Music videos seem perfectly suited to the Web, being short videos that are easily digestible. But no-one seems to have truly got a handle on their Internet potential yet. Could the big four record companies be about to do so by developing a Hulu for music videos?
Warner Jumps First
At the moment there are many different places to watch music videos on the Web. the biggest source must surely be YouTube where almost every music video ever made can be found.
Or at least that was the case before the Warner Music Group took their ball back and went home, removing all of its music videos from the Google-owned site on their way off the park.
Big Four Revolt
There have been rumblings of a revolt against YouTube from the big four record labels of Warner, Sony, EMI, and Universal for some time. The main issue as always is money, with the record labels wanting more money from any new content licensing deal and YouTube refusing to comply.
The current deals are due to end early in 2009, which has lead to the Warner incident. But as long ago as September there were already signs of the two sides heading for an impasse.
Hulu For Music Videos
At that time, there were claims that Universal was considering eschewing YouTube altogether to strike out on its own. This online music video portal was labeled as a possible ‘Hulu for music videos’.
That name, and indeed the idea have now returned in light of Warner’s defection from YouTube. This time the ‘Hulu for music videos’ seems more fitting because all four of the major record labels are said to be discussing teaming up for the project.
The Issue Of Money
Silicon Alley Insider discusses the possibility of a deal and the reasons behind it. As mentioned before, money is the big draw for the record labels, none of which seem happy with the level of revenue they receive from YouTube at the moment.
The problem is that the record labels are expecting Google to pay up even on videos where no money is being made. Google is rightly holding out rather than agreeing to these terms.
Conclusions
I think this ‘Hulu for music videos’ is a distinct possibility. It prevents YouTube from holding the cards that the record labels like holding onto themselves, and means they can set their own agenda.
While the record labels would obviously have their own troubles making revenue from the portal, it would at least allow them to push concert tickets and music sales more aggressively than YouTube.
