Vevo Unwraps Major Music Fare for Fall and the Holidays

In a crowded TV market, Vevo's key differentiator is its combination of star performers and music video's ability to deliver emotional and engaging experiences, according to network executives. "Music creates big cultural moments," said Jason Caldwell, Vevo's Vice President of Sales for the Midwest region. "Our audience can count on us for new music video premieres from their favorite artists, and bespoke performances from emerging talent to the biggest names in music. Vevo delivers that on a daily basis."

Along with buzzworthy premieres of music videos from major artists, including Rihanna, Harry Styles and Taylor Swift, Vevo has set fall debuts of its exclusive video series, Official Live Performances. This is content that the Vevo team shoots and produces, providing unique live takes of songs and a means for artist-fan connection. They've recently included performances by Demi Lovato, The 1975 (pictured at top) and Future. Other originals will spotlight emerging artists via DSCVR Artists to Watch.

For the holidays, Vevo is planning seasonal specials and a heavy rotation of themed videos from top artists across its existing TV channel lineup, accessible on FAST (free ad-supported streaming TV) platforms like Samsung TV Plus, Pluto TV and The Roku Channel. In addition, Vevo is launching a dedicated pop-up Vevo Holiday channel across its FAST partners.

At a time when consumers control their optionality, Vevo allows its audience to choose their preferred viewing experience, whether through 24/7 FAST channels or on demand.

The endless options are adding up to record audiences. In the second quarter of 2022, Vevo recorded 4.4 billion living room views, Vevo's highest TV viewership ever, up from 2.3 billion just three years ago, according to network data. Users spent 2.6 million hours streaming Vevo content, and 74% of Vevo TV sessions were co-viewing experiences, attracting two or more people.

Vevo is a joint venture between Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment. While it is available on most CTV services, its currently laser-focused on growing the FAST business.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, new deals will boost Vevo's FAST reach by an added 25%, the network said.

Vevo is also creating customized FAST channels for individual distribution partners, most recently setting up channels like Vevo Iconos Latinos and Vevo Regional Mexicano for Spanish-language streamer ViX. "The optionality in viewing experience is allowing us to uniquely program for audiences in a way never done before," Caldwell explained.

When it comes to the most popular FAST channels, Caldwell said viewers are loving the network's nostalgic decades channels, as well as Pop, Hip Hop and Country. He expects the holiday channel to be a big hit as well.

The secret to Vevo's success, Caldwell noted, is the cultural relevance of the content. There is a strong bond between viewers and their favorite artists, regardless of when the content was released. Case in point: Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O' Mine" video, produced in 1987. It currently has over 1.4 billion views to date and was viewed 225 million times in 2021 alone, he said.

"This kind of content is also especially engaging because viewers can feel and see themselves in the music videos," Caldwell continued. According to Vevo's 2022 Media Tracker, 69% of viewers said music videos are more culturally relevant than other content, and 79% of Vevo's TV viewers said music videos allow them to see themselves and their experiences on screen.

With new FAST partners on the horizon, Vevo is offering a select number of advertisers the opportunity to be the first brands to accompany music videos across some of the most popular streaming platforms.

Caldwell said the network is counting on big-name artists to generate conversations and make Vevo must-see TV. "Whatever the big videos are, our artists create these cultural moments that connect with audiences in a big way. We're really pumped about it," he concluded.

Photo courtesy of Vevo.

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