VEVO is starting to follow the path originally set by MTV, moving from a line-up of videos to original series.

In its first-ever formal “Upfront” presentation today, the music video and entertainment platform unveiled its upcoming programming slate of music-centric original series to be produced in collaboration with top production houses like Shine America and Principato-Young Entertainment, among others.

The presentation for the brand marketing and media communities, which included a live John Legend performance and a roundtable with industry leaders, was part of the Digital Content NewFronts.

VEVO execs on hand included President/CEO Rio Caraeff, EVP Sales & Customer Operations David Kohl and SVP Product Michael Cerda, who presented The Power of and Passion for Music Video, a look at music’s ability to engage artists’ fans and build global audiences. VEVO also showcased the scale of its platform across online, mobile and connected television.

The event also featured Music, Brands & Video Evolved, an intimate discussion on the alignment of brands and music by key industry leaders, including Pepsi marketing chief Frank Cooper, Epic Records Chairman/CEO Antonio “L.A.” Reid and Magna Global CEO Tim Spengler, moderated by Media Link President/COO Wenda Harris Millard.

VEVO VP Programming and Original Content Scott Reich then introduced the site’s original programming for viewers, offering access to their favorite artists, but with a new focus on telling stories from the fans’ perspective.

*Busk or Bust (co-produced by VEVO and Shine America, formerly Reveille): VEVO’s first reality competition show where contestants must literally sing for their supper. Shine America is known for popular and award-winning original hit series including The Biggest Loser, Tabatha Takes Over, Shear Genius and The Buried Life as well as long-running scripted hits The Office, Ugly Betty and The Tudors.

*Cover Stories (co-produced by VEVO and Amos Content Group): A comedic take on the not-so-true stories behind some of our favorite album covers.

*Hear Me Out (co-produced by VEVO and Principato-Young Entertainment): A dating show where the potential of love is based solely on the participants’ musical choices. Principato-Young is the premiere production company for Jim Carrey and Ed Helms, among others.

*Sound + City (co-produced by VEVO and Show Cobra): Uncovers the people, places and things that are currently influencing the music of a particular city. From the shoe store where the hottest mix tapes are exchanged to the restaurant everyone goes to before a concert, Sound + City explores the backdrop of the music we love and gives viewers tips on how to travel like an artist. The first six episodes explore Nashville, Miami, Brooklyn, San Francisco, Portland and Atlanta.

*Strange Island (co-produced by VEVO, Weird Logic, Hello! and Company): Flight of the Conchords meets Glee, living somewhere between Gilligan’s Island and Fantasy Island in a new scripted musical comedy series with four aspiring stars looking for a shortcut to fame. Co-producer Weird Logic’s Scott Schultz is one of the creators of Yo Gabba Gabba.

*You Play Like A Girl (co-produced by VEVO and Mike Welch): Combines aspiration and inspiration of real-life young girls who are pursuing music as a career. Hosted by Sam Maloney, former drummer for Hole and Motley Crue, this series will find girls across the country who have the talent to make it big while giving them the push they need to help make their dreams a reality.

These new programs join VEVO’s returning original series, including GO Shows (upcoming episodes will feature One Direction, Selena Gomez and the All-American Rejects), Area Codes, Stylized and the live event platform, VEVO Presents. Additionally, VEVO will continue its live event partnerships with American Express and YouTube (American Express Unstaged), AOL (Sessions +1) and CBS Interactive Music Group (Live on Letterman).

“Music produces stories, whether they are told in a short music video or through original programming,” said Reich. “Our philosophy is to develop originals that speak to people’s passions, gives fans access to their favorite artists and, most importantly, delivers compelling stories driven by music. We’re really excited to present our 2012 original programming slate to the media and marketing communities, and talk about the unique brand partnerships we can create together to bring these stories to life.”

Reich also announced the launch of VEVO’s Certified program, a “hall of fame” type-award for music videos that have achieved more than 100 million views. Like its original programming mission announced today, VEVO will turn to the fan to honor the artists whose videos have achieved the special Certified milestone. More details, including the first group of honorees, will be announced in the coming weeks.

In addition, VEVO released a list of performance metrics:

-VEVO reaches 250 million unique visitors worldwide every month. If you looked at these numbers in terms of population, VEVO would be the fourth largest country in the world (comScore Media Metrix, March 2012).

-VEVO viewers watch an average of 60+ minutes of video programming every month (comScore Video Metrix, March 2012).

-90% of all commercials running on VEVO are viewed to completion (VEVO, Feb 2012)—that’s 33% higher than the industry average (Videology, Feb 2012).

-Among its core audience [adults 18-34], VEVO has more video viewers than any other publisher presenting at this week’s NewFronts, including Yahoo, AOL, Hulu and Viacom Media Networks (comScore VideoMetrix, March 2012).

-VEVO’s female audience is exploding, reaching 25 million women and moms each month - broken down weekly (comScore VideoMetrix, March 2012), that’s more female viewers than delivered by The Oprah Winfrey Show’s final episode (TV by the Numbers, Nielsen).

-VEVO reaches roughly 10 million Hispanic viewers each month in the U.S., delivering 6x the online video reach of Telemundo and Univision combined (comScore VideoMetrix, March 2012).

-VEVO’s audience spent 900 million hours watching videos last year (comScore VideoMetrix), that’s 20x the number of hours spent watching the entire season of The Office (TV by the Numbers, Nielsen).

-When looking at the actual TV campaign of a major CPG brand, Nielsen data shows that VEVO would provide 15% additional reach or 2x what was provided by Pandora and roughly 3x delivered by Hulu (Nielsen Cross-Platform Custom Analysis, October 2011).