Facebook and Universal Music Group have signed a multi-year agreement to let users of the social networking site upload videos that contain licensed music to Facebook as well as its other platforms such as Oculus and Instagram. That means you will soon be able to share content on a number of Facebook-owned platforms without having to worry that the video might be flagged and removed due to copyright infringement. The American music company also stated in a press release announcing the agreement that this feature will be extended in the future in order to bring a wide selection of soundtracks to fans of UMG’s artists, adding that over the long term the goal of the alliance is to pave the way for fresh music-based social experiences.
Earlier this year, it was reported that the Menlo Park, California-based social media giant has been considering to grow its stake in the music industry, though there are inevitable challenges ahead. For example, the company needs to implement some sort of copyright protection measures before it forges partnerships with music artists and companies. Intellectual property rights violation has been one of the most contentious issues on the internet, especially with social media platforms including Facebook, where most users freely share photos and videos regardless of whether or not those materials contain licensed content such as music. Michael Nash, Executive Vice President of Digital Strategy at UMG, said in a statement that the partnership aims to help music companies and social media platforms uphold the interest of artists while fans continue to benefit from their music experience on social media. It’s worth noting that the agreement marks the first time that a big music company like UMG strikes a deal with Facebook to license its music content for videos across multiple platforms.
As part of the deal, both companies will also jointly work on fresh products focused on the music experience of users, with plans to roll out those solutions to Facebook’s internet properties including its instant messaging service, Messenger. In April of this year, Facebook’s Vice President of Messaging Products, David Marcus, also announced during the annual F8 developer conference that the company was planning to add the Spotify and Apple Music services to Messenger.