PlayStation LifeStyle » VidZone

VidZone Hits 500,000,000 Stream Milestone

Mike Hartnett — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 20:20:50 +0000

The PlayStation 3′s free on-demand music video service for Europe, VidZone, has just hit an incredible milestone and shows no sign of slowing down.

It was just over a year ago when Sony released the VidZone application for European PlayStation 3 users to enable free on-demand music video streaming at absolutely zero cost. Well, that model is proving to be quite effective, as SCEE (Sony Computer Entertainment Europe) has just confirmed that VidZone music videos have been streamed over half a billion times, with 3.7 million fans utilizing the service. VidZone is becoming as diverse and the folks that tune in to listen and view the latest jams, with over one-hundred themed channels available in addition to several artist specific channels.

Sony credits the success of VidZone through the utilization of specific Java technology which means less load times and silky smooth video streaming. The advertising used throughout VidZone is straightforward and simple, with the usual pre-video ads along with select sponsor areas, which add up to over 3 billion ad impressions.

So far, VidZone is EU-only, but hopefully, at some point, North American users can get a piece of the pie. Sony has mentioned that they do indeed want to bring a music video service to North America, perhaps within the next year, let’s just hope that idea becomes a reality.

[Source]

VidZone to Receive Music Video Show

Sebastian Moss — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 15:57:16 +0000

VidZone, the PlayStation 3′s music video streaming service, is the largest Music Video on Demand service in the World, offering thousands of videos to millions of people across 18 different countries, as well as purchasable ringtones and MP3′s. VidZone Digital Media, the company behind the service, don’t want to take this success for granted, with numerous plans to broaden the appeal of the PlayStation application set to release throughout the year. VidZone’s CEO, Adrian Workman, outlined some of these plans in an in-depth interview with PlayStation LifeStyle, and others, such as Perez Hilton’s celebrity playlists have already launched on the service. Now, it seems that VidZone has partnered with Sony Ericsson to bring a successful internet music video show to the PS3.

Sony Ericsson’s Pocket TV is a YouTube exclusive music show that ran for 13 weeks in June-August 2009, which mainly provided quirky interviews with music stars. The second series of the show is set to release on YouTube from April 13th, on the PS3 from April 15th and on MSN from April 16th, according to the video’s description.

Click here to view the embedded video.

[Via]

VidZone Partners with Perez Hilton

Sebastian Moss — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 19:36:27 +0000

VidZone, the popular free online music video service for the PlayStation 3, may have already built up over 2.5 Million users across 18 countries but that hasn’t stopped the company wishing to expand its userbase with further content. Recently, PlayStation LifeStyle interviewed Adrian Workman, the CEO of VidZone about many of the advances of the company, and now VidZone has announced its next advancement – a partnership with celebrity gossiper Perez Hilton.

VidZone, which is now the biggest dedicated music video streaming application in the world, has concluded a media partnership with Perez Hilton to become it’s celebrity playlist maker. The Perez Hilton website averages 280 million impressions, 13.5 million unique readers per month and has recently been voted the Forbes No. 1 Web Celebrity for the second year running. His site is among the 500 most-visited sites on the Internet.

Stay tuned to PlayStation LifeStyle for more news on the partnership, as well as more PlayStation news.

PSLS Presents – Adrian Workman, CEO of VidZone Digital Media

Sebastian Moss — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:37:42 +0000

VidZone, the free online music video streaming service for the PlayStation 3, has taken the European market by storm, becoming one of the most popular music video services on any platform as it rapidly expanded across 18 countries and built up a vast library of music. To learn more about the service, as well as its future, PlayStation LifeStyle interviewed Adrian Workman, the CEO of VidZone Digital Media.

PlayStation LifeStyle: Who are you, and what is your position at VidZone?

Adrian Workman: CEO of VidZone Digital Media. Set the company up in October 2001 having worked for the previous fifteen years in international music video distribution with major record labels.

PSLS: The PlayStation 3′s userbase is generally considered to consist of younger male gamers. Would you say that the VidZone demographic fits that stereotype?

AW: SCEE has just completed some research on VidZone and the average VidZone user is male and 29 years old, so we are skewing older than you’ve suggested.

PSLS: Why did you decide to provide music videos only, and not just music by itself?

