About Viral

Is Vevo the Answer for Online Music Videos?

If you haven’t check Vevo out yet you really should.  Just over 2 months ago YouTube and some of the major music industry players (Sony, Universal and EMI) got to together and launched their answer to a consistent debate about their music content being stolen through the YouTube platform.  Did it work?

Well that depends on who is asking the question.  I can tell you that the strategic move of all their music video content from the main YouTube platform into another has shaken up the charts and reworked their business model.

First off, The avid user will now notice that the YouTube chart consisting of the most viewed music videos of all time has lost some of its leading content.   Avril Lavigne’s Girlfriend was the most viewed music video of all time on YouTube and stayed on the top of the chart through 2009.  Now it no longer appears on YouTube…What happened when they flicked the switch?

Well YouTube’s All Time chart started to look like it did back in early 2009.  Original viral videos like Connie, Paul Potts and guitar made it back on to the first page as the music juggernauts transfered their music to Vevo.  It also gave music videos not associated to  Sony, Universal or EMI the chance to climb to the front page as well.  Miley Cyrus being one of those artists now has 3 songs on the front page.  Pitbull took his song and ran with it too.

So how have the songs like Girlfriend under Sony, Universal and EMI fared on Vevo.  Well, the magic of the Vevo platform being run by YouTube allowed for the songs to keep their view count and carry on their online legacy.  The Vevo All Time chart now looks very similar to the charts we put together when we were separating the content on YouTube’s chart, only now Lady Gaga has completely taken over.  For the first time in over a year Lady Gaga may surpass Avril to claim the title of the most views on a single video.   In a  few months Lady Gaga accomplished what it took Avril almost 2 years to obtain.

This  begs the questions of whether it is simply that Lady Gaga is  the next Madonna or whether video consumption patterns are changing.  Maybe both…

So that was how the charts got mashed up but what do they accomplish by switching platforms.  Well there’s a slightly more engaging interface, it’s more focused on the visual aspect, it’s easily compatible with other Google run accounts and has easy buttons to favorite and create playlists.   Is that enough?  The ads meshed into the business plan are played between videos and are easily skipped plus the annoying factor that the site is limited to Sony, EMI and Universal content rather than a consumers on demand search of all content may inhibit the adoption their looking for.

What puzzles this cat is that YouTube Partners get paid per view so why would they not create customized channels within YouTube and attach ads to all Sony, EMI and Universal content rather than splitting the traffic between two platforms?  The functionality of Vevo can easily be inserted in to YouTube suggesting some kind of new functionality would come with the release of a new platform.  Not so much.  You still can’t do a search on Vevo without interrupting your music experience which tells me they still haven’t got a grip on the total in-browser music experience online.

Cheers

PS. Vevo currenttly has an Alexa rank of 4078  (Websitegrader.com Feb 26th)

Update Feb 27th:  Ads also flash up in the lower part of the videos frame similar to YT.

Welcome to the YouTube Concert! Alicia Keys and Jay-Z Perform Empire State of Mind

It’s still not a familiar feeling to watch live web streaming.  But when Jay-Z appears from the shadows of a live Alicia Keys concert millions of people went nuts in front of their computers (not yet confirmed).

Where will YouTube take us next?

Live streaming has its uses.  Catching sports games or watching Presidential speeches online could make waves but now a new force has emerged to support musicians: YouTube Concerts.

In November U2 streamed a concert out of the Rosebowl in California and had over 60 million people tuned in.  Quickly following suit Alicia Keys dressed up her YouTube channel and joined the ranks of U2 just hours ago.  Notice the live Twitter feed…nice way to start trending.

American Express tagged along with some exclusive branding so no one got a free lunch.  When Jay-Z walked on stage and the song “Empire State of Mind” began you could start to see how the pieces would fit together in future concerts.  This particular concert is part of World Aids Day so this new form of musical distribution has benevolent roots.

CD sales don’t exactly excite most musicians these days.  Record labels take most of the cut anyway.  itunes has a nice monopoly on the per song online distribution method so what’s the new hope for musicians?

Well, why just have a concert and rely solely on ticket sales and T-shirts when you can stream it live and sell advertising?  At least for now big bands can tap into a new promotion/revenue/distribution model.

Cheers!

YouTube’s Top 10 Music Videos of All Time Gets Shaken Up

 Looking back 5 months ago it is not a huge surprise that the top 10 music videos on YouTube have been shaken up.  Of the 7 videos that remain on top, no one would be surprised that Miley Cyrus keeps climbing.  Hey video is trying to close the some odd 20 million view gap between her 7 things and all time leading video by Avril Lavigne.

So who got the axe?

After Chris Brown’s public image fiasco his Kiss Kiss video soon lost appeal.  The Jonas Brothers join Chris as both their top videos SOS and Burnin Up dropped off to make way for the ladies.  Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Venessa Hudgens have since taken the spot light.

*Growth calculated from May 15th

The interesting thing about the three latest editions to chart is that Vanessa’s video was added 2 years ago while Lady Gaga and Katy Perry have only been on YouTube for a year. 

Pay close attention to Hollywood Records and their strategy with Vanessa as they choose not disable the embedding feature.  A strategy that has allowed Miley’s 7 things video to amass over 30 million views since last March.  Now capping 100 million views on one video alone the strategy seems to be paying off.    

Cheers!