Meta’s new music deal with UMG includes Threads and WhatsApp

Meta and Universal Music Group (UMG) are renewing their licensing agreements to expand use of the publishing giant’s content to more Meta social apps. The new multi-year agreement, announced on Monday, now covers licensed media in content such as short-form videos on Threads and WhatsApp, as well as Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Meta Horizon.

In a press release, Tamara Hrivnak, vice president of music and content business development at Meta, says the partnership between Meta, UMG and Universal Music Publishing Group will allow the companies to collaborate “in new ways on WhatsApp and more.” The companies did not disclose many details about the agreement, but say the partnership is “multi-faceted” and will address, among other things, “unauthorized, AI-generated content that could affect artists and songwriters.”

Meta and UMG have had agreements since 2017, when Meta was still called Facebook. This agreement allowed users to upload videos and content with UMG music to platforms like Instagram and Oculus to avoid copyright infringement.

The agreement with UMG covers meta content in a way that TikTok has struggled to secure. Like the meta deal, AI was at the heart of the TikTok deal. In February, TikTok began removing videos that used not only UMG music, but also content that used music from artists who had publishing deals with Universal Music Publishing Group. TikTok removed all content related to the publisher in late February, but later, in May, the companies ended the dispute and allowed music from artists like Taylor Swift and Drake back on the platform.