What is Vevo on YouTube?

Vevo  is a multinational video hosting service  founded as a joint venture between the world's two biggest music production companies, Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group. Its shareholders now consist of these two companies as well as Abu Dhabi Media and Google/Alphabet Inc. after it took a 7% share in 2013. Launched on December 8, 2009, Vevo hosts videos syndicated across the web, with Google and Vevo sharing the advertising and similar benefits. from Wikipedia

Most people like myself see the vevo logo (now with a small v) on a growing number of YouTube videos and think, cool a HD quality video. The key word here is ADVERTISING as the big music corporations are looking for corporate streams of revenue as most music is now streamed FREE to the masses. In doing a little research for this blog, I was amused by several youthful males bemoaning vevo as pure evil and warning people to stay away by not watching any vevo music videos. I guess coming from the generation that PAID for music records, then tapes, then CD's and now MP3 downloads and streaming music, this is not so much a big deal for me. 

Vevo is like network television in real time, it's funded through advertising. Nobody likes advertising getting in the way of their network TV shows, but you tolerate the advertising as you watch the Olympics on NBC this week for free (not counting your cable bill). Vevo also has those pesky ads, some you can skip and some you can't. Hey, I love skipping a 30 second ad just as much as anyone born in the 1990's. I even taught my 2 year old granddaughter to say, "go way" when watching children music videos together and an ad pops up. At four, she now knows to easily hit the Skip button.

For my Monday Monday Music blog, I love vevo as I get to present high quality video music to my faithful readers who enjoy my YouTube playlist from my weekly topic. I sometimes spend several hours finding YouTube videos to match the songs I need for a playlist. And, there is only so much poor concert YouTube videos one can stomach from uploaded mobile phone video cameras. For me, finding a quality YouTube video of a favorite song is a fun hunt to share through a playlist. So for this week, here is an eclectic vevo sampler of HD music videos that are typical of what you would see and hear in a Monday Monday Music blog. Enjoy!

Riding with lady luck

Last week a couple of things happened that inspired this post. First off, Grooveshark was fatally speared as the sea of lawsuits by the BIG recording companies finally brought them down. And down they went, not to mention their parental scolding inspired apology statement on their former website. You could almost feel the tears - Please Please don't put us in jail! Kind of makes me think this will truly be the last (company-based) mp3 pirate of the free Internet. Almost makes you want to reminisce over the wild west days of Napster and Limewire. Anyway in 2011, Grooveshark was a free and subscription music service on the Internet and it got me actively back into listening to music from the 60's and 70's. I tried free Internet radio and playing with streaming services like Spotify,but nobody beat Grooveshark for having rare older songs and also the ability to customize free streaming playlists for both my computers and smartphone. But as it sometimes goes with free apps, here today and gone tomorrow. Hey, but I'll be on the search and will report back once I find a (probably fee-based) music service with customized playlists to share. In the meantime, I'll happily embed here with the deep pockets of Google's YouTube to share 40+ year old songs with you.

That brings me to my musical selection as business took me to Bakersfield this past week. From San Diego, one takes the I 5 north through LA, over the Grapevine, to Highway 99 and into Bakersfield. The whole trip was freeway, cars and trucks and it made me instantly think of the Tom Waits song, Ol' '55, covered by the Eagles on their 1974 record, On the Border. Well I was driving with my true lady luck, Mary Kit, as we must have passed a thousand trucks in the blazing heat . It's not like we were roughing it like in the old days, going over the Grapevine in a car with no AC, it's 95 degrees with the windows rolled down, and you're praying the radiator doesn't blow. Kind of decedent of me to admit having a Honda CRV with the AC on and the heated leather lumbar seats on to keep my old back loose on the trip, just talking with my lady.

Well here's the great song,  Ol' '55. I'll say bye-bye to the audio link in Grooveshark as this is now shared to you courtesy of YouTube.

This song goes out to the boomer's as they know the experience of being inside a 1955 car on the roadways. No need to buckle up.