Will Meta and UMG’s Updated Music Licensing Agreement Affect You?
By Movieguide® Contributor
Meta and Universal Music Group have updated their music licensing agreement to increase the use of UMG’s music on their apps.
“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,” Tamara Hrivnak, VP Music and Content Business Development at Meta, said.
Her statement continued, “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.”
The new agreement will allow UMG’s music to be used in short-form content for Threads and WhatsApp, as well as apps like Facebook, Instagram and Facebook’s Messenger app.
It will also focus on addressing the use of unauthorized AI content, which could affect artists and songwriters.
Michael Nash, Chief Digital Officer and executive vice president of UMG said, “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.”
The Meta/UMG agreement’s focus on AI makes sense — this component was, in part, the reason UMG and TikTok’s own deal broke down earlier this year.
“The agreement with UMG covers Meta’s content in ways TikTok struggled to lock down,” The Verge noted, adding that, according to UMG, the video-sharing app didn’t seem concerned enough about the threat of AI.
Movieguide® previously reported on UMG and TikTok’s agreement:
The world’s largest music company and the fifth largest social media platform, TikTok, are still going head-to-head.
“The bruising battle over royalties between Universal Music Group and TikTok entered a new and more severe stage in the early hours of Tuesday as songs published by UMG began to be removed from the platform,” Variety reported Tuesday.
“The standoff, which began earlier this month, initially saw recordings owned or distributed by UMG removed from the platform, but now is extending to a much larger number of songs by including those published by the company,” Variety continued.
Previously, UMG songs had only been muted since the music battle began.
