The VEVO logo displayed at Gramercy Theatre in New York City.
Vevo has given its desktop experience a new look, with bigger videos and the same kind of recommendations found on its mobile apps. The total UI overhaul keeps videos front and center -- there's an animated carousel up top, with new releases, top videos, playlists and genres below.
You don't need a Vevo account to watch videos, but if you do sign up there's a simple on boarding process where the site asks your favorite genres and artists. Like with mobile, going through that process will help Vevo figure out what to recommend going forward in a section called "Spotlight."
Behind the scenes, Vevo has ditched Flash and replaced it with HTML5. It also phased out Vevo TV, the company's concept for curated 24-hour video channels. Fans wanting a nonstop stream of videos can still find them within the site's playlists feature.
Vevo Considering Music Video Subscription Service
Vevo remains ad-supported, though CEO Erik Huggers hinted in February that a “more premium” subscription product could be in the site’s future. He has called the current model "not sustainable in the long run." Vevo.com is a joint venture between Abu Dhabi Media, Google, Sony Music Entertainment (SME), and the Universal Music Group (UMG).
Here's a quick look at the new site:
Vevo has boasted that it has over 160,000 videos, though there's one artist holdout that has loomed large in the last week: Prince. The late icon was adamant about keeping his intellectual property off YouTube, Vevo and other video hosting sites -- Jay Z's Tidal is the lone music streaming service hosting his catalog -- but for a brief time it appeared things had changed. According to Hip-Hop Wired, the PrinceVEVO account on YouTube was recently populated with several of his songs, including his first single "Soft and Wet," though they have all since been removed on copyright grounds.