universal. BBC Worldwide’s new online service would be based at a standalone web address, with display advertising as well as ads before, during and after video content.
According to a source, the service would be “built in an open way so that it would connect with the web music ecosystem”.
BBC Worldwide will be keen to characterize the service as a unique offering that does not compete with commercial rivals such as Apple’s dominant iTunes store, Amazon, or Sky’s planned music retail offering.
The project will not be subject to the BBC Trust’s public value or market impact tests applied to new licence fee-funded services because BBC Worldwide operates as an independent, commercial organisation, reports say.
