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A search for the band Major Lazer brings up a Vevo stream, with playback controls at the bottom of the screen. Muziic grabs Vevo's video via YouTube.

Major record labels are hoping that music videos will become the best way to make free music pay, for the simple reason that is easier to advertise to people watching videos than to those just listening.

Those plans could spring a leak thanks to a new site called Muziic that gives fans access to millions of free songs on YouTube and the label-backed Vevo video service, without them having to see any pesky, embedded  ads. The service also bypasses labels’ annoying country-by-country restrictions that ignore the fact that the internet is global.

Muziic was a Windows software application when I covered it for Wired’s print edition this summer.  The free program essentially turned YouTube into iTunes by allowing users to organize music collections out of the millions of free songs on YouTube and “rip” their MP3s to YouTube.

But Muziic failed to go viral, in no small part because installing computer applications is so last millennium.  It’s not surprising that on Sunday, Muziic unveiled a web-based version of its service that should broaden its appeal.

And on Monday, Muziic expanded its scope to include Vevo — the music video start-up owned by Universal, Sony and Abu Dhabi and operated by Google’s YouTube — allowing people to use the service without watching ads or abiding by the service’s North America-only restriction on playback.

Video sites are fast replacing audio-only sites as the best places to stream music.  Despite good intentions and innovation, audio-only sites imeem, iLike, Grooveshark, Spotify and Last.fm failed to deliver a free, encyclopedic music service to fans throughout 2009. Meanwhile, YouTube and Vevo offer millions of free songs, accompanied by videos. Muziic lets you treat those songs as if they lived on your computer rather than in the cloud.

Like Vevo, Muziic allows registered users to create playlists, but Muziic’s search interface (above) is more efficient than Vevo’s (right), offering direct song access that’s more reminiscent of iTunes than YouTube. In addition, Muziic includes easy-to-access tools for posting links to the song to social networks or adding it to a playlist.

“Our integration of Vevo content reflects how many (myself included) felt Vevo.com should have been,” said 16-year-old Muziic co-founder and CTO David Nelson via e-mail. “Examining user feedback for Vevo on Twitter and in the blogosphere was a big factor in its design.”

Indeed, some music fans will prefer Muziic’s slick interface to Vevo and YouTube, but the company’s promise to deliver this music worldwide “without obtrusive video advertisements” could prove more alluring.

Since the whole idea behind Vevo is to extract more money from advertisers when people watch free music online, Google, the record labels and Abu Dhabi Media could bristle at the idea of Muziic and other services playing those songs without showing the ads. However, YouTube approved Muziic earlier this year, after Muziic agreed to increase the size of its video player window, and Nelson says he doesn’t expect Google, Vevo or the labels to block Muziic from accessing the songs.

“In certain countries we are not able to stream Vevo content for artists licensed by Sony,” said Nelson via e-mail. “In these instances, Muziic performs a search for user-generated content that is accessible to the user, ensuring that every visitor finds exactly what they’re looking for… I anticipate no further video blocks.”

Nelson said the company is working on an iPhone app to complement its playback software, web-based service and Facebook app.

When asked about Muziic’s playback of Vevo content without video ads or country-by-country blocks, Vevo spokeswoman Jennifer Press said she would look into it; we hope to post an update soon. For now, Muziic lets you play and organize YouTube’s and Vevo’s music for free.

See Also:

• Muziic Turns YouTube Into a Playlist Factory
• 5 Apps Tap the Internet’s Infinite Playlist
• Google, Universal to Launch Music Hub ‘Vevo’
• Vevo Watch: Indie Labels in Talks with Majors’ YouTube Spin-Off
  
• Label-Backed Vevo Video Site Launches, But MTV Has ‘No Fear’
  
• Vevo Adds Videos from CBS Radio, Last.fm, Still Lacks Two Majors
  
• Pre-Launch Vevo Videos Trickle onto YouTube
• Next Music Battle: Hulu vs. Vevo
• Vevo Negotiating with CBS, NBC for Original Music Programming
  

Original post by Eliot Van Buskirk