Universal Music and Spotify Sign Multi-Year Licensing Agreement

The partnership introduces new subscription tiers, enhances artist monetization, and expands music and non-music content bundling.

Universal Music Group (UMG) and Spotify have entered into a direct multi-year licensing agreement covering recorded music and publishing in the U.S. and other territories.
The deal focuses on 'Streaming 2.0,' emphasizing growth, innovation, and artist-centric principles to improve monetization for artists and songwriters.
New features include paid subscription tiers, bundling of music and non-music content, and a richer audio-visual catalog, though specific details remain undisclosed.
The agreement seeks to address issues like fair royalty distribution, with Spotify committing to fraud detection and enforcement to protect artist payouts.
This marks the first direct licensing deal between Spotify and a major publisher since the 2018 Music Modernization Act, signaling a shift in Spotify's approach to publisher agreements.