Inside the Battle to Own Music Videos on YouTube - and All Over Social Media
Uproxx emerges to take on Vevo, with TikTok looming
In just a few weeks, LL Cool J will host the MTV Video Music Awards - on CBS of all places. While that occasion may serve to remind people that MTV hardly matters as a music video destination (and the network serves as an albatross for new Paramount owner David Ellison, rather than a growth engine) - music videos remain a potent cultural force.
Just on YouTube, not cable.
And now, given that YouTube is increasingly a centerpiece of the TV screen - accounting for 24% of U.S. CTV streaming minutes as of April 2025, according to estimates from MoffettNathanson Research - music videos from top artists like Kendrick Lamar, Cardi B and Sabrina Carpenter are arguably even more desirable for advertisers.
That’s because given their premium nature, relative brand safety, and often huge bursts of audience when they premiere, music videos feel like appointment TV, especially given how many advertisers still aren’t ‘sure’ about what’s on YouTube and what they are buying.
As Kasha Cacy, chief media officer at Known put it during a recent Cannes sitdown, “I think the challenge still remains that the YouTube content is different than TV content and it's less predictable. You don't know exactly where you're going to be. And I think for brands that's that's still a bit of a hurdle.”
Given that uncertainty, how many brands would love to ensure their ads run right next to Taylor Swift’s first video from her just-announced 12th album? Or any of the other big release scheduled for this fall?
Which is why the behind the scenes battle to align brands with music artists is so intriguing. For years, Vevo - a joint venture between Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment - was the go-to for advertisers looking to run campaigns aimed at this audience. There was a time when Vevo even sold ads for Warner Music, the one big record company that isn’t part of the JV.
But last this year, Warner Music sold its media property Uproxx to founder and CEO Jarret Myer, Complex founder Rich Antoniello, and the artist will.i.am, to form Uproxx Studios.
As part of that deal, Uproxx Studios nabbed the rights to sell ads on YouTube alongside Warner Music music videos - which include big name artists such as Dua Lipa, Bruno Mars, and Ed Sheeren - who happens to have a big album coming out this September.
“We’re living in a really interesting time,” said Myer. Even as the so-called monoculture is said to be fading, “popular culture being driven by the rollout of an album or a single, which is anchored by a music video. You see these releases drive something like ‘Brat Summer.’ In some ways, they’ve never been more important. They invade your life.”
Today’s media landscape is more fragmented, expensive, and opaque than ever. EX.CO’s new resource, “Mastering the Multiscreen Mix” is your strategic guide to navigating it all. Designed for brands, agency leaders, and media investment decision-makers, it breaks down what’s really happening behind the scenes and how to make smarter, more profitable choices across every screen. Turn your buying challenges into your competitive edge–get the guide now.
There’s no doubt that music videos, and music content, continue to surge on YouTube. Per Tubular Labs:
Music and dance videos generated 70 billion views per month in late 2022
Jumping to 85-100 billion in 2023
To 105-20 billion views per month by late 2024
This year, those numbers hit 155 billion views per month between April and July.
Tubular estimates that music videos account for nearly 5% of YouTube’s CTV watch-time. All of which represents a big opportunity for whichever company can channel that viewership for brands.
Once known primarily as a digital publisher -one that bet heavily on Facebook Video roughly a decade ago - Uproxx has essentially been reborn as a company focused on creating music-related content for brands.
The newish company is looking to take advantage of that moment Myer described by being a bigger player in YouTube and TV ad sales. Uproxx has even brought on ex-Vevo seller Greg Osborne as its Vice President of Brand Partnerships.
“It’s our evolution,” said Myer. “Over the past few years, we’ve been functioning as a content studio that sold media. And the idea was always to evolve the media division. Now we see this perfect storm of opportunity, given the traditional ways of reaching people are fading, and brands are saying ‘where do we put dollars now?’”
Given the scale of Warner’s stable of artists, this sets up an interesting brawl between Vevo and Uproxx, while potentially further crowding the marketplace for media buyers.
