Facebook Strikes Unprecedented Licensing Deal with Universal Music Group

Facebook and Universal Music Group (UMG) have announced an unprecedented licensing deal that will allow for recording and publishing catalogs available for videos and “other social experiences” across Facebook, Instagram, and Oculus. Both companies, being industry giants, are working together to create new experiences for their consumers.

Coming changes will enable new commercial opportunities for artists on leading social media platforms.

“The partnership will facilitate deeper engagement between artists and fans, empowering users to express themselves through music, share the songs they love and build communities around music-fueled culture. Enabling a variety of features across Facebook’s platforms, the agreement is intended to serve as a foundation for a strategic partnership roadmap that will deliver new music-based experiences online,” said UMG in a press release Thursday.

Both companies have explained that the partnership goal is to allow users to upload and share videos that contain licensed music. As some users are familiar, this has led to content take downs due to the use of licensed music. Beyond this, the pair plans to introduce new features.

“In time, functionality will expand to enable access to a vast library of music across a series of social features. Going forward, the companies will experiment hand-in-hand to introduce new music-based products to these Facebook platforms, including Messenger, with the goal of catalyzing innovation to develop the next generation of music products that best engage social consumers.”

A Christmas miracle? It just might be.