Hulu and record label EMI have struck a deal, which will give the video content site some music videos, one area in which the site has lacked. Hulu fans shouldn’t get too excited about the site becoming a big music video destination just yet though.
The deal, according to the New York Times, is to give artists Norah Jones her own channel (which is already live), and over time, add more EMI artists. The Norah Jones channel has all of her music videos, concert footage, and interviews.
EMI is only one of four major labels, and the smallest one at that. So, even if more EMI artists begin getting their own channels on Hulu, that would hardly make it THE place to go for music video content. However, Hulu appears optimistic that it will get deals done with other labels in the future. Brad Stone with the NYT reports:
Andy Forssell, Hulu’s senior vice president for content and distribution, said that Hulu toyed with the idea of putting tens of thousands of music videos on the site. “In the end, we thought the best starting point that fit with our mission, and with what our users expect, is a good mix of content, some music videos, long-form content and interviews, everything we can get for an immersive experience around certain artists,” he said.
Mr. Forssell said talks were continuing with the other labels and that ‘my sense is that we’ll be in relationships with all of them at some point.”
Music fans already have other options for music video viewing of course. To name a few, YouTube, MySpace, MTVMusic, and the highly anticipated Vevo (which is still in the works) will provide plenty of competition for Hulu in terms of capturing those views. Terms of the Hulu-EMI deal are unknown.
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