Hulu Gets Musical With Norah Jones Channel

Part promotion and part sign of things to come, EMI has debuted a Norah Jones channel on Hulu reports Billboard. It’s a move that shows the online video portal is looking to dip its toe into the music video waters.

With the deal, all of Jones’ videos will be posted on Hulu, plus concert footage and interviews. Jones’ new album, The Fall, was released this week, so the Norah Jones channel will serve to promote the new album as well. The deal will, down the road, add content from other artists on EMI’s labels including Virgin, Capitol and Blue Note.

Already there’s the big boys in the music video space, MySpace and YouTube. And soon enough Vevo, the upcoming music video site operated by Google, will be joining the party, so no time like the present for Hulu to explore any long term viability of adding music content to the free online video service.

“We think Hulu is an excellent, high-quality environment and a great place to connect with fans. We look forward to making more content available from other artists as well,” said Ronn Werre, president, EMI Music Services and COO, EMI Music North America, in a statement. “We’re delighted to add Hulu to the growing number of platforms EMI is working with to give fans more of what they’re looking for.”

Hulu could just open the floodgates and provide thousands of videos on the portal, but it’s probably a wise move to start small and slowly build a library of music content that blends with their existing content plan, which is built around providing access to free TV shows and movies. Not too mention there’s the whole negotiating with major record labels and the independents on revenue sharing, which can get interesting.

Speaking with the New York Times, Andy Forssell, senior vice-president of content and distribution at Hulu, said:

“In the end, we thought the best starting point that fits with our mission, and with what our users expect, is a good mix of content, some music videos, long-form content and interviews, everything we can get for an immersive experience around certain artists.”

If you like Norah Jones, it’s a killer move by EMI and Hulu. There is plenty of great content already on the Jones channel, including her recent concert at the Le Poisson Rouge in New York City. The new Norah Jones Channel on Hulu is available here.

Would you like to see Hulu add more music video content?