EMI Group, the world's third largest music company, signed a deal to provide preloaded music videos on Microsoft's soon-to-launch Zune digital media player, a Reuters report said. According to EMI, the deal would see artists, including American actor Jared Leto's alternative rock band 30 Seconds To Mars and English electro-pop band Hot Chip, featured on the player when it goes to market later this year, the report said. Sources at record labels, who had seen the new player, said its wireless capability and a feature that allowed some sharing of music between users were what differentiated Zune from Apple's market-leading iPod, the report said. "Apple has been an important partner in building the digital music market but any well-funded serious entrant has got to be good news for the artists and industry," Jeff Kempler, EVP of EMI unit Virgin Records America, told Reuters. Microsoft, which was not immediately available for comment, announced plans for Zune last month, in a move seen by industry analysts as a belated attempt to challenge Apple's dominance in both digital audio and video downloads, the report further said.