Universal Music Group has reached a global, multi-year agreement with YouTube, the companies announced on Tuesday, giving the video platform licenses from all three major record companies before the holidays. (THR)
Terms of the YouTube-Universal deal were not disclosed. But Lucian Grainge, the music label’s chief executive, said it contained “growing compensation” and “improved content flexibility”—which refer to stepped-up royalty payments, the need for YouTube to better protect song copyrights and the ability for artists to choose where their music will appear. (New York Post)
Sony Music Entertainment also signed a new agreement, according to people familiar with the matter. The Tokyo-based parent company declined to comment. (Bloomberg)
YouTube’s new deals with Sony and Universal, which were reportedly two years in the making, follow a similar long-term deal YouTube signed with Warner Music Group in May. Combined, the three deals pave the way for the launch of Remix, a new music streaming service, in 2018, according to Bloomberg. (Business Insider)
Music companies have long railed against safe harbor laws and YouTube’s comparatively low royalty payments. In an IFPI report released earlier this year, YouTube and other user-upload video streaming services were singled out as a major deterrent to the music industry’s recent growth. (Variety)