BBC Playlister: Beeb 'Working On iPlayer For Music'

BBC 'Working On iPlayer For Music'

The BBC is said to be in talks to give licence-fee payers free streaming access to its massive archive of music recordings.

The Beeb has a huge library of music recordings gathering dust in its vaults, but aside from occasional releases and radio play, most of it rarely gets used.

Previous attempts to release the archive have stalled over problems with rights.

But now the corporation is said to be in talks with commercial partners, including Spotify and Apple, in an attempt to release them.

The service is codenamed 'Playlister', and it appears as though the archives would be made available via partners which already have music rights deals in plays.

Users would potentially be able to pick and choose from the BBC's archive of music, in a similar way to how iPlayer provides time-limited access to iPlayer.

The Telegraph, which broke the story, said that the service could launch as soon as the end of 2012 - though it is more likely to be pushed back into next year.

It is thought that Tim Davie, director of audio and music at the BBC, feels the project is his "biggest legacy".

But with the details on what form the service will take still up in the air, we'll have to just wait and see.

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