MOSCOW, Russia (Top40 Charts/
Digital Access) - Internet-company,
Digital Access, is launching a unique-for-Russia online music video service iviMusic, with officially licensed video content from the largest international and Russian record labels and publishers. The company signed licensing deals with the "Big Four" international music majors - Universal
Music Group, Sony
Music Entertainment, Warner
Music Group and EMI Group, as well as with more than 20 leading Russian music publishers. The service will generate revenues using the advertising model, sharing revenues with the rights holders.
The new online service available at music.ivi.ru is a website free for users, where they can watch online a large selection of high quality original music and concert videos by top international and Russian artists, such as Lady Gaga, Shakira, Beyonce, U2, etc. The service will offer approximately 30,000 music videos, with new releases to be added daily. The videos can be seen in Russia only and are geo-filtered. The site will be adapted soon for watching on iPhones, iPads and androids.
"Our website offers, to more than 40 million Russian Internet users, the best high quality music video content for free and with easy navigation. With the development of technology and new devices, users get new opportunities to look and listen to their favorite music and to discover new artists and genres," said Oleg Tumanov, chairman of the Board of Digital Access. "On iviMusic, users can make their own playlists, save and share them with friends, vote for the best music videos and add comments. Combining video content with social networking features is a global trend that we follow as well."
"With the launch of music.ivi.ru, which is the first project of its kind, the music market in Russia gets a new impulse. Online video not only promotes our artists and hits, but also can be a new monetization channel. For the Russian Internet, one of the most pirated in the world, the appearance of music.ivi.ru with officially licensed videos - it's a very big step in taking serious actions against piracy," said Dmitry Konnov, manager director of Universal Music in Russia.
"Music is the most popular category on all video-hostings in the world. We believe that our service, with its high usability, will become a compelling way to consume music videos for the users and will serve as a premium platform for advertisers. The online video advertising market in Russia is still in the initial growth stage. In 2010, it will reach $15 million, and is expected to grow by 50% annually over the next 5 years," said Anna Znamenskaya, CEO of Digital Access. "We believe that our new service, iviMusic, will drive advertisers' interest in the online video advertising format and will contribute to the development of the licensed video market."