AW: Our expertise is very aligned into the distribution of video rather than audio, hence the name, ‘VidZone,’ so we are playing to our strengths. We would like to become the largest music video service globally via PS3

PSLS: What is your primary income earner: adverts, or the mobile phone download service?

AW: The majority of our income is coming from standard media advertising and sponsorships.

PSLS: Over recent years, music videos have played an important role in bringing bands or artists to the attention of the public. Are music videos merely a commercial tool, or do you believe that they enhance the quality of the music?

AW: From a personal perspective, I get more pleasure from watching a music video, as it provides both a visual and aural experience. That is not to say I don’t enjoy listening to music via my iPod, but if I had a choice, I would watch a music video or go to a concert where I’d gain a richer experience of the music.

PSLS: What are your criteria for accepting music to the service?

AW: We like the music videos to be associated to an artist that has had a commercial release on a major or indie record label. We get offered a lot of unsigned artists’ music videos, but generally the production value of the video is poor and would not stand up against the large high quality catalogue of music videos on VidZone.

PSLS: What do you think attracts viewers to your service rather than television, YouTube, or Spotify?

AW: VidZone provides the user with advanced functionality, as you’d expect with the PS3, including pause, rewind, fast forward, skipping to the next video, and creating your own playlists. If you’re a U2 fan, you can watch back to back U2 videos in any order you choose on VidZone…whatever time of day or night you choose. Linear television’s days are numbered as the viewing public is getting much savvier about how they watch their video entertainment and they want to be in control rather than dictated programming schedules. I don’t think you can compare the viewing experience of a high quality music video file via VidZone on an HDTV to the user experience of watching a lower quality file on YouTube via a PC. Spotify is a great audio experience, but VidZone has the added enjoyment of the pictures too!

PSLS: How has your close relationship with Sony, one of the largest music companies in the world, made it easier for you to provide their music videos?

AW: Providing a comprehensive music video service via the PS3 has been something the entire music industry has been waiting for, not just Sony Music. We have therefore had tremendous support from over 3,000 record labels internationally in equal measure.

PSLS: VidZone features Remote Play, how popular is this function?

AW: We can see from the stats that this functionality is being used, but it is certainly not as significant as via the PS3 console.

PSLS: With 3D implementation coming to the PS3 later in the year, would you consider bringing 3D music videos to VidZone?

AW: If the music industry and their artists were supportive of the format and VidZone’s application could support it then we would consider it in tandem with SCEE.

PSLS: Could you comment on the status of the North America release of VidZone?

AW: We receive numerous emails on our blog about launching VidZone in North America and other areas such as the Middle East and Latin America. To date we have launched in 18 countries, which has been a major undertaking, and we’ll look to roll out VidZone in other geographical areas over the coming years.

PSLS: What have been the main obstacles standing in the way of North American VidZone implementation?

AW: We are a UK company based on the doorstep of Europe, so it was appropriate that we launch an ad funded service in a market we know and understand and is close geographically. We continue to evaluate other potential territory releases, but we have only been operational for seven months, and going live in 18 countries has kept us working 24-7, so we are taking this one stage at a time.

PSLS: Finally, on a lighter note, what’s your favourite music video?

AW: The Prodigy ‘Smack My Bitch Up’ – Why? This video was ground breaking and used the music video format in a shocking but entertaining manner.

PlayStation LifeStyle would like to thank Adrian Workman and VidZone Digital Media for taking the time to hold the interview. Stay tuned to PSLS for more interviews and PlayStation news.

3D A Possibility On VidZone

Sebastian Moss — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:06:05 +0000

3D technology is set to play a pivotal role for Sony in 2010, with the full force of the industry giant being brought to bare on pushing the technology. The PlayStation 3 will be one of the company’s most important tools for promoting 3D, with two firmware updates aiming to make the console fully compatible with the added dimension. With that in mind, PlayStation LifeStyle asked Adrian Workman, CEO of VidZone Digital Media, whether their music video service would also get the 3D treatment.

In an interview with PSLS, Workman revealed:

“If the music industry and their artists were supportive of the format and VidZone’s application could support it then we would consider it in tandem with SCEE.”

Look forward to the entire interview with the CEO of VidZone later today, in the mean time, tell us in the comments below if you want to see your music videos in 3D.