To be sure, both companies can both throw out huge numbers:
Uproxx says it reaches145.1 million monthly video viewers in the US, per comScore - 78.3 million on CTV alone
Meanwhile, Vevo says generates 22 billion views and 1.5 billion hours each month (globally)
Still, Vevo has never exactly dominated the TV upfronts -and its business model has always been somewhat tricky. Not only is it a joint venture between two major, competing record conglomerates, the company also has to share 45% of its revenue with YouTube.
Over the years, Vevo has toyed with moving off of YouTube, only to back off. The rise of Connected TV has provided an opportunity for a reboot. In recent years, Vevo has pushed hard into live linear FAST channels (it does not provide viewership for those) while having to somewhat pull back on its signature stand alone Vevo CTV app in several countries, including the US, early this year (Vevo does have a CTV app on Roku and Samsung, but on on Fire TVs or LG, for example).
It’s hard to compete with, or quit YouTube. Ask Spotify
Maximize your YouTube advertising with VuePlanner. As a member of the YouTube Measurement Program for Brand Suitability and Contextual Targeting, VuePlanner enables you to buy with confidence, clarity, and precision. Using advanced technology and AI-powered optimization, VuePlanner offers custom-curated contextual collections, exclusive content strategies, and transparent reporting for measurable, impactful results. Take control of your campaign performance—partner with VuePlanner now.
____
It’s also not always easy to ‘sell’ within YouTube. Not only can media buyers purchase big upfront campaigns directly with the Google-owned company, but they can buy ads programmatically, and via intermediaries such as VuePlanner and PreciseTV. And of course, they can go directly to thousands of creators.
Thus, a question I’d have regarding the Uproxx strategy is whether buyers want yet another way into the platform - in this case specifically for Warner Music artists.
“Music videos remain one of YouTube’s top formats and an enduring pillar of pop culture,” said, George Karalexis Co-Founder & CEO of Ten2 Media, which specializes in helping connect brands and music artists on YouTube.
In his view, Uproxx’s strength is “largely branded content and product placements with pre-roll and mid-roll ads as part of a broader package. Warner’s approach here is to sell at higher CPMs than Google’s standard offering and at scale. The open question is whether this remains viable after platform fees, especially as Google continues to expand its own capabilities.”
That’s indeed the concern hanging over any third party working with a platform like YouTube - when does the music video opportunity become so important that Google decides it would prefer to just run the show?
“YouTube has been investing heavily in managing direct brand relationships and selling inventory themselves,” said Karalexis. “Their Coachella integration was a masterclass in this, several of our clients saw CPM lifts of 75%-plus as a direct result. However, Shorts remains a gap: there’s still no robust ad solution beyond brand integrations with talent.”
On that note, a huge X-Factor hanging over this category is short-form social video content that is - call it - music video adjacent. Music has always been integral to TikTok (which was once Musical.ly), and clips from artists performances like Dua Lipa are all over the app (and are prominent on Meta’s Reels as well). As far as I can tell, there’s no one ‘ad network’ means of buying up all the ads for an artist on YouTube, TikTok, Reels, etc.
Myer said that Uproxx looks to bake in social elements for its top advertisers for most campaigns. “We want to be a one-stop shop,” he said. “For us, our unique offering is our artist partnerships. That is where were are winning a lot. Big special executions for a Remy Martin, etc.”
“The next phase is, when we have pharma, we have insurance, not necessarily just caring about the music video audience specifically, but rather looking for targeting, specific, exact demos, etc.”
That makes sense - as long as you show you can do that better than other YouTube ad buying options. “It is all about the audience you need and the objective you’re trying to fulfill,” said Lisa Herdman, SVP, Executive Director National Video Investment at RPA. “Any of these partners need to be able to deliver KPIs. So some may have more impressions than others, but whether they contribute to the overarching objective is key.”
Karalexis said that there will likely always be room for third-party sellers on platforms like YouTube, Netflix, etc. but the tech companies themselves will have “unmatched leverage with the data, tools, and scale they can offer advertisers. As they continue to build their own ad sales operations, it becomes increasingly difficult for traditional media companies to compete and margins inevitably get squeezed.”
That said, platforms like YouTube and TikTok can’t necessarily dial up Bruno Mars or Charli xcx and connect them with a brand.
That’s where Vevo has long tried to differentiate, and where Uproxx is looking to shine. “We’re looking to take this incredible opportunity, and turn it into a billion dollar company,” said Myer.