Vevo boss says intelligent, data-centric services could revive music industry

Intelligent, data-centric services could herald the rebirth of the music industry, Vevo's international senior vice-president Nic Jones has said.

The music video brand reached 4 billion views in 2012, Jones told the MediaGuardian Changing Media summit on Thursday, generating 3 billion of those via its presence on YouTube. Vevo's success has confirmed that users want a combination of build-your-own, discoverable services and curated content, with music providers becoming more savvy in interpreting data to improve their services.

"Data is useless unless you can turn it into information and do something with it, but people still want the opportunity to be curated by more than algorithms," he said. "This could be the rebirth of the music industry, and the crucial point is that it is people wanting interaction – they want to see content about how a band started, where they got together, which clubs they go to... discovery is what most people who love music are all about."

Jones dismissed a "retrograde" comparison with MTV, but said the launch of Vevo's TV channel in the US earlier this month was a response to specific audience demand.

"The idea was always about a desire for a lean-back experience, a kind of entertainment that is missing," said Jones. "It's self-fulfilling that labels question why TV doesn't put music on in prime time, and then TV says that no one watches music on TV in prime time. There's a massive opportunity for that."

Jones highlighted the increasing importance of mobile devices; YouTube expects 50% of its traffic to come through mobile by the end of 2013, and mobile is the primary platform for developing markets where desktop access never took hold.

Though Vevo TV is still in its infancy, Jones said initial data appeared to indicate that iPad users were more likely to watch Vevo TV. "Everything will be wireless within very few years, and we want a seamless experience for users between devices."

Vevo's philosophy is that users now value access over ownership, and that the streaming model is here to stay; Jones said his own instinct to pre-buy the new David Bowie album on iTunes was a legacy of a previous generation, and not a behaviour his teenage daughter would recognise.

Strategy Analytics estimated that paid subscriptions increased by 44% from 2011 to 2012, while there are only 20m paying subscribers globally.

Omnifone vice-president of commercial Alex Vlassopulos described mobile devices as opening up "a whole new demographic of people". Omnifone powers music services for Sony and Spotify, among others.

"One quarter of our users are on mobile and a high number of those are in the living room, through IPTV and PS3s. New devices are opening up new audiences – now my 81-year-old father can use a music channel."

Vlassopulos said it was essential to experiment with models constantly, including introductory trial subscription rates, lengths of subscription, different functionality and responding to user data. "We have got to be nimble," he said.

"Spotify is doing a great job but is not mass market yet, and it's too early to say that those listening patterns are reflective of the whole market. Music subscriptions need to become mass market."