## The Rise and Fall of Vevo
In December 2009, major record labels united to launch Vevo, a platform intended to reclaim control over the music business online amidst a rapidly changing digital landscape. With Bono as the guest of honor, they unveiled what they believed would be a revolutionary move, coining the term “Video Evolution.” However, this (r)evolution lasted less than ten years, fading into the nostalgic memory of millennials.
### The Music Industry Crisis
The late 2000s marked a turbulent era for the music industry. With the rise of piracy and digital chaos, record sales plummeted. Labels struggled to adapt, particularly as YouTube, bought by Google in 2006, skyrocketed in popularity without compensating artists. Warner Music’s withdrawal from YouTube in 2008 highlighted the urgency for change within the industry.
### Birth of Vevo
Doug Morris, then CEO of Universal Music Group, saw a gap in the market when he observed his grandson consuming online video content with ads. Realizing Universal was earning nothing from this boom pushed Morris to negotiate with platforms like Yahoo and MTV for a revenue share. Eventually, a partnership with Google birthed Vevo.
### Initial Success
Launched on December 8, 2009, Vevo quickly gained traction, becoming the most visited music site in the U.S. by its first month. The platform averaged 41 billion video views a year by 2012, boasting a catalog of over 75,000 videos. Vevo Certified, a marker of cultural relevance for artists, emerged as a significant indicator in the industry.
### Structural Challenges
Despite initial success, Vevo faced significant structural issues. While it generated $250 million in revenue in 2013, over 90% went to labels and music publishers. The company functioned more like an advertising manager than a profitable entity, leading to financial instability. Efforts to find buyers at nearly $1 billion proved fruitless, pushing Vevo to seek internal profitability.
### A Shift in Strategy
In April 2015, Erik Huggers took the helm, intending to reduce dependence on YouTube and explore mobile app development. Plans for a paid subscription service and dedicated apps were initiated but fell short, culminating in Huggers’ departure in 2017 amid cutbacks.
### The Final Blow
By January 2018, YouTube began migrating subscribers from Vevo channels to Official Artist Channels, significantly undermining Vevo’s relevance. Ironically, the company reported a break-even for the first time that year, yet its proprietary model remained unsuccessful, leading to the dissolution of its infrastructure.
### A New Beginning
Though Vevo did not vanish completely, it pivoted to focus on connected television and advertising-supported FAST channels, housing a library of over 900,000 clips with approximately 25 billion views monthly. This ironic twist saw Vevo successfully achieving a model that MTV had aspired to create but failed.
### Legacy of Vevo
Vevo’s journey is marked by both accomplishments and failures. It set a benchmark for high-definition music videos and redefined monetization structures for the digital age, underscoring the recording industry’s capacity to negotiate with tech platforms. Yet, the rise of platforms like TikTok has transformed music videos into a platform for amateur creativity, a future no one expected.