Facebook Signs Indie Licensing Deals with Merlin, Beggars, PIAS, Ingrooves

Following deals with the majors label groups, Facebook has announced world-wide licensing packs with key independent music companies including Merlin, which represents more than 20,000 indie labels and distributors, as well as, Beggars Group, PIAS and INgrooves.Recent deals with Universal Music, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Kobalt, SACEM, and ICE, and essentially ensures that Facebook, Instagram, Oculus, and Messenger users will now be able to use the indies’ repertoire in their social media posts without fear of copyright infringement.Tamara Hrivnak, Facebook’s head of music business development and partnerships said: “Independent artists and labels are an important part of a rich music tapestry. Each of their voices and sounds matter to people. And people matter to Facebook. We are excited to continue partnering with the independent community to build more ways to bring people together through music in user videos and new social features on Facebook, Instagram, Oculus and Messenger.”“We’re happy to be working with Facebook to enable the billions of Facebook and Instagram users to enrich their posts with licensed music from their favourite artists for the first time,” added Simon Wheeler, director of digital and strategy for Beggars Group. “Together we’re aiming to redefine how music is used within UGC to generate new and truly incremental revenue streams for our artists.”– CelebrityAccess