Music Video Service Vevo Plans To Launch In The Middle East

Vevo, the music video service, that was founded by Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group, in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Media Company (ADMC), has plans to launch the service in the Middle East in the first quarter of 2011, according to The National.

Vevo was launched in the US in December 2009, and now ranks fourth in terms of the number of viewers watching videos, behind Google, Yahoo! and Fox Interactive Media, attracting 43.6 million viewers in April, according to comScore.

The version to be launched in the region, which is provisionally being called Vevo Arabia, will most probably have broader content than the US version, including Arabic, Bollywood, Filipino and Chinese music to appeal to the different tastes of consumers in the region.

Vevo is estimated to have 85% of all music videos on its platform, largely because of its position as a Web platform for music giants Sony, Universal and EMI, who provide the website with licensed videos of their artists.

The content on Vevo is free to view for users; The company generates revenue through advertising and brand partnerships, although the door is being kept open to maybe introduce a form of pay-per-view model for premium content in the future.

The video hosting for Vevo is provided by YouTube, with Google and Vevo sharing the advertising revenue.

Vevo has also been getting into covering live events; they live-streamed a concert by The National (the band not the newspaper) that was held in the US last month, and they are also streaming the World Cup 2010 kick-off celebration concert today.

Considering ADMC’s involvement with the company, it’s been expected from the beginning that sooner or later Vevo would eventually bring its service to the region, and this bit of news confirms that it is in their plans. It should be quite interesting to follow how this develops, and how efforts to get the region’s big industry players on board will play out.

A number of web startups and media companies are starting to look at online video in the region as media consumption on the internet grows and broadband numbers edge slowly upwards, and it’ll be an exciting time ahead as all these players try to come up with the winning formula to establish themselves as the most popular video destination for the region.