UMG AND SPOTIFY
STRIKE NEW DEAL

Spotify has renewed its deal with Universal Music Group, giving the streaming service multi-year global license agreements with all three majors.

UMG has also committed to being an early adopter of future Spotify products to provide feedback to Spotify’s development team.

“With this agreement, UMG and Spotify are more aligned than ever in our commitment to ensuring the entire music ecosystem thrives and reaches new audiences around the globe,” said UMG Chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge. “Given our commitment to innovation and early adoption of music technologies, and Spotify’s leadership in the development of forward-thinking tools, our new partnership will provide our artists with new and powerful opportunities to connect with fans on Spotify’s growing platform.

“Working together, our teams will expand and accelerate our collaborative efforts to deliver artist-focused initiatives, strategic marketing campaigns and new offerings to provide exciting new experiences for fans worldwide.”

Daniel Ek, Chairman & CEO of Spotify, credited UMG with helping to shape the company’s marketing tools in the past, saying “we will expand on this level of early stage innovation and further strengthen our partnership and shared vision for helping advance artists at all stages of their careers. Together, we look forward to reinvesting in and building new tools and offerings for artists around the world.”

The UMG deal follows a deal with Warner Music Group signed in April. Both groups' previous deals had expired last year. Spotify last struck a deal with Sony in 2017.

The news sent Spotify stock soaring, topping $299 in early morning trading. It closed at $289.63 after closing Tuesday at $276.38.