14 DAY TRIAL // YouTube has lots of rivals on the web, but when lots of label companies and artists ally to form a powerful video sharing service, it may be a real threat for the Mountain View-based company Google. PluggedIn, a YouTube-like music video website providing up to 10,000 licensed clips, has just been rolled out, providing multiple advanced features to users looking for multimedia content.
First of all, there's the number of videos: 10,000 as the owner states. All of them come from EMI Music, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, independent labels or other companies. But what's important is that all the clips are licensed so it's obvious PluggedIn want to avoid YouTube-like copyright disputes.
Then, there's the video player which, according to PluggedIn owners, supports high-definition full-screen playback with no buffering. Moreover, the player provides DVD-like controls in order to improve the viewing experience.
Unfortunately, and you can take this as the worst aspect of the service, I couldn't have ANY viewing experience because I wasn't able to view the clips posted on the webpage. The reason? They're not available outside the US, which (excuse my language, please) sucks.
Getting back to the PluggedIn's attractions, you should know that Overbrook Entertainment, the company managed by Will Smith, James Lassiter and Ken Stovitz, is one of the service's strategic partners which obviously brings more licensed content on the website.
"The experience that the PluggedIn team has created is truly world-class," said Guy Primus, Head of Interactive Media at Overbrook. "They've reshaped the way people will enjoy music online by combining high-definition video with personalization, social networking and e-commerce tools. The fact that they've built all of this to be replicated across entertainment categories is even more remarkable, and we look forward to working with them on a variety of initiatives."
