Facebook & Universal Music Group Enter Multi-Year Licensing Agreement

Universal Music Group and Facebook have announced that they have entered a global multi-year licensing agreement. The deal will allow Facebook’s users to upload videos that include any of Universal Music’s recorded music.

The agreement between Facebook and Universal Music also applies to the former’s other social media platforms, Instagram and Oculus. The partnership will also allow Facebook to use Universal Music’s catalog of songs to be used in future “music-based products” across platforms, including Messenger. This is the first time that a major recording label has licensed its catalog for videos and other social features across Facebook, as pointed out by TechCrunch.

At the most basic level, the licensing agreement between the companies means that users will no longer have to worry about their videos being taken down on Facebook when it includes music from UMG. Avoiding copyright infringement on Facebook has been an issue for users and it hampers the possibility of making Facebook a huge place for user-generated videos.

Earlier this year, IBTimes reported that Facebook was in talks with record labels and music publishers to secure rights for copyrighted music. This new deal between Facebook and UMG may have been the result of those previous negotiations.

“There is a magnetic relationship between music and community building. We are excited to bring that to life on Facebook, Instagram, Oculus and Messenger in partnership with UMG. Music lovers, artists and writers will all be right at home as we open up creativity, connection and innovation through music and video,” Facebook’s head of music business development and partnerships Tamara Hrivanak said.

The licensing agreement between Facebook and Universal Music will also serve as a foundation for a strategic partnership between the two companies. Universal Music confirmed in its press release that it will be collaborating with Facebook to deliver “new music-based experiences online.” What that means exactly remains unclear, but it looks like users should expect more music features to arrive across Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and Oculus.

“Together, Facebook and UMG are creating a dynamic new model for collaboration between music companies and social platforms to advance the interests of recording artists and songwriters while enhancing the social experience of music for their fans,” Universal Music Group vice president of digital strategy Michael Nash said.

“This partnership is an important first step demonstrating that innovation and fair compensation for music creators are mutually reinforcing – they thrive together. We look forward to Facebook becoming a significant contributor to a healthy ecosystem for music that will benefit artists, fans and all those who invest in bringing great music to the world.”