UMG, SPOTIFY STRIKE NEW DEAL

UMG and Spotify have solidified new multiyear agreements for recorded music and music publishing focused on "growth, innovation and the advancement of artists' and songwriters’ success."

The companies will collaborate to usher in what they describe as the next era of streaming innovation. Artists, songwriters and consumers, the parties note, will benefit from new and evolving offers, new paid-subscription tiers and the bundling of music and non-music content, as well as a richer content catalog.

The new publishing agreement also establishes a direct license between Spotify and UMPG throughout Spotify’s product portfolio in the U.S. and elsewhere.

The ultimate objective is to position the industry for continued subscriber growth.

As UMG Chairman/CEO Sir Lucian Grainge explained, “When we first presented our vision for the next stage in the evolution of music subscription—Streaming 2.0—several months ago, this is precisely the kind of partnership development we envisioned. This agreement furthers and broadens the collaboration with Spotify for both our labels and music publisher, advancing artist-centric principles to drive greater monetization for artists and songwriters, as well as enhancing product offerings for consumers.”

Daniel Ek, Spotify’s founder and CEO, added, “For nearly two decades, Spotify has made good on its commitment to return the music industry to growth, ensuring that we deliver record payouts to the benefit of artists and songwriters each new year. This partnership ensures that we can continue to deliver on this promise by embracing the certainty that constant innovation is key to making paid music subscriptions even more attractive to a broader audience of fans around the world.”

Moreover, UMG and Spotify asserted their "goal of ensuring that artists continue to be properly rewarded for the share of audience engagement that they drive and that their streaming royalties remain protected through Spotify's application of its fraud detection and enforcement systems."