An online music service run by several of the world's biggest record companies has continued its expansion outside North America after going live in Spain, France and Italy.

Vevo, which is backed by Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and EMI will add around 50,000 music videos from artists across the three countries, bringing its presence to a total of 10.

Vevo has had a presence in each of the three countries for a while now, but the full platform, including the Vevo website and its free apps for smartphones and tablets, will now also be available. The company said that it will also be adding Vevo through Xbox and mobile web to each new region in the coming weeks.

"The goal behind our move is simple: to constantly connect fans and artists through the music they love - anytime, anywhere, and always absolutely free," said Vevo on its Web site. "Our insightful programming guides users towards sounds they may not have been familiar with, as well as giving new contexts to the work of established stars."

"We are very excited to launch Vevo today in France, Spain, and Italy," says Nic Jones, Vevo's Senior Vice President, International. "We take special pride in offering the best in premium music video programming, grounded in local repertoire to deliver a total music viewing experience across every connected platform."

Vevo was launched in December 2009 in the US, offering music services across the Web based on an advertising model. The company has deals with Google to share revenue via Vevo's YouTube channel and has recently also signed an advertising deal with Yahoo! for its European service.

The company says it has associations with major brands as advertisers in each of the three countries including RenaultNissan which sponsors exclusive music video premieres in France; Reckit and Fiat have done the same in Italy; and Danone and Orange which have partnered with Vevo in Spain.

However, Germany is a notable absentee from the list because it has a more complicated music copyright system to navigate. The tougher music royalty collection regime in the country was one of the reasons why Grooveshark ended its operations there this year, while YouTube has also had issues in the past.

Vevo says that it does eventually plan to go to Germany. It launched in the UK earlier this year.