SCEE Boasts Vidzone’s Impressive Figures

Kyle P. — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 01:30:56 +0000

Users of VidZone for PlayStation®3 (PS3™) reach 2 million in number and watch 200 million videos in just six months – making it the biggest dedicated music video streaming application in the world

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) revealed today that, in its first six months, streaming music video service VidZone™ has delivered more than 200 million videos via PlayStation®3 (PS3™) to more than 2 million fans who’ve downloaded the VidZone application in 18 countries. VidZone gives you free music videos on demand to rewind, pause and fast-forward, create your own playlists with for every occasion and even to stream to a PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable) via remote play

The VidZone team credits the service’s popularity to its content, covering thousands of Independent labels as well as major record labels, and its exclusives including world music video premieres, more than 100 sessions and interviews as well as behind the scenes and live footage from artist including Groove Armada, Jamie Cullum, Kasabian, Placebo, The Prodigy and U2.

Hope Restored for PS3 VidZone in North America

Anthony Severino — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:50:03 +0000

VidZone, the online music video service operated by London-based VidZone Digital Media, was released for the PlayStation 3 last June. However it’s only available in certain PAL territories, and currently has only outlined plans to expand further into PAL territories. Will the video service ever expand into North America?

Even though there hasn’t been much talk about bringing the service stateside, a glimmer of hope has been spotted. When asked via the official VidZone twitter account if the service would make it to the US, it was replied:

“Not in the US – yet ”

Although this isn’t an official confirmation, it certainly restores hope to stateside PS3 owners. The word “yet” implies it’s being worked on, or at least the idea is being passed around internally.

VidZone Stays Streaming on the PS3

Cameron Teague — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 04:41:57 +0000

VidZone has seen a lot of success since it launched in Europe on the PlayStation 3 last year and it looks like Digital Media intends to continue pushing this service to PS3 users.

In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Digital Media let it be known that despite offering video’s to users on Xbox Live, that they have no intention to pursue a streaming service on Live.

Michael Russo, director of new music development had this to say.

“There’s no real plan for us to do anything there, all the focus is going into PlayStation and it’s a very different service to what we run on the PS3. The PS3 offering is much more of a proper consumer product. [Xbox 360] is a very different service to what we’ve got on PlayStation. Nothing is given away for free, there’s no element of streaming, it’s all pay-to-own downloadable music video content. It’s a smaller business for us and we only represent the independent labels.”

While he would not confirm VidZone to the US, he did mention that there are plenty of services soon to be rolled out.

“We’re on track and should be available to another 11 regions by Christmas, which will take us up to 18 countries. We have an aggressive roll-out strategy and there will be numerous additions to the service that we’ll announce in the not so distant future – some major features of the product.”

Hopefully with all this success it is only a matter of time before we see VidZone in the US. As always stay tuned to PlayStation LifeStyle for all your PS3 news.

[Source]

VidZone Gaining Momentum on PSN

Kishen Patel — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 02:04:49 +0000

VidZone, the free online music video delivery service, had a bit of a delayed start in Europe. But upon its release, it quickly started gaining momentum. And content is not the only area the PlayStation Store application is gaining momentum in.

According to the European PS Blog, the free-to-use music video service has achieved one-million downloads of the application and, on top of this, 100 million music videos have been streamed. The blog post also mentioned that there are over 13,000 videos currently available on the application. Here are the most popular videos on the service:

1. Black Eyed Peas – Boom Boom Pow
2. Michael Jackson – Thriller
3. Lady Gaga – Poker Face
4. Michael Jackson – Beat It
5. Michael Jackson – Billie Jean
6. Michael Jackson – Man In The Mirror
7. Eminem – We Made You
8. Dizzee Rascal, Armand Helden – Bonkers
9. Michael Jackson – Black Or White
10. Michael Jackson – Another Part Of Me

With Sony’s renowned interests in social networking it’s worth mentioning that the success of their free-to-use stance on everything from their newly released MMO, Free Realms, to PlayStation Home, it looks to be in SCE’s best interests to keep the PlayStation Network free for all.

