Every day millions of people come to YouTube to watch some of the biggest names in music; stars like Lady Gaga, Michael Jackson and U2. Today we are happy to launch VEVO, a video site devoted exclusively to music and powered by YouTube. This new destination hopes to redefine the way people watch and engage with music online, as well as change the way the digital and music industries do business with each other. The partnership blends Google and YouTube's leading technology with material from a broad catalog of top artists from Universal Music Group, Sony Music and EMI. Advertisers will also be able to take advantage of a vast library of premium music content both on YouTube and VEVO.com.

VEVO videos will be available on VEVO.com and on YouTube.com via a VEVO-branded watch page. This new kind of "branded watch page" will pioneer the way for other partners; we'll test to see if this more eye-catching treatment impacts engagement with the content and if it does, we'll consider rolling it out more widely.

Here's Rihanna welcoming you to the site:



Posted by Chris Maxcy, Director of Content Partnerships

We're pleased to present YouTube's first live-streamed concert, featuring selected performances from the Outside Lands Music & Arts festival happening this weekend in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Beginning at 2pm today and running through 10pm on Sunday, tune in to www.youtube.com/outsidelands for the chance to experience a summer music festival without getting tussled by crowds or waiting on line for the Port-O-Potty:



Expect to see live performances from a variety of acts, ranging from the jam rock of Dave Matthews Band to Bettye Lavette's classic soul, from the emerging punk funk of Cage the Elephant to the bluesy rock of the Dead Weather, Jack White's latest project. (Sorry, this content is only viewable in the U.S.) We'll be featuring the choicest moments from the event on our homepage starting on Saturday at 2pm and Tweeting from the festival, too (so follow us on Twitter if you don't already: http://twitter.com/youtube).

In the meantime, check YouTube's Outside Lands channel for the most up-to-date schedule of performances, playlists of bands playing on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and a neat-o Twitter gadget that displays a real-time feed of what people are saying about the festival.

Posted by Michele Flannery, Music Manager