More On: music streaming
Spotify touts ‘full recovery’ from COVID-19 fallout with subscription growth
Spotify’s quarterly loss widens despite soaring user growth
Taylor Swift album ‘Folklore’ breaks Spotify, Apple Music streaming records
Spotify, Universal Music Group strike global licensing deal
Warner Music Group moves forward with IPO despite coronavirus
Universal Music Group and music streaming giant Spotify inked a multiyear global licensing pact on Wednesday. The deal will allow Universal — the world’s largest record label which reps the likes of Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Drake and Kanye West — to promote its artists on Spotify’s platform and be an early adapter of the …
Universal Music Group and music streaming giant Spotify inked a multiyear global licensing pact on Wednesday.
The deal will allow Universal — the world’s largest record label which reps the likes of Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Drake and Kanye West — to promote its artists on Spotify’s platform and be an early adapter of the streamer’s new technology. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
According to both companies, the partnership will give UMG the ability to “deepen its leading role as an early adopter of future products” on Spotify’s platform and “provide valuable feedback to Spotify’s development team.” The record company will also collaborate on “state-of-the-art marketing campaigns across Spotify’s platform.”
Spotify chairman and Chief Executive Officer Daniel Ek said the deal will help his company “advance artists of all stages in their careers.”
Both companies have massive reach. Spotify had 286 million users — including 130 million Spotify Premium subscribers — as of the end of March 2020, and it is available in 92 markets across the globe. UMG, which is majority owned by Vivendi, is planning to go public in the next three years. Last year, Vivendi sold 10 percent of UMG to a consortium led by Tencent Holdings for $3.3 billion, valuing the company at $33 billion.
“With this agreement, UMG and Spotify are more aligned than ever in our commitment to ensuring the entire music ecosystem thrives and reaches new audiences around the globe,” said UMG chairman and CEO Lucian Grainge.
