Google-owned YouTube has renewed its deal with Vevo which will allow the video-sharing website to continue to host music videos from the distributor. Vevo, which is owned by Universal Music Group, Sony Music and the Abu Dhabi Media Co., is the top channel partner on YouTube with 50.2 million unique views per month meaning it was clearly important for YouTube to keep them around.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed although it was revealed that Google was required to invest in Vevo in order to close the deal. Google’s investment is pegged somewhere between $40 million and $50 million according to Billboard.
The renewed agreement and investment looks to be a win-win for all parties involved. YouTube will be able to keep their stranglehold on Vevo content, preventing them from signing licensing deals with rivals like Facebook. The music video distributor required that all registrations be made through Facebook back in February which led many to believe that a content deal was looming.
Vevo will benefit from the investment as they continue to expand their international presence. In April, the service launched in the Netherlands which raised the total number of countries it operates in to 11. The growing list includes Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Spain, the United States and the U.K. Additionally, Vevo has been expanding their reach to mobile as well with apps for Android, iOS and Windows Phone.
The agreement was reportedly signed last week but was only made public this week.
Anyway, that is a lot of money :O
