Vevo: Out with YouTube, in with Facebook?

Facebook held at least two meetings with Vevo —the most recent one occurring within the last couple of weeks— to discuss moving the music video service from YouTube to the social network’s platform.

However, sources told CNET that the talks are “very preliminary,” and they mentioned there is one year remaining on Vevo’s contract with Google’s YouTube.

Vevo launched in 2009 and offers music videos from Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and EMI Music. YouTube helped launch the startup, and subsequently Vevo’s videos appear on the partner’s service, with Google and Vevo sharing advertising revenue.

Vevo features the most extensive catalog of premium music content on the Internet, and it is available in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom through its website, mobile apps, or by way of connected televisions. The service currently powers music videos on artist profiles across Facebook, and its content is syndicates to numerous online websites, including AOL, BET, CBS Interactive Music Group, Fuse.tv and Univision. Moreover, through YouTube, Vevo is accessible in over 200 countries.

Facebook is allegedly interested in an arrangement similar to the one Vevo has in place with YouTube now, which would allow the social network to stream Vevo’s music videos with the two companies sharing profits from advertising revenue…

Facebook is slowly boosting its music offerings in recent months. It features United Kingdom-based Spotify, a music streaming service that hosts content from Sony, EMI, Warner Music Group, and Universal. It also launched Facebook Music in September that allows users to share information on music interests. The social network even implemented a new music-sharing feature button last week called, “Listen With” to enable Spotify, Rdio, and MOG users to listen to a song —at the same point in the song— with friends.

A Vevo deal could offer Facebook free-music listening through music videos. The collaboration would keep the social network’s users on the website longer —something the company is determined to do since Google has climbed the market charts with its new Google+ social network.

According to Google’s Q4 2011 earnings call, Google+ sits around 90 million users. The figure will most likely double soon, as a new account sign up process through Google requires all users to create a Google Profile, a Gmail account, and automatically join Google+.

The social integration of Google+ into the No. 1 globally popular search engine is enough heat to make Facebook offer additional attractive features, such as a potential Vevo partnership, to maintain user loyalty. Vevo currently has 43 million unique visitors, according to Nielsen, which would only compliment Facebook’s 800 million active users.