Last week, we reported that Warner Music Group was on the verge of announcing a deal with video service Vevo. That partnership has been formalized, and as expected, it is a looser tie-up that Vevo has with the other two major labels. Warner’s “premium” content will appear right away on Vevo’s app and web service. However, those videos will not appear on Vevo-run YouTube channels and Warner has not taken any equity in the video distributor. Universal Music Group, in contrast, owns a 49% share of Vevo.
Involvement from the three majors is likely a step toward Vevo rolling out a premium subscription service. The concept has been talked about for some time. “Just having an ad-supported model is not sustainable in the long run,” CEO Erik Huggers said in February.