Viva La Vevo

by Bradley Stern
filed under: Vevo, YouTube

6049bce79c295e0a6dac7eee4553fb43 Viva La VevoWe’ve heard quite enough about the collapse of the music industry. Could this be the saving grace?

According to a report published by Billboard earlier today, Universal Music Group and Google (YouTube) are premiering an online music video service called Vevo sometime later this year. The service will host all of Universal’s promo material (including interviews, music videos, and performances) and, if successful, will continue to incorporate material from other major and independent labels.

The idea behind the service is this: When labels ship out their artist’s music videos online, they spread the wealth among a variety of services (Yahoo, YouTube, AOL, etc.) Because of this however, advertisers have their pick at these websites, meaning competition is low ($3-$8 per thousand clicks). The hope is to channel all music videos into one single service, thereby increasing competition amongst advertisers and boosting revenue (the goal is around $25-$40 per thousand clicks).

Much like the success of other “single stop” Internet services such as Hulu and iTunes, the plan is not only to offset the illegal distribution of copyright materials, but to provide funding for the labels and their artists who deserve to be making money for their work.

Though this could very well be just one of the many experimental new ways of coping with the age of bootlegging, I think it’s worth a shot. Sure, the advertising model is highly experimental, but why not take a chance?

What do you think, Muusers?

pixel Viva La Vevo

  • AutomaticTLC

    Bullshit. I think NIN’s art director said it best:

    “Wow guys, this is awesome! I’ve been looking for a new place to view music videos from all of my favorite UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP artists! It’s exciting to me that I can finally be one hundred percent sure I’m sending revenue to the biggest, most out-of-touch dinosaur of a giant multi-national corporation when I watch music videos online! I’ll even be helping the RIAA stay in business – those guys have been having some tough times lately, so they need our support! You know, sometimes I would find music videos on YouTube from my favorite UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP artists, but it appeared that they’d been uploaded ILLEGALLY by some fan trying to steal money from hard-working lawyers and executives! It made me feel dirty for watching videos that weren’t provided to me officially by UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP – it felt like I was stealing! Thankfully all of that moral ambiguity will be gone now that VEVO is here! If history is any indication, all of my favorite UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP videos on VEVO will include all of the great features that I, the consumer, have come to expect from UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP, like LOTS of cool advertisements during the videos, and a special feature that makes sure I can’t repost the video on anyone other websites – that would be stealing!! Golly everyone I’m SO PSYCHED for this cool new website!”

  • Brad

    I agree that the notion of grossly disproportional distribution of money between labels and artists is one the major causes of the market’s downfall.

    However, the way we’re heading now, artists will not able to maintain a self-sufficient lifestyle as simply “musicians” for much longer. As it is, MOST non A-list musicians barely make a profit after touring (seeing as profits mainly go to paying the venues, touring expenses, set-up crews, the label, and then finally the artist). Not to mention the amount of shortcuts being taken including cuts to graphic design departments (which may be why NIN’s art director is so bitter).

    Perhaps the record label itself will simply collapse, and the new wave will be direct artist to listener interaction, though it seems unlikely/unfeasible.

    There has to be SOME new, major profit maker or else the industry as a whole is simply going to be driven to the ground.

  • AutomaticTLC

    The art director works real close with Trent Reznor and Trent isn’t under any record label contract, so they’re both gettin’ paid. :-P

    You’re talking to deaf ears though, because I’d rather see major record labels be driven into the ground than see the corruption continue.

    *shrugs* we’ll see if it’ll be successful. I doubt it.

  • Brad

    For sure, for sure…It’s like a mirror image of the economy. Extend our funding to faulty companies and allow them to continue their corruption, or allow it all to crash, burn, and rebuild now? Perhaps we should just drive ‘em down and start anew.