Music Videos

U2 lead singer Bono, well known for his ONE campaign against poverty, has turned his focus to a charity case closer to home: the ailing music industry. The rocker is credited with bringing together Universal Music Group, the world's biggest music company, and YouTube, Google Inc.'s online video site, for talks that on Thursday resulted in a partnership to launch a music video service featuring professionally produced content from the label's big-name acts.

Music videos from Green Day, Jay-Z and Linkin Park will begin reappearing on YouTube as soon as December, the result of a multiyear agreement reached with Warner Music Group Corp. The Internet's dominant video site and one of the world's largest music companies had been locked in a dispute over the value of music videos, some of the most popular content on YouTube, whose young viewers are coveted by advertisers. Licensing talks reached an impasse late last year, resulting in Warner's videos being pulled from the site.

A number of high-profile musicians have made enormous dents on YouTube: Soulja Boy, Rihanna, the Jonas Brothers and Chris Brown among them. But Beyonce is giving them all a run for their money. Her video for "If I Were a Boy" has been watched by more than 35 million on the video-sharing site. In it, Beyonce imagines life if gender roles were reversed between her and her boyfriend (a fictional boyfriend, alas, not Jay-Z).

The Nederlander Organization has acquired the rights to produce a musical version of Michael Jackson's "Thriller," the organization announced Monday. According to the announcement, the musical -- based on the horror-spoof "Thriller" video -- will be "the exclusive Michael Jackson-authorized version of 'Thriller' " and the Gloved One will be involved in "every aspect of the creative process."