Record company EMI Music has joined up with mobile operator T-Mobile to trial ad-supported mobile videos covering news, entertainment and sports content.
The new offering has started trials on T-Mobile's network and will give customers access to free video content with television-style advertising.
As part of the deal, T-Mobile customers will be presented with an electronic programme guide on their handset, which will offer a range of content choices from news, entertainment and sports. Music videos from EMI UK artists, such as Coldplay, Lilly Allen, Gorillaz, The Kooks and Robbie Williams, will be packaged and streamed with specifically targeted ad.
Advertisers already signed up to take part in the trial include Coca-Cola Zero, General Motors, Gillette, Land Rover, Microsoft, Nike and Toyota.
Tony Kypreos, European vice-president for business development and innovation at EMI, said: "Consumers want to be able to enjoy music in many forms across a variety of different platforms. The advertising-supported model is currently generating a lot of interest, and we think we'll learn more about what fans want from mobile music in this trial."
The deal follows on from a similar trial that EMI and Rhythm NewMedia kicked off in April in North America, when EMI experimented with ad-supported, on-demand and pre-programmed mobile video content.
In addition, last week SpiralFrog, the company that is looking to revolutionise legal music downloading by offering tracks for free, also signed a deal with EMI, which could mean that artists such as Coldplay and Robbie Williams are added to its service.
Source: Various
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