Vevo plans subscription music video service

Erik Huggers

Music video service, Vevo, is planning to launch a subscription-based offering to complement its ad-supported business, according to CEO Erik Huggers.

Speaking at the Code/Media conference in California the former Intel and BBC executive said: “The move towards subscription, a premium product – that’s something we’re very interested in and very much working towards.”

Huggers said Vevo believes in a “dual revenue stream” to build on the company’s progress in 2015 – which he said was the “absolute biggest year in Vevo history”.

“Just having an ad-supported model is not sustainable in the long-run. But we do believe that an ad-supported, plus a pay model, makes a tonne of sense,” said Huggers, who would not elaborate on what would be offered on the pay tier.

Last year, YouTube launched a standalone YouTube Music app, designed to make it easier to discover music. The service is free, but YouTube said that users can “amplify” their experience by subscribing to its YouTube Red subscription service. This lets YouTube Music users listen to music offline on mobile devices, listen in audio mode without having to load video, and listen to music ‘in the background’ while using other apps.