Facebook strikes deal with Universal Music Group, can now use songs in videos

Facebook signed a multi-year licensing agreement with Universal Music Group Sunday.

The dealamong other things will allowusers to add copyrighted music to their videos and upload them without getting a takedown notice. It extends to Facebook-owned entities such as Instagram and Oculus also.

In the past, user-uploaded videos with copyrighted music would be taken down but after this dealthat won’t be the case anymore. This is true obviously for music that only belongs to the Universal Music Group artists, such as Lady Gaga, Kanye West, Eminem, Lorde, and others.

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While getting copyrighted music for free seems to be the only benefit for users right now, Facebook says that it is only the first step.

The social media giant also plans to work withUniversal Music Group to introduce “music-based products” on several of its platforms going forward.

Tamara Hrivnak, Facebook’s head of music business development and partnerships said,“There is a magnetic relationship between music and community building. We are excited to bring that to life on Facebook, Instagram, Oculus and Messenger in partnership with UMG. Music lovers, artists and writers will all be right at home as we open up creativity, connection and innovation through music and video.”