Vevo

Vevo (stylized vevo) is a video hosting service owned and operated by a joint venture of Universal Music Group, Google, Sony Music Entertainment and Abu Dhabi Media). It launched on December 8, 2009. The videos on Vevo are syndicated across the web, with Google and Vevo sharing the advertising revenue.

Vevo offers music videos from two of the "big three" major record labels, UMG and SME. EMI also licensed its library for Vevo shortly before launch; it was subsequently acquired by UMG in 2012. Warner Music Group was initially reported to be considering hosting its content on the service, but formed a rival alliance with MTV Networks.

History
The concept for Vevo was described as being a Hulu for music videos, with the goal being to attract more high-end advertisers. The site's other revenue sources include a merchandise store and referral links to purchase viewed songs on Amazon MP3 and iTunes. UMG acquired the domain name vevo.com on 20 November 2008. SME reached a deal to add its content to the site in June 2009. The site went live on December 8, 2009, and that same month became the number one most visited music site in the US, overtaking MySpace Music.

In June 2012, Vevo launched its Certified awards, which honors artists with at least 100 million views on Vevo and its partners (including YouTube) through special features on the Vevo website.

Availability
Vevo is currently available in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The website was scheduled to go worldwide in 2010, but it was still not available outside these countries. Vevo's official blog cited licensing issues for the delay in the worldwide rollout. Most of Vevo's videos on YouTube are viewable by users in other countries, while others will produce the message "The uploader has not made this video available in your country." The Vevo service in the United Kingdom and Ireland was launched on April 26, 2011. On 16 April 2012, Vevo was launched in Australia and New Zealand by MCM Entertainment. On August 14, 2012, Brazil became the first Latin American country to have the service. It is expected to be launched in six more European and Latin American countries in 2012. Vevo launched in Spain, Italy, and France on November 15, 2012. VEVO launched in The Netherlands on April 3, 2013 and on May 17, 2013 also in Poland. In September 29, 2013 VEVO updated its iOS application that now includes launching in Germany.

Vevo is also available for a range of platforms including Android, iOS, Windows Phone, Windows 8, Fire OS, Google TV, Apple TV, Boxee, Roku and Xbox 360.

Vevo TV
On March 12, 2013, Vevo launched Vevo TV, an advertising-supported internet television channel running 24 hours a day, featuring blocks of music videos and specials. The channel is only available to viewers in North America, with IP address blocking being used to enforce the restriction. Vevo is, however, planning launches in other countries.

Content censorship
Versions of videos on Vevo with explicit content such as profanity may be edited. A company spokesperson stated "[their] censorship goal for launch was to keep everything clean for broadcast, 'the MTV version.'" This allows Vevo to make their network more friendly to advertising partners such as McDonald's. Vevo has stated that it does not have specific policies or a list of words that are forbidden. Some videos are provided with uncut, explicit versions in addition to the censored version. There is no formal rating system in place, aside from classifying videos as explicit or non-explicit, but discussions are taking place to create a rating system that allows users and advertisers to choose the level of profanity they are willing to accept.