[Source]

Sony Adds Hundreds of New Tracks to Vidzone

JohnDraisey — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:04:24 +0000

Tired of the default tracklist for Vidzone? Already watched everything you could possibly click on? Well SCEE has done a massive update for their free music video service, adding more than 500 new tracks to their already extensive library.

The update includes the likes of Groove Armada, LL Cool J, Marilyn Manson, Ace of Base, The Beach Boys, and System of a Down, among other artists. There’s also pre-defined sets which are based on different themes, such as Metal Anthems, BBQ, and the 90′s.

[Source/Via]

VidZone Videos Keeping It Simple

Kyle P. — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:04:12 +0000

In a series of Twitter messages, it has been confirmed that VidZone videos, on average, will run around 30mb.

Also, the “last 25 or so” videos will be cached on your PS3′s hard drive, so there will be no need to re-stream the videos. That comes out to 750 MB of data, so the caching shouldn’t be too disruptive.

[Source/Via]

Vidzone Gets a Solid Release Date

Kyle P. — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:28:43 +0000

We have finally been notified of a solid date for when Vidzone, the free video service for the PlayStation 3, will be released.

The magic date is June 11th. The application will come the form of a download off the PSN store, not in a firmware. However, only Europeans and Australians will be feeling the love. All other regions will not receive the service.

[Source]

PS3 Update Inbound Soon; VidZone Included

Anthony Severino — Thu, 28 May 2009 19:56:16 +0000

According to Jake Osuwah (Sony PR), we will be getting a PS3 update soon. We speculate that it will most likely arrive some time during E3, as VidZone is coming soon. He doesn’t mention if it is a firmware update, or something that will be in a PS Store update.

Jake mentions it twice on his very active twitter page:

Heres Some Exclusive PS3 VIDZONE Video Footage http://bit.ly/3Lrz2 We’ll be updating our PS3′s soon to this!

VIDZONE for the PlayStation 3 is now CONFIRMED coming real soon. Watch thousands of free music videos right on your PS3!

Up until now VidZone has been discussed as a PAL territory only service, but due to it being mentioned by a SCEA PR rep, and its inclusion at E3, this makes the chances for the US to see this service very high. We have contacted Jake Osuwah, and are awaiting confirmation on a US release.

VG247 has reported that the service goes live on June 4th, and guess what? That is during E3 and a Thursday so that gives the likelihood of it being part of a PS Store update.

Make sure to check out this video of VidZone in action…

[Source]

VidZone Official Webstie

VidZone Set to Spice Up the Summer

JohnDraisey — Thu, 07 May 2009 17:54:51 +0000

Some great news for PS3 owners out there. VidZone, a music video download service, is set to launch this summer in Europe for PlayStation 3. But how much does this service actually cost?

Absolutely nothing. The service is free of charge thanks to ad revenue, and will allow users to stream music videos, interviews, and behind-the-scenes footage from over 25,000 pieces of content. Sony BMG, EMI, and thousands of independent labels have thrown their support behind the service. Michael Russo, VidZone’s CTO and director of digital business development, stated:

“VidZone is not just about giving music fans access to thousands of music videos, but offering a completely interactive and personalised music experience.”

The VidZone application will be directly accessible from the XMB, and allow users to save a video library or create custom playlists. And there’s another treat as well. All downloads and playlists can be initiated and managed with your PSP. Isabelle Tomatis of SCEE stated:

“Music has always been popular on PS3 and now VidZone is set to transform the way we view music videos by letting you completely tailor your experience and is just one more reason for PS3 to be the most valued player in your living room.”

VidZone will only be available in the UK, Ireland, France, Italy, German, Spain and Australia. What do you guys think of this service? Any ideas for other Service Apps that Sony should try to add to the XMB?

[Source]

VidZones for our PALs

Azariah Ellington II — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:57:53 +0000

Written by Chris Rah Osiris

Click here to view the embedded video.

Our pals in PAL territories are getting another nice service. They already have PlayTV to hang their hats on, but now they have VidZones as well. VidZones will allow PAL PS3 owners to stream music videos. Remote-Play will enable you to view these music videos on your PSP as well. (Amazing, I know). This service will be available Early 09.

Don’t forget that you will also be able to download music and ringtones for your cell phones as well. This will not be free like the music video streaming. This is in addition to the video store going over to PAL territories next year as well. PAL territories are turning into multimedia powerhouses.