Universal Music Group (UMG) and Amazon Music jointly announced the renewal of their global licensing agreement today (December 23).
According to a press release, the agreement includes a “expanded global relationship which will enable further innovation, exclusive content with artists from UMG, and progression of artist-centered principles including an increase fraud protection« .
The PR says the agreement will ensure that “UMG artists create their commercial potential through [Amazon Music’s] suite product improvements et exclusive content what generate authentic engagement between artists and fans« .
Speaking in a statement today, Universal Music Group CEO and Chairman, Sir Lucian Graingecommented: “We are very pleased to advance our excellent, long-standing partnership with Amazon Music This marks a new era in streaming – Streaming 2.0.
This isn't the first time we've heard “Streaming 2.0” mentioned by Grainge and his management team.
This was the focus of UMG's capital markets investor day in September, where it was explained that for UMG, “Streaming 2.0” represents a new era of digital music dependent on changes including:
- (a) Streaming subscription offers becoming 'segmented'with more expensive music options « superfans » ;
- (b) Subscription ARPU (average revenue per user) is increasing across all music platforms, partly because of the deals targeting “superfans” mentioned above, and partly because of future the price of streaming increases.
Another key pillar of “Streaming 2.0” is the adoption of what UMG calls for “artist-centric principles” by streaming platforms.
In short, “artist-centric” adjustments affect how music streaming platforms pay royaltiesgenerally benefiting artists who have built a significant fan base compared to artists with fewer than 1,000 monthly listeners.
“Artist-centered” also includes a mission to limit the impact of streaming 'fraud' on platforms, including attempts by organized crime to use “fake” AI music playbacks to extract money from the royalty pool.
Commenting further on the new deal with Amazon, Sir Lucian Grainge said: “We appreciate Amazon Music deep commitment to the interests of our artists, and we look forward to advancing our shared artist-centered goals through product innovation and accelerating the growth of their service.
Steve BoomVice President of Audio, Twitch and Gaming for Amazon, added: “UMG has always been a collaborative partner for Amazon Musicand as we continue to invent and introduce more connections between artists and fans through our products and exclusive content, we are redefining what it means to be a streaming service.
“We are excited to expand our relationship with UMG which will allow us to collaborate on meaningful new ways for artists to deepen their engagement with their fans around the world, while working together to protect the work of artists, songwriters and publishers.
Interestingly, the new agreement includes a commitment to UMG to “collaborate with Amazon Music as it continues to expand in the audio space, including more innovation in audiobooksaudiovisual programming and its investment in live broadcast content.
The mention of audiobooks comes about a month after Amazon announced its creation. Audible audio books available for Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers.
Unlike a separate (and now infamous) audiobook bundling movement of Spotify earlier this year, the Amazon This announcement received the blessing of major music publishers.
The press release published by Amazon et UMG today, further mentions the commitment of both parties to “to advance and safeguard human artistic talent” – a reference to fixing problems caused by AI-generated content.
