Vevo on
Tuesday named Jonathan Carson to the newly created position of chief revenue officer. Effective immediately, Carson will oversee the music-video company's premium sales efforts, as well as its network
of sales partners, including all ad sales and integrated sponsorships.
Hitting the ground running, Carson said on Tuesday: “What I will be specifically looking at are the major areas where
Vevo is best positioned for growth." These include “video convergence” -- or as Carson explains it, “the melting of the video marketplace into one cohesive TV, online and mobile
video world … We see this as a huge growth potential.”
Other growth opportunities include going international, and establishing deeper partnerships within the music industry,
Carson said. “Growth outside of the U.S. is very important to us.”
The company just announced plans to launch in Germany -- its thirteenth country to date, and one of the
world's biggest music markets. Carson joins Vevo after six years with The Nielsen Company where most recently he was CEO of Digital.
As for barriers to growth, Carson said connecting
with new audiences will be tricky, but he’s got a plan for that too. “The answer for us is in the living room,” he said. “Mobile, tablet and connected TV already deliver over
half of Vevo video views in the U.S. today and we’re poised for more growth here."
Last week, Vevo launched on Apple TV, which further expanded its audience's viewing choices in the
living room. “It's about making sure we are making our HD programming available on every platform the consumer wants it,” Carson added.
As of July, Vevo’s domestic
viewers viewed about 1 billion videos, according to comScore.
Carson was previously co-founder and CEO of social media intelligence firm BuzzMetrics, which he sold to Nielsen in 2007.