Malcolm Owen
Vevo, the record label-owned distributor of music videos and related content, will be shutting down its apps for iOS and other operating systems, as well as its consumer-facing website.
In an announcement on Thursday, Vevo confirmed it will be "phasing out elements" of its owned and operated platforms, which will include the closure of its mobile apps. It is unclear exactly when the apps will shut down, but Variety smart TV apps for a while longer.
The iOS app, which has been reviewed highly in the App Store, provided its users with access to music videos as well as other video content, along with playlists, artist activity feeds, and music recommendations. Current users will be provided a playlist tool to import their playlists to YouTube, though again it is unknown when this will be offered.
The announcement advises Vevo's catalog of music videos and original content will continue to be offered on YouTube, one of the main areas users are introduced to the company. As well as YouTube, Vevo is also "exploring ways to work with additional platforms to further expand access to Vevo's content," but it remains to be seen what third-party services it is planning to work with.
Despite the change, Vevo will continue to sell advertising for its content on all platforms, with the firm offering "unique selling propositions" to companies at scale and in "brand-safe environments."
The strategy alteration follows a series of high-profile departures at Vevo, including former CEO Erik Huggers in December, head of product Mark Hall, CTO Alex Nunes in the spring, and layoffs in the product and engineering team announced in April.
The refocus away from its own apps to primarily using other platforms arrives shortly after Google revealed massive changes to its music streaming services. Announced on May 17, YouTube Music is intended to replace Google Play Music, providing ad-supported and subscription-based music streaming, alongside the rebranding of YouTube Red to YouTube Premium.
While the loss of the Vevo app is likely to primarily benefit YouTube, it could also have a small effect on Apple Music. Apple's streaming service offers music videos and other content to subscribers, so the removal of a competitor offering similar content could encourage some users to try out Apple's own offering.
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Charles Martin
William Gallagher
5 Comments
This is quite sad news.
Vevo who? /s
"It is unclear exactly when the apps will shut down, but Variety smart TV apps for a while longer."
You're missing a word in there...
Also: Apparently the new management of Vevo is following the "do as little as possible to make money" model. At some point, will all non-individually hosted content on the internet be run by three companies? It'll be all about advertising, too, I expect.
Internet: advertising, porn... and cats(?).
That's too bad. Though, really... I think it's been about six months since I last looked at the Vevo app on my Apple TV, so...
Never knew they had apps.
One of the biggest problems with the iOS and Mac app stores is discovery of new software.