LOS ANGELES — Music videos from Norah Jones, Coldplay, Katy Perry and other artists under EMI Group are headed to an online music video venture, Vevo, set to launch today with a gala in New York.
EMI’s videos on Vevo will join content from Universal Music Group, which holds the largest stake in the new venture. Sony Music Entertainment is also an equity partner along with Abu Dhabi Media, an arm of the Abu Dhabi government.
EMI, which is based in London, will not take a stake in the company.
Discussions continue with Warner Music Group, the only major recording company not yet involved with Vevo. Warner Music has been separately developing its own artist-branded video channels on YouTube.
Faced with declining sales of compact discs, recording companies are experimenting with new ways of distributing their music online through ventures such as Vevo. It will show videos for free, supported by ads.
Such deals are not exclusive, however. Last month, EMI became the only major recording company to put its music videos on Hulu, which primarily carries television shows and movies.
Vevo launches today as both a Web site and an embedded video player that will replace Universal, Sony and EMI videos now available on Google’s video site YouTube.
Over the next year, as current licensing deals expire, Vevo’s player will gradually replace online videos that are on artist Web sites and other online destinations such as AOL.
The recording companies, led by Universal, are seeking to gain a greater share of advertising revenue from music videos than is now generated on sites such as YouTube.
They also seek to separate professionally produced content from the user-generated fare on YouTube, while better matching advertisers with a youthful demographic.
YouTube will receive a fee for providing Vevo with technology, but will not share in advertising revenue.
About 20 advertisers have signed on, including McDonald’s, MasterCard, Unilever and Nissan Motor’s Infiniti.
