A little over a month ago, Hulu struck a deal with EMI to feature the music label"s artists on its site. This brought music videos and concerts from labels such as Virgin, Capitol, and Blue Note, to the popular video on-demand site. Now, PC Magazine is reporting that Warner Music has joined the fray, helping Hulu become even more musically centric.
The deal will allow Hulu to feature music videos, artist interview, live concerts, and behind-the-scenes footage from artists under Atlantic Records, Rhino Records, and Warner Bros Records. Content has already begun making its way to the site, and much more is expected in early 2010.
This is the statement made by Michael Nash, executive vice president for digital strategy and business development for Warner:
"We"re pleased to be working with Hulu as we expand our premium ad-supported video strategy to provide our artists with a customized and flexible approach to marketing and monetizing their music, by leveraging the most powerful partnerships and platforms in the industry. Hulu has been a leader and innovator in this space, and we look forward to working with them on creating compelling, content-rich artist channels that will provide a dynamic experience to their fans, while introducing our artists to new audiences online."
It will be interesting to see where Hulu goes with the whole music side of its site and if it will be as successful as TV shows have been. Warner Music is a big win for Hulu, though it may not be enough to make them a major player in the music video industry. YouTube has already leaped way ahead of them with their own site, Vevo, featuring content from Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, EMI, CBS Interactive Music Group, and AT&T.