Dream A Little Stream With Me

Internet Radio became popular as people streamed music to their computers over the Internet. Now Internet Video is starting to take over. More and more people are turning on to it. Sales of pocket-size MP4 audio/video players have boomed over the past year. Among the success stories erupting from this revolution is a website called YouTube. Number 3 music distributor, Warner Music Group sees YouTube as a marketing opportunity to distribute videos, behind-the-scenes interviews, and other things and the two companies anounced their intentions earlier this week.

Internet users have been discovering a relatively new website that has become a treasure trove of original videos covering virtually any subject. You’ll find classic clips of music anf comedy performances as well as new ones. You can see images taken from around the world from past to present. Started in 2005, YouTube began as a personal video sharing service but has grown into an entertainment destination with people watching more than 100 million videos on their site daily. According to YouTube, over 65,000 new videos are uploaded to their site daily. Current user access to YouTube is completely free of charge.

YouTube.com and Warner Music Group announced an agreement to distribute on YouTube the library of music videos from WMG’s massive roster of artists, as well as behind-the-scenes footage, artist interviews, original programming and other special content. WMG will have the opportunity to authorize the use of its content by the YouTube community by taking advantage of YouTube’s advanced content identification and royalty reporting system, set for release by the end of the 2006. YouTube and WMG will share revenue from advertising on both WMG music videos and user uploaded videos that incorporate audio and audiovisual works from WMG’s catalog.

This is the first major agreement with a major distributor as part of YouTube’s effort to create several Brand Channels on their site for video distribution. Marketers can customize the appearance of their channels through a self-service tool. Access to the exclusive enhanced design and channel functionality is free-of charge to advertisers who meet predetermined spending levels.

For you and me, this may just be the seedling for pocket video distrbution that may emerge as a competitor to Apple’s iTunes. It’s still a little early to predict but, judging from the rising popularity of YouTube and as more users integrate computers into their home entertainment systems, this is a company worth watching. This stream could actually become a river.

Technorati Tags:
youtube warner brothers records

Tweet This Post