YouTube invests in Vevo, buys stake in company to keep music videos off Facebook
Google said today that it has renewed its agreement with Vevo, the music video distributor and keeping its popular programming on YouTube and preventing it from falling into the hands of its rivals. Vevo draws 50.2 million users a month to YouTube, according to comScore, making it one of the company’s most important partners according to Billboard.
As part of the deal, YouTube is investing in the company. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but Billboard pegged the size of the investment at between $40 million and $50 million. “We made an investment in Vevo,” YouTube said in a statement to The Verge. “We are excited by their future prospects and to provide YouTube users with the best possible music experience.”
As per the renewed partnership, YouTube will now feature Vevo’s music videos on its platform with the two companies sharing the ad revenue. The original pact was made in 2009 which ended in December last year.
“We made an investment in VEVO. We are excited by their future prospects and to provide YouTube users with the best possible music experience,” YouTube said in a statement.
Vevo, which is owned by Universal Music Group, Sony Music, and the Abu Dhabi Media Co., had reportedly considered entering into an exclusive partnership with Facebook following the end of its revenue-sharing deal with Google. Billboard reports that the company will use the new investment to expand internationally and create new music programming; Vevo did not respond to a request for comment.
