Vevo, Big Music’s Hulu, Launches Dec. 8
by Peter Kafka
Posted on November 18, 2009 at 3:05 PM PT
Vevo, the music industry’s attempt to create a Hulu-like site for its music videos, will formally launch Dec. 8. The site, which is co-owned by Vivendi’s Universal Music Group, Sony’s (SNE) music label and Abu Dhabi Media, will host a New York kick-off event that day.
For those who haven’t been following along, here’s what we know about Vevo:
- It will be powered by Google’s (GOOG) YouTube, which will share ad revenue with the joint venture.
- It is being run by Rio Caraeff, Universal’s veteran digital guy.
- In addition to its equity partnership, its distribution strategy is modeled after Hulu: Sony and Universal videos will appear exclusively on the site and/or YouTube, but the site plans on licensing its stream to other outlets, as Hulu does with portals like MySpace and Comcast’s (CMCSA) Fancast. One obvious place to license the stuff: Hulu itself.
- Neither EMI nor Warner Music Group (WMG), which has created its own Vevo-like channel with YouTube, is participating in the venture, but they could.
