Thousands of hours of pop and rock music by artists such as David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Roxy Music and The Beach Boys, is to be released to the public for the very first time.
Over 400,000 hours of footage including live concerts, revealing interviews on chat shows and rare studio sessions, will be released to EMI for release on CDs, DVDs and digital downloads.
The deal also allows the BBC to use music content from the EMI archives to make new programmes.
Some of the EMI archive gems include live radio performances from Pink Floyd, including a session from 1967 featuring tracks from their first album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn; Coldplay on Inside Tracks performing a stripped down version of their first hit “Shiver”; and an Omnibus special titled Cracked Actor from 1975 devoted to David Bowie.