BBC Worldwide has made a deal with EMI Music making the BBC's extensive archives commercially (and legally) available for the first time. Audio and video of classic performances from the likes of Queen, David Bowie and Pink Floyd will be included in this; the BBC's Beatles archives are part of an existing, seperate agreement with EMI.

The BBC will have the rights to distribute the content direct to consumers via their own digital services such as online streaming. EMI will be able to release BBC archive material across multiple platforms including digital, with both companies receiving royalties from all the sales.

Pete Duckworth, senior vice president, catalogue for EMI Music UK & Ireland, said: "In the BBC vaults there is a wealth of unreleased and high quality material from EMI artists that we will now be able to bring to fans."

Obviously this is all at a very early stage, and the exact content to be released will no doubt be under discussion in the coming months. As and when any Floyd content becomes available, we will of course let you know. More information on the deal can be seen at The Times website.

As Sunday afternoons go, it couldn't have been much nicer. One of the hottest and sunniest days of the year thus far greeted the professional, and enthusiastic amateur, cricketers who turned out at Surrey's Cranleigh School for Eric Clapton’s XI versus The Bunburys Charity Cricket Match.

BD visitors will know (from our recent news story) that one of those taking part (and pictured to the right, and more pictures below) was none other than Roger Waters, just two days after his tour finale in St Petersburg, Russia, and just hours before taking part in the Cries From The Heart concert in London...

David Gilmour's entertaining official blog has started to make some big revelations as to the upcoming Live In Gdańsk release. Far from what most assumed, that it would be just a double CD, they revealed a little while back that a documentary would be included. Well, as regular visitors to the blog have seen over the last couple of days, there are no less than FIVE different formats of the package!

Some of the details are still to be announced, but included in some of the packages will be a 114-minute DVD, and the long-awaited 5.1 surround sound version of On An Island, along with many other goodies that haven't appeared elsewhere.

With a release date of September 15th in Europe, and September 16th in North America, the various packages will be very eagerly awaited by fans across the world. Once the final details have been announced, we'll include them on this site, along with ordering details, but in the meantime make sure you keep visiting blog.davidgilmour.com/gdansk.html to discover the latest revelations!

The prestigious Teatro Alla Scala in the heart of Milan has a long and important history since its opening in 1778. 2009 marks another milestone as Roland Petit's Pink Floyd Ballet - first performed in 1972 - arrives at the venue for eight performances.

The shows will be taking place at 8pm on each of the following dates: June 29th, 30th, July 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 7th, 9th, and 10th.

Unlike the Marseilles performances in France back in 1972, which had the band playing the music live for the ballet dancers, these 2009 shows will not be attended by the band. With a promised marriage between academic dance, and the music of Pink Floyd, along with a kaleidoscopic flood of light and laser effects, each show will include some ninety minutes of songs from The Wall, Meddle, Dark Side Of The Moon, Relics, and Obscured By Clouds. More details at www.teatroallascala.org.