Google & Universal Announce VEVO Channel

Universal Music and Google have announced that the label group and YouTube will launch VEVO, a music and video site featuring UMG content later this year. UMG and Universal Publishing also renewed their worldwide deal with YouTube. Rival Sony has already renewed its  ouTube deal; but WMG  ahs pulled all content during contentious negotiations.

VEVO is billed as a "premium online music video hub". YouTube will provide the infrastructure and Universal will provide exclusive content via VEVO.com and a new branded player. UMG’s YouTube channel has more than 3.5 billion views, making it the most watched on the top rated video site.

From the press release:

“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."