Meta and Universal Music strike deal around AI and monetisation

Universal Music has had a partnership with Meta and its family of apps dating back to 2017.

Meta and Universal Music Group (UMG) have struck a deal that will see the Facebook parent crack down on unauthorised AI-generated content that violates the copyright of the group’s musicians.

The new agreement announced today (12 August) will also expand monetisation opportunities for UMG artists and songwriters across Meta family apps such as Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Messenger, Horizon and even WhatsApp.

UMG said the agreement aims to protect human creators and artistry, including ensuring that artists and songwriters are “compensated fairly”.

“This partnership builds on the recognition that music can help connect us and bring fans, artists and songwriters closer together, not only on established platforms such as Instagram and Facebook, but also in new ways on WhatsApp, and more,” said Tamara Hrivnak, VP of music and content business development at Meta.

Earlier this year, UMG was in a very public spat with TikTok over disagreements around renewing a licensing deal.

UMG published a castigating open letter against the platform in January, accusing it of trying to build a music-based business without paying “fair value” for the music and for sponsoring the “replacement” of artists by AI.

The group went so far as to call out TikTok for “intimidation” and “bullying” in deal renewal talks. By the end of February, TikTok began removing songs published by UMG artists as the disagreement intensified.

By May, the two announced a new licensing agreement that saw music from many famous and rising music artists back on the app. As part of the new agreement, TikTok and UMG said they would work together to utilise the app’s growing e-commerce capabilities to realise new monetising opportunities for artists globally.

UMG has had a partnership with Meta and its family of apps dating back to 2017.

“Meta has consistently demonstrated its commitment to artists and songwriters by helping to amplify the importance music holds across its global network of engaged communities and platforms, creating new opportunities and applications where music amplifies and leads engagement and conversations,” said Michael Nash, chief digital officer at UMG.

“We are delighted that Meta shares our artist-centric vision for respecting human creativity and compensating artists and songwriters fairly. We look forward to continuing to work together to address unauthorised AI-generated content that could affect artists and songwriters, so that UMG can continue to protect their rights both now and in the future.”

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