October 19, 2009 4:00 AM PDT

Oil money now behind video site Vevo

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Vevo, the online music-video jukebox, now counts an Arab media conglomerate among its backers.

Abu Dhabi Media Company, backed by the people from the United Arab Emirates, has made an undisclosed investment into Vevo, the companies announced Monday.

Universal Music Group, the largest record label, founded Vevo earlier this year. Sony Music Entertainment, second in size behind Universal, has since joined the venture. YouTube is providing technology support for the video service, which is scheduled to launch later this year.

According to previous press reports, Abu Dhabi Media Company was created by the oil-rich government of Abu Dhabi in 2007 to help expand media development in the country.

Vevo has attracted plenty of media attention, primarily because music videos are easily the most watched genre on YouTube. Universal's channel on YouTube is the all-time leader with more than 5 billion views. The next largest channel, Expertvillage, has 823 million views.

Greg Sandoval covers media and digital entertainment for CNET News. He is a former reporter for The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. E-mail Greg, or follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sandoCNET.

Topics:: Music,; Video

Tags:: Vevo,; Abu Dhabi Media Company,; Universal Music Group,; Sony Music Entertainment

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About Media Maverick

In covering digital media for CNET News, Greg Sandoval has broken stories on Apple, Microsoft, YouTube, The Pirate Bay, and the digital efforts of the major music labels and Hollywood studios. Before that, in his first tour with CNET News, he covered e-commerce during the dot-com boom and bust. A dogged investigative reporter, he began his journalism career at the Los Angeles Times and followed that with a short TV stint at The E! True Hollywood Story. Later, he spent three years as a staff writer for The Washington Post. Greg is an alumnus of USC and was raised in Chatsworth, California, which is distinguishable only for being the porn capital of the world.

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