The BBC will make available to EMI all its television and radio archives of the record company’s acts in a five-year agreement under which the two will also collaborate on television productions.

The tie-up, to be confirmed today, comes amid a growing expectation of a strong debut for Coldplay’s album Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends, which is due out tomorrow. It is on track to top 300,000 UK sales in its first seven days.

Highlights of the BBC archive include behind-the-scenes footage of David Bowie’s 1974 Diamond Dogs tour , which will be released for sale in CD, DVD and downloadable formats. A BBC Omnibus documentary crew filmed the tour in a period when the singer was using cocaine. The result was the film Cracked Actor.

EMI paid an unspecified advance for access to the BBC catalogue. Salim Mukaddam, head of commercial affairs, music, BBC Worldwide, said that the idea behind the deal was “more of a partnership where we are able to exploit each other’s catalogues better”. Also included is a 1967 BBC radio recording of Pink Floyd performing songs from its first album The Piper At The Gates of Dawn - one of the first John Peel sessions.

The one exception from the overall deal is The Beatles, whose BBC appearances are covered by an existing agreement.

EMI will release a small portion of the material as part of CD and DVD sets or downloads. The entire archive will be released on a yet-unnamed “direct to consumer” website owned by the BBC’s commercial unit. “Content will be made available for sale, or will be free with adverts,” Mr Mukaddam said.

The arrangement is non-exclusive and Mr Mukaddam said that the corporation was “in discussions with all the major and some independent labels” about similar partnerships. The BBC already has a more limited agreement with Universal Music, whereby Universal pays cash for access to archive material of its acts.

EMI, which is heavily indebted after a takeover by Terra Firma, the private equity firm, is desperate to exploit its music catalogue as a way to boost profits. The company believes that marquee acts such as Pink Floyd and David Bowie could generate a steady, reliable income stream along the lines of the stable profits that it enjoys from its share of songwriter royalties.

The BBC will also help to produce music documentaries for EMI acts, largely using its archive, for British and international audiences.

Online retailers were saying that pre-orders of the Coldplay album were running at high levels. Play.com, which claims a 6 per cent share of all music sold in the UK, said that it was selling “20 per cent more than Leona Lewis’s Spirit”, which was last year’s fast-seller. It sold 375,000 in its first week and with iTunes also talking about record preorders, Viva La Vida is tipped to sell more than 300,000 at a minimum.

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