Is there life for Vevo beyond YouTube? The answer, increasingly, seems to be yes – and it’s all happening in the living room.
The premium music video platform has just inked a new deal with Norway-based smart TV OTT software provider, Vewd.
The move means that Vevo’s app – and it catalog of music video content – will now be made available for tens of millions of Vewd-enabled devices from Sony, Hisense, Philips, and TiVo, among others.
Vewd claims that its software makes “OTT possible on nearly 50 million connected devices each year”, across smart TVs and set-top boxes, hinting at the potential new reach Vevo can enjoy.
Today’s news comes a month after MBW reported that the Vevo app had experienced a 140% quarter-on-quarter increase in US views on Amazon Fire TV Edition Smart TVs in Q1 this year.
Within that article, Vevo also revealed that an average of 20% of its streams in the US now took place on connected TVs.
The new Vewd deal will bring the Vevo catalog to a broad array of smart TVs managed by Vewd in North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia Pacific.
“With the tremendous scale afforded by Vewd’s far reaching network of television partners, Vevo will have the opportunity to tap into important and growing markets, bringing some of the most sought-after content to new audiences and creating value for our artists, songwriters, labels and publishing partners.”
Alex Kisch, Vevo
Vevo will retain full editorial control of its content, with audiences having access to localized and global content dependent on geographic location.
“Naming Vewd as a smart TV scaling partner is a key moment for our OTT strategy,” said Alex Kisch, EVP Business Development and Affairs & General Counsel, Vevo.
“With the tremendous scale afforded by Vewd’s far reaching network of television partners, Vevo will have the opportunity to tap into important and growing markets, bringing some of the most sought-after content to new audiences and creating value for our artists, songwriters, labels and publishing partners.”
Vevo says it has leveraged Vewd’s proprietary ‘Snap’ technology to create a unified app that works across major Vewd-enabled smart TV platforms.
“Vevo is really taking a bold and forward-looking approach to managing and growing their smart TV reach,” said Michael Winneker, VP of Content Partnerships, Vewd.
“The platform consolidation that happened on mobile hasn’t happened on the TV, so it makes sense to utilize a scaling partner like Vewd to mitigate app management complexity and accelerate distribution through tens of millions of Vewd-enabled devices, all while helping reduce costs and increase monetization. Welcome, Vevo, to the world’s largest connected TV ecosystem.”
Reaching 26 billion monthly views globally, Vevo has over 400,000 music videos in its catalog.
The company is co-owned by Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment, amongst others.Music Business Worldwide
