Now here's an interesting concept: Xbox 360 gamers will get a year of free music and music videos, among other unnamed content, under a new deal between Microsoft and Epic Records. The new deal, which was announced today, calls for Epic to feature 12 artists on a program called "Artist of the Month", which will be accessible to Xbox 360 users via Dashboard. British singer Natasha Bedingfield will be the first artist featured when the new program is launched later this year.

Xbox Live members who use the new service will be able to download exclusive music videos from these 12 artists for free, with one artist being available each month. Also, and perhaps more interestingly, users will be able to compete for a chance to play an online game against Epic's artists. This feature alone could draw in hundreds of gamers; I mean, honestly, who wouldn't like to play against Shakira in a Halo match?

This move is, in some ways, surprising considering that Epic Records is owned by Sony BMG Music Entertainment. Sony is, of course, one of Microsoft's main competitors in the video game industry, so it's surprising to see any branch of Sony make a deal with Microsoft. Does this mean that Sony might have something similar planned for the Playstation 3 and the Playstation Network Platform? Only time will reveal the answer to that question; for now, I can only assume that Sony has something up its sleeve in order to come to such a deal with Microsoft.


Source : Dlmag