November 3, 2005
Music videos resurrected by online, phone delivery
Music videos were stifled by the downloading that crippled record companies, but they have found new life in the past year on the Internet, mobile phones and DVDs, and are helping rescue the ailing music industry, reports Reuters
"Once considered nothing more than a costly marketing tool to help sell albums, videos by the likes of Madonna and Kanye West are now bringing in cash on their own as fans stream them by the millions while watching accompanying online ads, and pay to download them onto phones and Apple's new iPods.
Music companies are not saying just how they are being compensated for them or how much, but they acknowledge that the revenue will help videos pay for themselves for the first
"In a not particularly exuberant environment, this is one area of growth we're capitalizing on," said Thomas Hesse, president of the global digital business for Sony BMG Music Entertainment, the world's second-largest recorded music company."
"I think we're seeing quite a fundamental paradigm shift in the way videos are being used," he added. "We're much more confident about ways to monetise them."
The Permanent Link to this page is: http://www.textually.org/ringtonia/archives/2005/11/010491.htm