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Universal Music Group continues to bolster its Internet profile via digital video.

The largest of the four biggest recording companies is expected to announce on Friday an agreement with Kyte, the video-streaming startup. Under the terms of the deal, Kyte is to provide the mobile and online platform for the label’s artist, including 50 Cent, All American Rejects, Lil Wayne and Lady Gaga. Financial terms of the deal were not released.

Universal Music and Kyte have also agreed to develop new mobile entertainment applications. The question with a deal like this is why any of the labels need a video platform other than YouTube?

Ted Mico, the digital chief for Interscope Geffen A&M, one of Universal Music’s subsidiary record labels, says Kyte’s live-video streaming has impressed nearly everyone in the music industry. The service enables artists to shoot and distribute live video to fans from their dressing rooms, their limousines or even from the stage. This isn’t meant to be the glossy, heavily-produced video productions that are often seen in rock videos.

“Kyte offered artists and fans a fantastic value proposition,” Mico said. “If you like the big budget stuff, this is really zero budget, but just as engaging in its own way because it has that immediacy and authenticity. We’ve waited a long time for technology that delivers on that and I think the Kyte platform does.”

This kind of live Web TV will appeal to bands and artists who can engage an audience just “by being themselves” Mico said.

The deal comes as Universal Music, as well as the other top record companies, are in talks with YouTube about renewing their licensing agreements for music and music videos. YouTube pulled Warner Music Group’s videos last month after talks broke down between the Google-owned video site and the third largest label.

I reported last fall that Universal was considering building it’s own video site and now my sources say the labels are considering working together with YouTube-rival Hulu on a jointly operate video offering. Could a new site offer live streaming? We’ll see.

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Universal Music expands Web video profile with Kyte alliance

SpringCM Inc., a known SaaS Enterprise CMS player, has released the newest version of its SpringCM product — v5.0. It is touted as the “first SaaS platform that allows companies to easily deploy multiple content-centric applications” across different enterprise workgroups, making it easier for value added resellers (VARs) to build repeatable and cost-effective applications for their customers.

The yummiest part of the new release is SpringCM’s integration with 22 Enterprise Content Management (ECM) technologies spanning imaging, document capture, business process automation, e-mail and records management, etc. – catering to such audiences as accounts payable, logistics, contract, proposal and records management and compliance.

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Content-Centric SaaS Apps the Next Generation?

At Tuesday’s Under the Radar conference in Mountain View, Calif., start-up junkie Patrick Koppula took to the stage to pitch his latest effort called Ffwd. I briefly mentioned it in a roundup of other companies, but it’s worth digging a little deeper into what could become an incredibly addictive way to watch Web videos on your computer and at home on your big-screen television.

Ffwd is taking a page from recommendation/browsing service StumbleUpon by offering a way for people to click on a single button and instantly jump to new content. It’s the kind of activity that encourages short-attention-span videos, or at least skipping videos without an immediate hook.

The UI is centered around an embedded video player and an oversized button that does the skipping. As I said Tuesday, this is where things get interesting. Ffwd lets users categorize any and every piece of content into three or more different channels. This categorization lets users skip to another set of similar content where that same video resides. Koppula told me this keeps people from reaching dead ends, and lets them discover new content without having to use any sort of search tool.

Users might not be ready to start hitting the forward button, but Ffwd is banking on people wanting to skip what they're watching to see what's next.

(Credit: Ffwd)

Another standout aspect of the service that it figures out what content you’ll like based on what you’ve already listed as your interests. It will jack into your social-networking profile or content mentions on tracking services like FriendFeed and form a record of your tastes to make recommendations on channels or certain pieces of content.

The Wii interface lets you jump ahead to the next video with just a press of a button (click to enlarge).

(Credit: Ffwd)

The plans for a Nintendo Wii interface are also ambitious. While StumbleUpon has had its own Wii front end since early 2007, Ffwd will be more tied into the experience people are getting on their regular computers. Video favorites will transfer over, as will bookmarked channels. Like StumbleUpon, users navigate with just the directional pad, but won’t have to type as much with what Koppula considers the Wii’s weakpoint: its onscreen keyboard.

The communal chat rooms might be the strangest feature (and I’m not quite sure I get them). Koppula pitched it to me as an online version of Mystery Science Theater, the show that would feature comedians chatting over the dialogue tracks of feature-length films. Ffwd will feature something slightly similar with a select group of 12 users who can add videos and chat about them while everyone else watches it live. Lycos did something similar with its Cinema service that was quietly launched last month.

Ffwd is launching in private beta in the next few months with a content platform to follow. In the meantime there’s a Facebook app that has nothing to do with the product but is a fun way to test how the app scans your tastes. We’ll have a hands-on report and some reader invites when the service goes live later this summer.

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The dish on the next StumbleUpon: Ffwd