Warner Music and Spotify Announce ‘Expanded’ Licensing Deal
A little over eight months after announcing it had renewed licensing deals with "two of our four major label partners," Spotify ticked a third off its list on Wednesday in a joint announcement with…
Eight months after announcing it had renewed licensing deals with “two of our four major label partners,” Spotify ticked a third off its list on Wednesday in a joint announcement with Warner Music Group.
“Warner Music Group and Spotify are pleased to announce a renewed global licensing partnership,” the two parties said in a statement. “This expanded deal covers countries where Spotify is available today, as well as additional markets.”
They added, “the two companies look forward to collaborating on impactful global initiatives for Warner artists and songwriters, and working together to grow the music industry over the long term.”
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Spotify is currently available in 79 markets and is reportedly close to launching in music-loving South Korea.
WMG and Spotify last reached terms on licensing content back in the summer of 2017, in the run-up to the streaming service’s debut on Wall Street in April 2018. Their relationship was later tested with a since-resolved legal dispute in India.
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Spotify’s statement regarding “two out of four” majors, from its Q2 2019 disclosure, was referring to agreements with Sony Music and Merlin, the indie sector’s global digital rights licensing agency. With WMG a done deal, that leaves Universal Music Group, the globe’s No. 1 music company.
Spotify has 124 million paid subscribers and 271 million total monthly active users, according to its most recent financial disclosure. Its total revenue for 2019 was €6.764 billion ($7.44 billion).
Elsewhere on the licensing front, Billboard reported on Tuesday that rapidly growing video app TikTok has struck short-term deals with the three majors.
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