What is a prerelease embed?
A pre-release embed is an embed code that uses the Vevo player. The views in the Vevo player do not count toward YouTube. A prerelease embed does not publish the video on YouTube. Prerelease embeds are useful for "exclusive premieres" on a blog or a website, before the video is published on YouTube! The start time set for a prerelease embed is separate from the start time for the video to publish on YouTube. A Prerelease embed is not the same as an unlisted video, which is a YouTube function. To unlist a video on YouTube, please see this article (linked).
**Please note prerelease embeds are only available in the following territories: US (United States), CA (Canada), MX (Mexico), UK (United Kingdom), DE (Deutschland), FR (France), IT (Italy), ES (Spain), AU (Australia), NZ (New Zealand), BR (Brazil)
What is the difference between an unlisted video and Vevo prerelease embeds?
The Vevo pre-release embed uses a Vevo player that is completely separate from YouTube! You can both have a Vevo prerelease embed a few days before the video goes live on YouTube, and then have a separate, YouTube premiere at a different time.
Setting a video to "unlisted" status in YouTube will make the video viewable to anyone who has the video link. If an artist wants to do an exclusive premiere with an unlisted link and a YouTube embed, it won't be so exclusive, because anyone who sees the video will be able to copy+paste the code and share it!
Views on an unlisted (YouTube) video do count toward the YouTube viewcount. Unlisting a video does not publish the video on YouTube, but rather acts like a low-security preview link.
Link: More about Unlisting on YouTube.
How can I create a prerelease embed? (Step by Step)
1. In Vevo Backstage, navigate to Videos>Prereleases (menu on left side)
2. Select "create" once you're in the Prereleases section.
3. Once you've selected create, you'll need to fill out some info, the ISRC and the Start Date for the prerelease embed. This start date is separate from the YouTube start date on the video info page. This start date is only for the prerelease embed. Click "create".
4. Voila! Your prerelease code will generate. You should see a preview as well.
Pre-release / Vevo Embed not working?