BBC Worldwide nets £1.5m in music licensing deal

by Isabella Piasecka, Media Week 06-Dec-07, 16:00

LONDON - BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, has signed an estimated £1.5m deal with classical music producer/distributor Medici Arts, handing it exclusive access to 360 hours of audiovisual material.

Under the 15-year licence deal, Medici will make available live performances, interviews and master classes filmed by the BBC over the last 55 years, from figures such as Yehudi Menuhin, Alfred Brendel, Itzhak Perlman and Birgit Nilsson.

BBC Worldwide is understood to have netted £1.5m up front from the deal, the first of its kind with a key arts-related audiovisual producer and programme distributor.

The agreement, negotiated between Medici Arts and BBC Worldwide’s Audio & Music division, will give Medici DVD, streaming and download rights for the licensed content, as well as TV sales rights outside the UK.

BBC Worldwide will retain the right to make the same content available via the planned commercial version of its on-demand service iPlayer.

Medici Arts currently produces the award-winning BBC Legends CDs, the Royal Opera House Heritage Series, the new archive CD label Medici Masters, and the DVD series Classic Archive in conjunction with Idéale Audience, Paris, and EMI Classics.