Universal Music Group expanded their existing agreement with both Twitch and Amazon Music to allow users of the platforms greater access to everything from high quality audio and merch to ‘experiences’ with UMG artists.
Additionally, Twitch and UMG will collaborate to develop new opportunities for artists and labels to engage with their fan base and to monetize that experience.
Under the terms of the deal, Amazon Music Unlimited will increase the availability of music in HD, Ultra HD, and spatial audio from UMG’s expansive catalog. Fans will also be able to purchase authentic merch from artists directly through the Amazon Music App, including apparel from Universal’s Bravo merch division.
The expanded merch deal will allow UMG artists to develop custom campaigns to highlight important moments in their careers such as tour announcements, music releases, and artist collaborations. UMG artists, including Billie Eilish (Interscope), Selena Gomez (Interscope), and The Weeknd (Republic), have already created exclusive merchandise collections tied to their new album campaigns on the platforms.
One such campaign came recently when UMG’s Def Jam worked with Amazon Music and Ye, formerly Kanye West, to launch limited-edition apparel engineered by Demna for the #FreeLarryHoover Benefit Concert, sold exclusively in the Amazon Fashion store and in the Amazon Music app for a limited time.
Twitch has also agreed to provide commercial opportunities for UMG and its artists to engage directly with fans through its suite of products. Said commercial opportunities include the creation of creation of artist and label channels on Twitch that include exclusive artist features, tailored specifically for the Twitch platform.
“With the breadth of their music services and products, and their dedicated focus on customers and creators, Amazon Music and Twitch are excellent strategic collaborators, committed to creating the best and most diverse experiences for fans across streaming music, live streaming, artist collaborations, and physical merchandise. With these agreements, we are proud to build on our track record of success in working closely with Amazon, and we’re looking forward to delivering even more incredible experiences for our artists and music fans everywhere,” said Michael Nash, EVP, Digital Strategy, Universal Music Group.
“Twitch embodies a creator-first culture, including empowering musicians,” said Tracy Chan, Head of Music at Twitch. “Now, more than ever, we’re excited to work with UMG in an effort to further broaden the scope of tools available for their artists to engage with fans, while also providing new avenues for their artists to earn meaningful income while streaming on Twitch.”
