Facebook and Universal Music Group (UMG) have announced what they describe as an unprecedented global, multi-year agreement under which UMG becomes the first major music company to licence its recorded music and publishing catalogues for video and other social experiences across Facebook as well as its photo-sharing service Instagram and AI-based Oculus brand. Under the terms of the deal, users will now be able to upload and share videos featuring music from UMG’s library across the social media networks without having the videos removed due to copyright infringements.
In a joint statement announcing the deal, the companies said it would serve as a foundation for a strategic partnership roadmap that will deliver new music-based experiences online. “In time functionality will expand to enable access to a vast library of music across a series of social features,” said the companies, adding they intend to experiment with adding music-based products to Facebook's instant messaging service Messenger.
The announcement comes shortly after Bloomberg reported that YouTube had signed new long-term agreements with UMG and Sony Music Entertainment that's expected to support its plans to launch a subscription music service.
