Epic Records, Microsoft in Xbox 360 Deal

03/16/2006 8:37 PM, AP


Xbox 360 gamers will get a year of free music videos and other content from artists signed to Epic Records under a promotion deal between the record label and Microsoft Corp., the companies said Thursday.

The arrangement calls for Epic Records to feature 12 of its artists on a program dubbed Artist of the Month, which users of Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft's popular gaming console can access over the Xbox Live entertainment network.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Xbox Live members will be able to download exclusive music videos free and compete for a chance to play an online game against the Epic recording artists.

The first artist to participate in the promotion will be British singer Natasha Bedingfield.

New York-based Epic, a unit of Sony BMG Music Entertainment, is banking its artists will find a new audience among video gamers. Sony BMG is a joint venture of Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news). and Bertelsmann AG.

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