YouTube + Universal = Vevo

Another day, another arbitrarily-named video service.

Though Vevo is a name that could very easily be lost among the likes of Veoh and TiVo, the soon-to-be launched music video site has backers that are far from forgettable: Google and Vivendi, or, more specifically, YouTube and Universal Music Group.

The two companies hope they will be able to use their brand power to create a site that can attract and keep advertisers. Though YouTube is the Internet's most visited video site, it has been less than efficacious in capitalizing on its high traffic. Sites such as Hulu have become just as profitable (if not more, in some cases) than YouTube, with a market share 20 times smaller.

This is because user engagement with advertisements on YouTube is much lower, and content quality is much lower. On Hulu, for example, users are given access to high-quality/value content only after they have been shown a sponsor's message. YouTube's overlaid ads can be clicked off, and the advertisements outside of the viewing window don't demand your attention in order to give you the video you're there to see. Vevo will take a similar tack to Hulu in offering "premium music video content."

Vevo will be fully owned by Universal Music Group, a subsidiary of French media giant Vivendi, and the technology will be provided by Google. Revenue from Vevo will be shared between YouTube and Universal, as will revenue from Universal content hosted on YouTube.

The title "premium music video content" should sound familiar, as it's the same content that YouTube blocked from view in the UK due to a spat with the Performing Rights Society. PRS proposed a royalty rate hike that would have made videos too costly to display.

But if YouTube commanded more advertising income, it may have been more accommodating to the demands of the publishers, writers, and performers in that instance.