Both CinemaNow and MediaPass Network will deliver multimedia content on demand to music fans, but in different ways.

CinemaNow has hooked up with Warner Music Group and TVT Records to sell music videos on a download-to-own basis through the company's WatchMusicHere.com site. Each video sells for prices ranging from US$1.99 to $2.99 for a permanent copy.

Targeting Windows Mobile Platform

All videos are available in multiple formats for playback on PCs and laptops, as well as Microsoft Windows Mobile-based devices, such as the Portable Media Center, Pocket PCs and select smartphones . Content is downloaded in the appropriate format and then transferred to the device using Windows Media Player 10 software.

The site initially will offer 75 music videos, with over 1,500 additional titles expected by December.

In turn, MediaPass Network has rolled out a service for Windows Mobile-based hardware that allows MediaPass subscribers to obtain a license for downloading videos to portable devices.

MediaPass Music subscribers will pay $1 each for the videos, which they can keep for 30 days.

Opportunity for Music Labels

"The record labels are being challenged to develop new revenue streams," says Daniel Harris, president and CEO of MediaPass.

"We are expanding paid music services and creating a synergy with the record companies that differs from the streaming media offerings from companies like AOL and Yahoo that offer no benefits to the labels," he said.

Harris is confident that there is a market for music videos on media center devices and mobile phones , pointing out that the cost is only slightly higher than that for obtaining digital music files.

Limited Appeal?

But Forrester Research analyst Ted Schadler is not so sure. Currently, 10 percent of U.S. households are downloading video content, he notes. "But the question is, where do they view it? Most do that on a PC, because there is no portable media player available, and cell phones are not seen as devices that are good for viewing video content."

Music videos today are used more as promotional vehicles for record labels than entertainment, Schadler says. "I think the market for music videos is small, and that the uptake could be limited."