It has been reported that Vevo is planning to start a TV network that would compete specifically with MTV’s music-video network, MTV Hits. Vevo CEO stated that they will offer a mix of programming, live events and archived performances.
The reports note that Vevo has no deals in place with any cable or satellite-TV companies right now, but they are collaborating with Web-enabled TV manufacturers, set-top boxes and other devices.
The service is expected to be part of Sony’s new HDTV set that will also incorporate Google TV.
“We’re partnering with the leading manufacturers, and the people that make the boxes that go around them,” said Caraeff.
There are also a lot of plans to make Vevo more user friendly and even allow users to create their own personalise Vevo TV channels, based upon their tastes, similar to web radio service Pandora.
Online music video portal Vevo has launched its app for iPhone and iPod touch this morning (App Store link). The application is completely free and lets users find and watch music video, create playlists and more.
The app will access to Vevo’s entire catalogue, which currently stands at 20,000 videos from more than 7,000 artists. Additionally, the Vevo iPhone app will include social media sharing options, so you can tell your friends about which video you are liking via Twitter, Facebook or email. The app also ties into iPhone’s GPS feature, by letting users see what videos are being watched around their current location.
Currently the application is only available in the US, but Im sure we will be seeing it here soon in the UK.
Music videos are in very high demand and they seem to be all consumed on either YouTube or sister site Vevo.
According to details shared by Vevo chief Rio Caraeff with Mashable, Vevo is now preparing an iPhone app release in July, followed by Android and iPad releases. YouTube was one of the first iPhone applications and its now good to see there will be a specific iPhone app just for music videos from Vevo.
The most anticipated feature is the addition of location. Vevo is planning on pushing local artists to localized listeners.
Vevo was born of the collaboration between YouTube and the major labels, after the long argument about revenues from YouTube’s streaming of copyrighted music and videos. Vevo has been streaming music video since December ’09, and in that one short month, has overtaken Myspace music as the No.1 music video site in the US. Techcrunch reports the following figures, with a more detailed analysis.
Top U.S. Music Services On The Web (in unique visitors, December, 2009)
- Vevo: 35.4 million
- MySpace Music: 33.1 million
- AOL Music: 29.0 million
- Warner Music: 23.3 million
- MTV Networks Music: 17.6 million
- Yahoo! Music: 16.4 million
- Jango Music Network: 9.6 million
- ToneFuse Music Network: 8.3 million
- MSN Music: 6.6 million
- Rhapsody: 6.5 million
Most of the traffic on Vevo was driven there from YouTube, and the service isn’t available outside the States yet, but given the warm reception Vevo has recieved, look for roll-out into Europe and Asia in the near future, as well as startled reactions from their competitors.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2010/01/13/youtube-vevo-overtake-myspace-music/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29&utm_content=Netvibes
Universal Music Group, Sony Music, and the other two major labels (who are expected to join Vevo before it launches), plus Google, have found the key investor they have been looking for: Abu Dhabi Media, owned by the Abu Dhabi government.
The Abu Dhabi Media company has been reported to have bought in to the service on a pre-launch value of $300 million. Google is also involved, in that it will operate the back-end of the site in return for a share of revenue, but does not own part of Vevo.
Obviously the $300 million valuation seems very high for a site that is yet to launch, but Vevo is no ordinary site. Vevo will easily become the worlds largest site for music videos online and with a large majority of YouTube’s views coming via music videos, it is surely going to be a hit. I really just hope Vevo ties in the videos nicely with purchasing options such as iTunes and Amazon, as well as giving artists the option to place whatever advertising they want next to their videos.
The rumours are true and Universal Music Group and Google have announced their joint venture, Vevo – a video site offering UMG’s music videos, with advertising revenues shared between the two.
The full press release is below for you to digest, and naturally we’ll have more analysis next week.
UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP AND YOUTUBE TO LAUNCH REVOLUTIONARY PREMIUM MUSIC AND VIDEO SERVICE
VEVO – UMG’s Premium Music Service Powered By YouTube To Launch In Coming Months
NEW YORK, NY and SAN BRUNO, CA, April 9, 2009 – Doug Morris, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Universal Music Group (UMG), the world’s leading music company and Eric Schmidt, Chairman of the Board & Chief Executive Officer of Google Inc., today announced that UMG and YouTube, a Google subsidiary, are working together to launch VEVO, a music and video entertainment service that will feature UMG’s premium video content.
In addition to VEVO, YouTube has renewed and extended its successful partnership with UMG that allows users to continue creating and watching user-generated videos containing UMG sound recordings and Universal Music Publishing Group’s compositions on YouTube through various territories around the world. The two companies will also share advertising revenue on YouTube and VEVO.
Launching later this year, VEVO will be a premium online music video hub built for consumers, advertisers and content owners that will blend UMG’s broad catalog of top artists and content with YouTube’s leading edge video technology and user community. YouTube will provide the technology infrastructure that will power VEVO and host UMG’s extensive library of professionally-created music videos on the new site. On YouTube, this content will be exclusively available through VEVO.com and a new VEVO channel through a special VEVO branded embedded player.
“VEVO will bring the most compelling premium music video content and services to the world’s single largest online video audience,” stated Mr. Morris. “We believe that at launch, VEVO will already have more traffic than any other music video site in the United States and in the world. And this traffic represents the most sought after demographic for advertisers, especially as advertising dollars continue their shift from old media to new. VEVO will be uniquely positioned to monetize this opportunity and a host of others as we grow it to become “the” destination for premium music video content online. For music lovers who want the best in music videos, the VEVO experience will be second to none. At the same time, VEVO will expand the premium video marketplace, generate new revenue streams for content creators, and provide brand advertisers an unprecedented opportunity to get in front of a highly engaged audience. We couldn’t be more excited about the huge potential we see in the VEVO service.”
“Technology has allowed fans to discover music in endless ways while creating new business opportunities for artists and labels alike,” said Mr. Schmidt. “At Google, we are committed to promoting greater innovation and choice and are thrilled to be working with UMG in what will surely be an exciting new service for consumers, advertisers, content creators and the music industry at large.”
At launch, people will be able to access UMG’s entire catalog of premium music video content, including professionally-created and full-length videos on VEVO, as well as artist-generated content and user-generated content hosted on YouTube. VEVO will also serve as a syndication platform, expanding the reach of the VEVO brand. This innovative platform is aimed at providing consumers the very best in digital music content while further extending UMG’s lead in the direct-to-consumer market.
Presently, UMG’s YouTube video channel has more than 3.5 billion views, making the UMG channel the most watched on YouTube.
CNET and the Wall Street Journal are both reporting that Universal Music Group and YouTube are in final negotiations to create a new music videos website, with the working title of Vevo.
The site is intended to feature music videos, artist-related content and interviews. The aim of course is to bring in more high profile brands who arent necessarily interested in advertising on YouTube because of its user-generated content.
It has been mentioned by CNET that the three other major labels have all been approached to join the Vevo service. Im sure this would all work in the same way as Myspace Music in which the major labels all have an equity stake. Myspace Music has amazed me that so many independent labels have come on board with the solution, because they should realise that part of their profits are still going to the major labels. However, with Myspace Music most independent labels need to have their music on the site, so why not make some revenues in the process.
