Vevo is an upcoming music video website that will be similar to Hulu. Rio Caraeff is the head of Vevo and the company is rumored to have raised $300 million. The company expects to stream about 450 million videos per month. The company will be ran by about 45 people initially.
Vevo is co-owned by Universal Music Group, Sony Music, and Abu Dhabi Media. Vevo will be powered by YouTube’s technology and they will be sharing ad revenue with each other. Vevo will be launching officially on December 8.
Vevo is a music video website that is a joint venture between Universal Music, Sony Music and YouTube. According to sources with paidContent, the company is out seeking funding based on a $300 milion valuation. Vevo CEO Rio Caraeff has been travelling across the country to meet with potential investors in order to get the project off the ground.
Vevo will be based on of New York City and Los Angeles. The company has been hiring engineers over the last several months. As of right now, it is unclear whether EMI and Warner will join the venture. As for Warner Music, CEO Edgar Bronfman has spoken against the idea publicly.
I would not be surprised if other labels jump on the opportunity to work with Vevo in the near future. Hulu has proven to the world that web video could replace television just like it could do with music television. Vevo can be followed on Twitter.com/Vevo.
Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) subsidiary YouTube and Universal Music Group are planning to launch a music video website together in order to increase both of their revenues. The Universal Music channel on YouTube is already one of the most subscribed to on the video website. The combined website will be called Vevo.
This deal is a major boost for YouTube because the video website is getting pressured to find additional revenue streams and is taking a lot of flack for not being able to pay fees for the rights to use their music and music videos.
Vevo will be wholly owned by Universal and it will feature higher quality videos than what is seen on YouTube itself. “The rationale is to help make Vevo a place that brands feel more comfortable,” stated Rio Caraeff, EVP of Universal’s eLabs division.
Universal hopes that Vevo will be comparable to Hulu. Vevo will syndicate videos through their platform called Vevo Music Network. Universal is planning to partner with EMI and Sony Music Group who have already renewed their contracts with YouTube. Partnering with Warner Music Group will be slightly more challenging because they have not been able to make a deal with YouTube in the past.