Vevo Reorganizes, Backs Away From TV-Like Experience

Three years, ago, Vevo launched a 24/7 content feed called Vevo TV. The goal, as the music video network said at the time, was to emulate the feel of old-school MTV, back when that channel actually played music videos.

Now, Vevo appears to be shedding that strategy. It has reorganized its homepage, and in lieu of a TV-like approach, it has rolled out a more personalized experience that includes curated playlists matching each user’s tastes.

Once users sign into the new Vevo, they are instructed to choose some musicians they like as well as their preferred genres. From there, they are presented with curated playlists that offer them relevant music videos, other entries from Vevo’s library, and, as Variety notes, some content that was previously housed under the Vevo TV banner.

Vevo’s decision to back away from its TV-like offering makes sense, as its priorities have changed over the past year. The network’s intentions were made clear when it decided it would not attend the 2016 Newfronts

, despite presenting to media buyers at the past five editions of the yearly advertising event. Meanwhile, it is also planning a paid subscription service, which would likely house the sort of premium content that previously appeared within Vevo TV’s scheduled slate of programming.

These changes represent a new direction for the company, with CEO Erik Huggers (who replaced Rio Caraeff at the top of Vevo exactly one year ago) leading the charge. While Huggers is looking to attract paying subscribers to Vevo, he is making sure that the core of the network’s business — the library of music videos it delivers to YouTube and other digital platforms — continues to thrive. The launch of a more personalized Vevo homepage should assist that goal.