Universal Music Group strikes Meta deal to license Taylor Swift, more artists on WhatsApp

Pop stars including Taylor Swift, Adele, Billie Eilish and Elton John will soon have their music played and shared across WhatsApp.

Universal Music Group, the world’s largest multinational music group which represents the globe’s biggest recording artists, reached a multiyear licensing agreement with Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Platforms on Monday.

The deal is an expansion of an earlier agreement from 2017 in which UMG licensed its music catalogs to Facebook and its sister platforms Messenger, Instagram and Oculus.

The updated agreement includes short-form videos and licensed music that will be featured on Meta-owned WhatsApp.

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“The new agreement reflects the two companies’ shared commitment to protecting human creators and artistry, including ensuring that artists and songwriters are compensated fairly,” the companies said in a joint statement.

“UMG was the first major music company to license Facebook back in 2017 and this new agreement will further expand the possibilities for music within the meta ecosystem.”

Financial terms were not disclosed.

The renewed agreement will give UMG artists and songwriters a portion of advertising revenue from the use of licensed music on Meta creator posts.

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In late July, the music label said it had ended a partnership with Meta for the streaming of premium music videos. It said this type of product was less popular with Facebook’s user base than other music products.

The $54 billion group behind more than a third of the market had reached a new licensing agreement with TikTok in May, restoring its songs and artists to the social media platform.

UMG’s songs were pulled from TikTok as a result of a months-long dispute between the two companies over royalty payments.

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TikTok, which is owned by Chinese-based company ByteDance, was accused by UMG of underpaying for the rights to its music compared to the fees that were paid by other platforms.

UMG also expressed concerns over TikTok’s policies as they relate to artificial intelligence-generated music — which is viewed as a potential threat to content created by human artists.

In the negotiations between the two sides, UMG demanded that TikTok pledge stronger protections against AI-generated music being used on TikTok without proper licensing.

Last month, UMG’s shares shed more than 23% in a single day after weaker than expected streaming and subscription revenues for the second quarter disappointed investors.

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