Vevo is one of YouTube’s most prominent suppliers of music video content. Now, it’s hoping to take traffic to its own site by expanding the features and interactivity on offer.

Picking up YouTube traffic

Vevo’s catalogue of is approaching 300,000 music videos. It reportedly generates around 21 billion monthly video views and powers more than 40% of all YouTube’s U.S. traffic.

So far, Vevo has been largely dependent on YouTube for distribution. Shortly, a new social feature exclusive to Vevo’s own site will facilitate chat, queueing and voting on group playlists. They call it Watch Party.

Recommendation features and discovery features are expected to drive consumer engagement. At the moment, it looks like it will be powered by YouTube-style advertising.

Watch Party’s virtual listening rooms

Vedvo’s new Watch Party feature will establish virtual rooms in which web users can come together and listen to music.

Each room will have a host, who will moderate social interactions, and retain executive control over playlists and user role permissions.

Users in the room will potentially be able to add new tracks to the group playlist, as well as endorsing (or downvoting) tracks added by others.

Showdown dates and odds

Watch Party will be out by the end of March. By May, we’ll also see a new Vevo mobile app. Expect a smart TV app to follow.

Vevo’s new service could provide some killer new marketing opportunities, such as exclusive album launches, curated label lists and so on. Plus, a little competition for the marketing dollar is always appreciated by airtime buyers.

Copy Transmission is a Melbourne-based agency :: Better Brands. Loud & Clear.