SonyBMG have announced agreements with two major music publishing companies which will speed up the process of licensing music for digital music ventures including ring tones, multi-media releases and on demand video streams. The deal will also cover aspects of content included on hybrid CD/DVD DualDisc releases.
The first agreement was reached with Warner/Chappell Music, with a second deal with EMI Music Publishing announced a few hours later. The deals will cover music where SonyBMG own the recording copyright and the partner publishing company control the songwriting royalty. The exact nature of the new agreements is not known, but SonyBMG say they hope the new partnerships will make the licensing of tracks for digital projects more efficient.