NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) — Universal Music Group and Spotify announced an expansion of their strategic relationship, seeking to expand music discovery, social interaction and the overall ‘fan experience’ for UMG artists on the streaming platform.
Under the terms of the agreement, Spotify will deploy a series of new promotional and social features designed to drive audience engagement around new releases. Those new features include the ability for UMG artists to share teasers of upcoming music releases with fans on Spotify, allowing them to pre-save music to their personal playlists before its release.
Additionally, a new agreement with Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) will enable Spotify to distribute music videos in the US, helping to raise the profile songs, the artists, and the songwriters.
“We’re excited to broaden our relationship with Spotify through the introduction of new content offerings and collaborations that will bring deeper ‘social music’ experiences to the platform. We’re always striving to expand opportunities for UMG artists and songwriters to elevate engagement with their fans, especially in the introduction of new music and artist-centric initiatives. Spotify has been a committed partner in creating tools that help maximize attribution and fair pay for artists and songwriters, and this demonstrates that win-win partnerships between music companies and platforms create an environment where innovation, artist compensation and next-generation fan experiences can coexist and move the industry forward,” stated Sir Lucian Grainge, Chairman & CEO UMG.
“UMG has consistently been a progressive partner on behalf of their artists and songwriters, contributing to our product development efforts of experimental tools and adopting them early to help artists stand out. The forthcoming features will put more power in the hands of artists and their teams to help them authentically express themselves, efficiently promote their work, and better monetize their art,” added Daniel Ek, Founder & CEO, Spotify.
