Facebook has made a deal with Universal Music Group which will allow users to include its music in video uploads which would have previously been flagged as an infringement of copyright.
The multi-year agreement, which also covers Instagram and Oculus, aims to address the gigantic clusterfuck of infringement issues that the platform’s been struggling with for some time. They also said the partnership will allow them to introduce “music-based products” in the future.
But it looks like Facebook’s move into the music world stretches beyond UMG, with the platform also reportedly in talks with Warner Music Group and Sony Music Group. The company have been working on a music deal of some kind since 2015, but this is the first official partnership to eventuate from discussions.
To help identify rights holders’ content in a similar way to YouTube, Facebook is working on its own version of the video service’s Content ID. This aims to make it easier for music labels and other rights holders to manage their content on the site.
It’s uncertain when exactly this will come into play and the subsequent rules around it, but it’s a big win for smaller content creators and casual users of the social media platform.
