Music, and now MTV makes money on sheet music

MTV Networks returns to see the usefulness of exploiting the lyrics for new growth spurts of its business and launches an initiative that will interconnect television, Internet and mobile Internet to stimulate users.

“Who sings this song?” is the typical quiz question, to which viewers will try to answer. In other words, the international network will try to bring its music business even more to the fore, leveraging the lyrics, with a freedom that in the past has created more than a few problems for other structures.

Under the plans of this new initiative, several elements of the MTV Network will begin posting information about words And music of the artists whose videoclips they will broadcast, to hook prize questions to them and to create other appeal mechanisms for the audience. On the other hand, Gracenote searches will be made available online, accompanied by multimedia information on artists, games and links to buy songs.

The song sales business is connected to the Rhapsody music store, the result of an agreement between MTV and RealNetworks.

In the mobile field, SMS and web will be the masters: by texting a specific number with specific questions, you will get a link in response to which you can point your mobile browser and obtain information, clips and explanations.

It is easy to conclude that this is, as news.com tells us, a potentially lucrative move, a move potentially for profit. Once again designed with a casual use of copyrighted materials the use of which, if for others it has generated serious difficulties, for MTV it could generate profit that is anything but potential.

Marco Valerio Principality