Facebook signs licensing deal with music publisher Universal Music

Facebook has signed an agreement with Universal Music, one of the largest music publishers in the world. It is a multi-year deal that gives Facebook the rights to the music of artists that is published under Universal.

This is evident from the press release that Universal Music has put online. The publisher is the first of the major labels to partner with Facebook, and the deal extends not only to the social networking site itself, but also to subsidiary brands such as Instagram and Oculus.

It is not yet fully clear what the agreement will bring about, but Universal does state that new music experiences are being worked on on Facebook. In due course, it must therefore become known exactly what these new services will look like; it is likely that Facebook wants to compete with existing music streaming services such as Spotify.

Users are also now allowed to upload videos that include music published by Universal. Previously, Facebook would remove videos if they contained unlicensed music; that’s why the site recently came up with a database of royalty-free music that can be used for videos.

There have been rumors for a long time that Facebook itself wants to offer music online. Two years ago, reports came out that the company wanted to interfere in the music market. In addition to Universal, discussions are also said to have been held with Sony and Warner; however, closing licensing deals with the major labels is a lengthy process.