YouTube Inks NBA, Music Video Deals

YouTube leans further into licensed material, signing deals which bring music videos and the National Basketball Association to its lineup.

Online video phenom YouTube has finalized two new deals which bring legitimate content into the sites offerings, including original content from the National Basketball Association and music offerings from Wind-Up Records.

The NBA deal is highlighted by the launch of a new “Post Up the NBA” channel in YouTube, which invites basketball fans around the world to submit video clips of their best hoops moves on the service; the channel will also offer videos of selected plays and behind-the-scenes highlights from NBA.com. “NBA fans will be able to interact and share their passion for the game by posting their best moves,” said NBA Commissioner David Stern in a statement. “YouTube’s popularity and wide-reaching community of users provides the NBA with another unique way to reach our fans.”

The NBA will also be participating in YouTube’s “Claim Your Content” program which enables the league to identify its copyright content through encoding; the NBA will have the right to remove its content from YouTube at any time, as well as share in any advertising revenue it generates.

YouTube has also entered into a deal with Wind-up Records, whose artists roster includes the popular band Evanescence, Finger Eleven, Seether, Stefy, and former Creed frontman Scott Stapp. Under the agreement, the majority of Wind-up’s music videos will be available for viewing via YouTube, and a selection of music tracks from Wind-up artists will be available for use in user-generated videos. Wind-up will be eligible for a portion of ad revenue derived from pages showing its content.