MTV and Warner Music today announced an global agreement whereby MTV will license Warner Music’s catalog of music videos to create and distribute original programming for mobile phone networks. The agreement is the first between a media company (MTV and its parent, Viacom) and a music label concerning content developed for wireless mobile networks.
MTV plans to use videos and excerpts to create original short-form programming along the longs like VH1’s Driven and You Oughtta Know specifically for high-speed capable mobile users. Pricing for MTV’s content has not been determined, but is expected to be available on a subscription basis or as on-demand downloads or streams from mobile phone operators.
The music industry is placing heavy bets on the success of mobile based media, and mobile operators are looking to open new premium revenue streams as income from traditional voice services stagnates or even declines. And the writing’s already appearing on the wall: sales of digital ringtones comprise nearly 50 percent of the music industry’s digital revenue (the success of Apple’s iTunes Music Store notwithstanding), and in Europe, where 3G phones have been offering capabilities only now coming to U.S. phone networks and early mobile phone adoption means the markets are much closer to saturation, music is one of the primary sources of mobile programming.
But the real question is: how is that kid down the street going to crank his cell phone up to at least 400 watts so he can properly experience the mobile edition of Headbangers Ball? Think what that’ll do to his battery life…
