vevo

One of these days, Google is going to need to find a way to wring money out of YouTube, but at least it has a lot of room to grow.

If you're a glass half-full kind of person, then a report out Friday from Bernstein Research's Jeffrey Lindsay (as spotted by MediaMemo) should resonate. One of YouTube's main revenue-generating issues is that companies don't necessarily want to advertise next to videos of a fireman lighting himself on fire, or TMZ's bizarre interview of the Houston Rockets' Ron Artest, both among the most popular videos on … Read more

Google and Universal Music Group last week announced Vevo, a music video site that will feature Universal's music videos running on YouTube technology. I use YouTube as my primary source of watching music videos, and I'm not convinced that I, personally, need a Vevo-like site in my life.

That doesn't mean there isn't room for a site like this. Vevo could still become a great site--but not if it just streams music videos. Here are five features that I'd like to see on Vevo at launch:

1. High-quality video Whenever you try to watch music videos on sites other than MTV.com, the video quality is usually poor. But if Vevo offers outstanding video quality, it will certainly make pople notice. If you're going to a site to watch music videos, wouldn't you expect them to look good? Yeah, me too.

2. An awesome community I love reading comments on YouTube. Popular music videos have hundreds, if not thousands, of comments from both fans and haters alike who want everyone to know their opinions. Vevo needs a community like that to be successful. Watching music videos is fine, but if Vevo really wants to keep people coming back, allowing them to comment is a must. There's a reason why most sites allow users to post comments; they keep people interested in content they've already consumed. That's what Vevo needs.… Read more

Universal Music Group and Google are now partners in the music-video business.

The largest of the four top recording companies and YouTube's parent company announced on Thursday that they are working together on Vevo, a new music and video entertainment service set to launch later this year. YouTube will handle the technology while Universal Music supplies the content. The two companies will share ad revenue.

The companies said and at this point it appears that Universal's content and artists will be the only label represented on the site. However, Doug Morris, Universal Music's chief executive, said in … Read more

Universal Music Group, the nation's largest recording company, and YouTube are closing in on a final agreement to create a new premium music video Web site, according to sources close to the negotiations.

The sources said that the proposed service, which is tentatively named Vevo, would be a destination site closely linked to YouTube. Should an agreement be reached, Vevo would likely be the largest music-oriented site on the Web. Talks are ongoing, but a deal could be reached as early as the next few weeks, sources said.

A YouTube spokesman said: "We are always working with our … Read more