Warner Music Group has reportedly signed a deal with YouTube to bring music videos from artists such as U2 and Madonna back to the video-sharing website. The videos were removed from the site in December following a row over royalty payments.
Warner has also started talks with Vevo to sign a non-exclusive deal with the site to allow it to show music videos. The Vevo project, a joint venture between YouTube, Universal and Sony Music, already has exclusive rights to music videos from Universal and Sony, which account for around 60% of the US music market.
Meanwhile, Vevo has hired former Nokia exec David Kohl to drive advertising on the site. Vevo aims to make music videos more appealing to advertisers by replacing grainy uploads with higher-quality videos. Ad revenues are seen by labels as essential to offsetting losses incurred by illegal music downloading and declining CD sales.
StrategyEye's related categories: Online Video, Online Music, Major Labels
StrategyEye's related companies: Vevo, Warner Music Group, YouTube
