Actually, it's possibly this kind of deal, rather than new Coldplay songs, that will secure EMI's long term future. The major has announced a new deal with BBC Worldwide, which will see the two London based content owners collaborate on various projects, including making available to the public a load of little heard BBC recordings from legendary artists.
The arrangement will allow EMI to release music from their artists that is in the BBC's extensive radio and TV archive, in return for EMI allowing the BBC to use their artists' performances to create new programming, which the corporation can then sell to international broadcasters and consumers. BBC Worldwide has also acquired the rights to distribute the content direct to consumers via any of their own future digital services.
The list of EMI artists with unreleased material in the BBC archives include Kylie Minogue, The Beach Boys, David Bowie, Coldplay, Paul McCartney, Lily Allen and Pink Floyd. Some recordings already uncovered include live radio performances from Pink Floyd, including a session from 1967 featuring tracks from their first album 'The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn'; Coldplay performing a stripped down version of their first hit 'Shiver'; and a David Bowie Omnibus special entitled 'Cracked Actor' from 1975.
Pete Duckworth, Senior Vice President, Catalogue, EMI Music UK & Ireland said: "We are very excited about this agreement. In the BBC vaults there is a wealth of unreleased and high quality material from EMI artists that we will now be able to bring to fans. At the same time, we can offer new revenue opportunities to our artists that simply weren't there before". Duckworth added that all release proposals will be cleared with the relevant artist.
Paul Dempsey, Director of Audio & Music, BBC Worldwide, added: "We're delighted to be working with EMI and we see this as a terrific partnership. This deal is a prime example of the commercial opportunities available to artists, their labels and BBC Worldwide when we work together to release this incredibly rich archive of content. It's also great news for music fans who are always hungry for more content from their favourite artist or band".
It's a good partnership you know. I like it. Thinking about it, if EMI are going to quote me on anything, I'd rather they put a sticker on that deal than Coldplay's new album.