CNET: Vevo considering a move from YouTube to Facebook

Music video service Vevo may be considering leaving YouTube at the end of its contract. Sources have told CNET that Vevo has met at least twice with Facebook, including once in the last two weeks, to discuss partnering with the social network to stream videos and sell ads — the same agreement it currently has with YouTube. The talks are ‘very preliminary,’ and there’s still a year left on Vevo’s current contract, but a shift could mean big changes for both YouTube and Facebook.

Vevo, a partnership between several major labels, currently runs its own site but streams its videos on YouTube as well, splitting advertising revenue. For Facebook, adding Vevo music videos would be a way to further its goal of making the network a hub for activity online. Users can already share Vevo songs they’ve been listening to on Facebook, but now the social network could use Vevo to create a music service similar to its gaming system, with outside content keeping users on the site. YouTube, meanwhile, would no longer have the second-largest video site on the web under its wing, and Google’s own music services could end up being seen as a competitor to Vevo in the future. However, CNET’s sources also say that Vevo is still making plenty of money from YouTube, and that YouTube’s other negotiations with music labels are going well, making the whole situation fairly speculative.