World leader in music-based entertainment, Universal Music Group (UMG), last week announced an expanded global, multi-year agreement with American technology conglomerate Meta that aims to further evolve the creative and commercial opportunities for UMG artists and Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) songwriters across Meta’s global network of platforms—which includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Horizon, Threads, and, for the first time, WhatsApp.
Formerly known as Facebook, which launched back in 2004, Meta effectively changed how people connect in the 21st century. The company builds technologies designed to help people connect, find communities, and grow businesses, introducing the world to apps like Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Meta’s apps have already empowered billions of individuals around the world but are now moving beyond 2D screens toward immersive experiences like augmented and virtual reality to help build the next evolution in social technology.
Meta is further expanding its partnership with Universal Music Group, a world leader in music-based entertainment that is dedicated to shaping culture through the power of artistry. UMG includes a broad array of businesses engaged in recorded music, music publishing, merchandising, and audiovisual content and features the most extensive catalog of recordings and songs across every musical genre.
The music leader identifies and develops artists, as well as produces and distributes the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful music in the world (like Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, Harry Styles, Sting, and more). UMG is committed to artistic innovation and entrepreneurship, fostering the development of services, platforms, and business models that broaden artistic and commercial opportunities for artists while also creating new experiences for fans.
Meta and UMG’s new agreement reflects the two companies’ shared dedication to protecting human creators and artistry, which includes ensuring that artists and songwriters are compensated fairly. As part of their multi-year and multifaceted agreement, the two companies will continue to work together to tackle unauthorized AI-generated content that may impact artists and songwriters.
Michael Nash, Chief Digital Officer & EVP of Universal Music Group, said, “Since our landmark 2017 agreement, Meta has consistently demonstrated its commitment to artists and songwriters by helping 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. 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.”
Meta and UMG’s new agreement is an expansion of the strategic framework established in 2017’s agreement between the two companies that ushered in a new era of collaboration between the music industry and Meta. UMG became the first major music company to license its recorded music and music publishing catalogs across Meta’s platforms under the 2017 agreement, while Meta took a revolutionary role as its first fully licensed partner among the major social media platforms.
Since 2017, the companies have teamed up to explore new emergent channels and creative ways for licensed music to thrive within the entire Meta ecosystem, with Meta’s platforms historically being a destination for artists to connect directly with fans.
This new agreement expands monetization opportunities for UMG and its artists/songwriters, building on the two companies’ joint track record of innovation and collaboration.
Tamara Hrivnak, VP of Music and Content Business Development at Meta, said, “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. 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 such as WhatsApp and more. We’re extremely grateful to the Universal team and look forward to growing our partnership in the future.”
