The BBC and Vevo are set to collaborate starting in November (via BBC), introducing all previous Live Lounge performances to the Vevo platform alongside any new performances in the future. This is a significant step for the popular Radio 1 set as it confirms that all Live Lounge covers and performances will be accessible internationally. Live Lounge performances will be available to watch on Vevo starting on the 12th of November.
Alex Kisch from Vevo says to the BBC “We see this as a tremendous first step in our collaboration as we look to expose Live Lounge’s phenomenal music catalogue and forthcoming performances to new audiences around the world.”
The Live Lounge is a segment on the British radio station BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra. It exhibits a variety of well-known artists that perform different renditions of their own songs or cover different artists using their own unique style. This quickly became a popular innovative idea to the public as it conveyed many popular songs being performed by artists you wouldn’t expect.
The BBC’s popular radio show has features many of the industries biggest artists and bands such as Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith and Disclosure alongside new emerging talent. It reached it’s popularity by the iconic idea of getting artists from certain genres to cover songs that you would never expect them to cover such as Arctic Monkeys covering Drakes well known ‘Hold On We’re Going Home’.
You can already view most Live Lounge performances on Youtube on their official channel, this itself has accumulated 760 million views altogether and 2.7 million subscribers. So why make it view-able on Vevo as well you ask? Well not only will this make all performances visible to everyone internationally but also, BBC Radio 1 has an aim to make sure they attract a vast variety of audiences, the radio is something that is more popular with the older population and since so many younger people spend so much time on phones and tablets, making this content visible on Vevo should make it easier to gain access to these performances therefore attracting audiences of all ages.
Ben Cooper, the boss of BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra states in an interview with Newbeat that the agreement with Vevo is a huge deal for the network.
“Radio 1 and 1Xtra have to have a policy where here is a place you can find us, it’s on the radio. And that’s where we’ve been known for nearly 50 years on Radio 1. But if you also want to find our content in the areas that you love going to, whether that be a Facebook timeline, or whether that be on Twitter then you will bump into us. And you will find us. And if you do like spending lots of time on YouTube, then let’s make sure that we’ve got our content there and you can spend some time with us there. Likewise with Vevo.”
Furthermore, Radio 1 became the first radio station to reach one million subscribers on Youtube last October and as stated previously, this has grown to a massive 2.7 million. With the new collaboration with Vevo, the variety of talent shown on this station will become available to many more worldwide.
