Facebook is in talks to take a very important partner away from Google.
According to CNET’s sources, Facebook is looking to take music video service VEVO away from YouTube. This would mean that you would have to go to Facebook to check out the latest videos from Sony, Universal and EMI artists.
Apparently the talks are super preliminary due to the fact that VEVO still has a year left in their YouTube contract. But the sources confirm that there have been at least two meetings and that they took place within the last few weeks.
Right now, YouTube streams VEVO content and the two properties split all of the ad revenue. This is reportedly the kind of deal that Facebook would strike with VEVO.
Facebook has just dipped its toes into the water when it comes to a being a music destination. Along with recent moves like Spotify integration, Facebook also just announced a new music sharing service that allows users to listen to songs as their friends do – at the same time. Facebook users can also set up music parties with their friends where one is the DJ, and can chat live about the tracks as they play. The app, which is compatible with Spotify and Rdio, is in the process of rolling out to all users.
But having VEVO content on the site could add a whole new element to their music offerings. VEVO could benefit from the move by accessing a medium where folks spend a lot more time on average and where social interactions like commenting, liking, and sharing feel more natural to some users.
VEVO is pretty huge. In comScore’s December Online Video Rankings, VEVO came in 2nd in terms of total unique viewers with 53.6 million. They are easily the top YouTube partner, besting the 2nd place Warner Music by over 20 million unique viewers during the month. Each viewer of VEVO content on YouTube spent about 67 minutes watching videos throughout December.
Whatever ends up happening, I don’t expect Facebook to just swoop down and snatch VEVO up without a fight.
