Warner Music Group and YouTube are close to completing an agreement that would allow the video sharing site to play videos from a number of artists on the Warner label.

Advertising Age is reporting that sources familiar with the situation are very close to have finalized the deal.

The discussions are being led by Google’s VP of content partnerships, David Eun, and Warner’s digital chief, Michael Nash.

Warner is reportedly in talks with Vevo, the “Hulu for music” partnership between YouTube, Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment.

It’s likely that Warner would do a non-exclusive deal with Vevo as part of its strategy for broader distribution of its ad-supported music videos.

Vevo has the potential to be the exclusive distributor of Universal Music and Sony, which is about 60 percent of the U.S. music market. Warner accounts for around 20 percent of the U.S. music market.

Vevo has a partnership with YouTube but it will be using its own video player when it launches sometime in December. The player will allow users to download lyrics, make a playlist or sync music to user-generated content.

Any agreement with Warner would only help YouTube and Vevo to achieve relatively fast growth much like Hulu has done since its launch.

Posted on Monday, September 28th, 2009 at 5:08 pm. Permalink