For the more than two billion users who use WhatsApp There’s some important news: soon, it will also be possible to listen to and play music on the most used instant messaging app in the world. Half And Universal Music Group (Um) have in fact announced the renewal of their licensing agreements to extend the use of content to WhatsApp and Thread in addition to the existing social networks (Facebook, Instagram and Messenger) of the American company owned by Mark Zuckerberg. In short, songs by global stars such as Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and many others will soon be able to be played and shared on the famous app.
Meta’s announcement
In a press release, Meta’s vice president of music and content business development, Tamara Hrivnak, said that the partnership between Meta, UMG and Universal Music Publishing Group will give the multinationals the opportunity to work together “in new ways on WhatsApp and more“. The details of the agreement were not disclosed but this agreement would be “multifaceted” and should also have “unauthorized AI-generated content that could influence artists and songwriters“. According to initial rumors, short videos and music tracks will be available directly on WhatsApp and shareable among all users.
“Shared commitment”
Meta and Universal Music Group have been working together since 2017 when Meta was still just Facebook: at the time, users could only use UMG’s video and music content on platforms like Instagram to avoid copyright infringement issues. According to initial rumors, this agreement will make it possible to play and have access to short-form music tracks and videos that will be published on WhatsApp. “The new agreement reflects theshared commitment of the two companies in protecting creators and human art, while also ensuring that artists and songwriters are compensated fairly“, the companies said in a joint statement. “UMG was the first major music company to license to Facebook in 2017 and this new deal will further expand the possibilities of music within the Meta-ecosystem“.
Revenue for artists
Even though I don’t know the terms cheap of the renewed agreement, this will guarantee UMG artists and authors a portion of the advertising revenues derived from the use of licensed music in the posts of Meta creators. A few days ago UMG had announced in preview that it had closed a deal with Meta for the streaming of premium music videos, underlining that this type of product was much less popular among Facebook users than other musical products already present on the social network.
Umg, with a capital of 54 billion dollars and a leader in the market, had also reached an agreement with Tik Tok in May
restoring the ability to listen and play thousands of songs on the platform that were removed after a months-long legal battle between the two companies over royalty payments.