UMG & Meta Expand Global Agreement

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Universal Music Group (UMG) and Meta have expanded their global, multi-year agreement with the goal of further evolving the creative and commercial opportunities for UMG artists and Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) songwriters across Meta’s global network of platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Horizon, Threads and, for the first time, WhatsApp.

The expanded agreement builds upon the strategic framework the two companies established with their 2017 landmark deal, which ushered in a new era of collaboration between the music industry and Meta, known then as Facebook. Under the 2017 agreement, UMG became the first major music company to license its recorded work and music publishing catalogs across Facebook’s programs, leading it to become music’s first fully-licensed partner among the major social media platforms.

The companies have since worked together to explore new emergent channels and creative ways for licensed music to thrive within the entire Meta ecosystem, including Facebook, Instagram, virtual reality experiences across Meta Quest and Horizon, User Generated Content (UGC), live streaming and more. This new deal extends monetization opportunities for UMG with short form video, and aims to carve new paths by licensing music for WhatsApp.

“We are thrilled to announce our renewal with Universal Music Group, and Universal Music Publishing Group, both of whom are innovators for music on social media, especially with regard to Meta’s family of apps,” says Tamara Hrivnak, VP of Music & Content Business Development, Meta. “This partnership builds on the recognition that music can help connect us and bring fans, artists and songwriters closer together, not only on established platforms such as Instagram and Facebook, but also in new ways on WhatsApp and more. We’re extremely grateful to the Universal team, and look forward to growing our partnership in the future.”

With a shared commitment to protecting human creators and artistry, while ensuring that artists and songwriters are compensated fairly, Meta and UMG plan to continue to address unauthorized AI-generated content and other things that could affect artists and songwriters through their multifaceted partnership.

“Since our landmark 2017 agreement, Meta has consistently demonstrated its commitment to artists and songwriters by helping to amplify the importance music holds across its global network of engaged communities and platforms, creating new opportunities and applications where music amplifies and leads engagement and conversations,” notes Michael Nash, Chief Digital Officer & EVP, UMG. “We are delighted that Meta shares our artist-centric vision for respecting human creativity and compensating artists and songwriters fairly. We look forward to continuing to work together to address unauthorized AI-generated content that could affect artists and songwriters, so that UMG can continue to protect their rights both now and in the future.”

Liza Anderson
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