YouTube and Warner Music Group have confirmed that the label is to end its nine-month boycott of the video site, but with a deal that alters the way it makes money from YouTube. WMG will now sell advertising around its music videos, rather than relying on Google. The label will set its own prices and keep the majority of the revenue, giving YouTube a slice.
To try and drive up the price of ads, WMG will apparently launch custom channels within YouTube that purely focus on its artists. Or, as WMG describes it, “a feature-rich high-quality premium player and enhanced channels”. This may include links to artist websites, buy links and integrated chat, according to Billboard.
The question is what this means for Vevo, UMG’s planned premium video site that has already signed up Sony Music Entertainment. If WMG is running its own premium player within YouTube, will this be instead of joining Vevo? However, TechCrunch suggests WMG is still in talks to possibly join Vevo too.
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