As listeners search for their favorite music videos on YouTube, something different appears: a channel with a black background, 30-second advertisements and a banner across the page that reads, in bright red letters, “VEVO.”

Vevo, launched in December 2009, is a premium YouTube channel that hosts music videos from three of the world’s biggest record labels: Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and EMI. In a press release issued on Dec. 9, 2009, immediately after the site’s release, Vevo stated, “All YouTube traffic and video streams for music videos from 85 percent of the music market will be assigned directly to Vevo, creating the largest music video audience network online.”

Rolf Schmidt Holtz, co-chairman of Vevo, claims that the company was established for the fans.

“Vevo represents a whole new dimension in music video entertainment,” Holtz said, “that offers fans a groundbreaking way to experience their favorite artists.”

Holtz also discussed the new, more personal connection that artists have with their fans through Vevo because the work is coming directly from the artist, rather than being re-processed by other YouTube users.

Though the rest of the videos on YouTube don’t come with a fancy layout on their channel or long ads preceding every video, they also give unsigned artists — and many other videographers — a connection with their fans. Jarai Carter, sophomore in ACES, has been making videos since she was 8 years old and has two channels on YouTube that she frequently updates. She enjoys the connection it creates between her and her online audience.

“I really like the interaction with people I don’t know,” Carter said when she was asked about what makes her passionate. “Your family and friends, for the most part, are supportive of what you do, no matter how good or bad it is. But when you post it on the Internet, you can get a feel for how other people who don’t know anything about you like it.”

Besides an outlet for creative passions, YouTube can also be used as a learning source. Kendra Hardy, sophomore in Business, browses YouTube to find tutorials on different hairstyles or hair-care tips. Hardy also uploads her own videos, sometimes with friends, in which she shares how she takes care of her natural African-American hair.

Though the exchange of information and creativity on YouTube seems to run smoothly for Hardy, YouTube faces the underlying issue of copyright laws. With online media like YouTube, it’s relatively easy to steal media without giving artists compensation for their work. YouTube claims full rights to any uploaded videos, but copyright infringement on YouTube still is popular.

When asked about Youtube’s copyright laws, Carter shrugged.

“I don’t really see myself as being someone who’s like, ‘Oh I’m going to get rich and famous off YouTube,’” Carter said. “It’s just something I do for fun. … It’s a little bit frustrating because you’re like, ‘I made this’ … but I think that’s a risk you take when you put anything on the Internet.”

Dr. Jay Rosenstein, associate professor of journalism and creator of several award-winning documentaries, takes his issues of copyright infringement more seriously.

“From a filmmaker’s perspective, I only put pieces of my documentary online for everyone to see,” Rosenstein said. “I have my entire documentary on YouTube, but it’s password protected, and I release that password to people or schools that may be interested in purchasing it.”

For those interested in posting videos in their entirety without processing requests, Vevo was created. The premium music channel’s revenue comes from the advertisements on the sidebars and before each video, so watching music videos on Vevo is completely free.

“It’s a great way for artists to get credit for their work,” Rosenstein said. “They probably won’t make much money from it, but it sounds like a way to provide listeners with a legitimate source for watching music videos and to discourage the creation of other illegitimate sources.”

Carter, though a YouTube fanatic, prefers watching music videos on Vevo for reasons of legitimacy.

“I think that sometimes on YouTube it’s hard to find an actual, official copy of a music video that has come out by an actual, signed artists,” Carter said. “So Vevo is nice because they’re all videos by artists who are signed and you know it’s legit.”

For many other YouTube users, the source of the video does not matter as much. Vevo music videos show up in YouTube search results and are hosted on the YouTube website, which makes it convenient to switch back and forth.

“It doesn’t really matter for me,” Hardy said, “as long as I see the video.”