Vevo, the online music jukebox launched last month as the digital generation's answer to MTV, has hit the top of the charts after little more than a month in existence. The service, owned by Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Abu Dhabi Media Company and powered by YouTube, knocked MySpace Music out of the top slot last month as the most visited US web network in the Entertainment Music category with more than 35 million unique visitors, according to comScore. ADMC owns and publishes The National.
Ricky Ghai, ADMC's executive director of digital media, said the results were particularly impressive considering that Vevo did not launch until Dec. 8. "I am not surprised by its success, I'm only surprised at the speed, which by any standard is very fast," he said. "Granted, YouTube already had the traffic and what we have done is harness it, but the volume of people who are coming directly to Vevo.com is also a really good indicator of the brand affinity that we've created already."
From the beginning, Vevo's business model banked on the online popularity of music videos, which have long been the top traffic drivers within YouTube, the world's largest video site. But historically, neither labels nor YouTube made much money from this popularity, since advertisers were often reluctant to put their ads alongside some of YouTube's user-generated content. Vevo's unique proposition is to offer a separately branded, legal, professional-quality viewing experience within YouTube that allows advertisers to have their cake and eat it too -- target the young, edgy demographic drawn to music videos on YouTube without some of the headaches that youth and edginess can bring.
That idea alone was attractive enough to line up major advertisers such as Unilever, Procter & Gamble, AT&T, Nissan, Bose, and McDonald's, and the latest comScore figures will only strengthen this attractiveness, Mr Ghai said. "There was very strong interest from the usual brands, but also some unusual brands who would recognize the appeal for the community that Vevo would create: very clar branded spaces with very specific demographics that would appeal to them," he said. "Now, with the recorded success of Vevo, I think agencies and brands are going to solidify their commitment, rather than just be tentative about it."
The largest question looming over the venture now is whether the latest figures can help woo Warner Music Group, which became the last holdout among the major labels when EMI signed on to share its content on the eve of Vevo's launch. Warner has a complicated history with YouTube, having pulled its videos off the site in 2008 after a disagreement over licensing rates, only to put them back last September. Three weeks ago, Warner's music videos began appearing on Hulu, the advertising-supported video site that served as an early inspiration for Vevo.
"I think it's a question of time before Warner joins the relationship," Mr Ghai said. Warner Music Group could not be reached for comment. For now, Vevo can only be accessed directly from North America, but music fans can access Vevo content through YouTube from anywhere. These viewers will not get the full advertising-supported experience until Vevo rolls out in their region, which is expected to happen in the Middle East by the end of the year, Mr Ghai said.
Vevo Arabia is expected to be launched as its own separate portal that uses ADMC's Getmo technology as its online transactional platform by the first quarter of next year. khagey@thenational.ae