In a June 24 announcement, the companies said the deal gives Snap access to UMG's entire catalog of music — including songs by artists such as Drake, Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande — for its in-app Sounds, Playlist and Search features. Snap will also develop augmented reality content for its Lens tool featuring UMG artists.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The deal follows several collaborations between UMG and Snap for individual projects, the company said.
"Universal Music Group has been a tremendous partner over the past several years, and we're thrilled to expand our relationship to bring Snapchatters even more music to express themselves and create engaging Snaps,” Ben Schwerin, Snap's senior vice president of content and partnerships, said in a statement.
In the past year, UMG has also inked licensing deals with short-form video sharing apps TikTok and Triller.
UMG struck a deal with TikTok in February after the app ended its dispute with the National Music Publishers’ Association, a trade group that represents UMG and other record labels, over license agreements for songs used in videos created by TikTok users.
In May, UMG made a deal with Triller that resolved a conflict between the companies that began in February when UMG pulled its music from the app and accused Triller of withholding payments from artists.
“When entertainment and social media companies work together, fans are able to creatively build close-knit communities around the artists and the music they love, all while ensuring that artists are fairly compensated for the use of their music,” Michael Nash, UMG’s executive vice president of digital strategy, said in a statement.
UMG is one of the world's largest music companies, representing artists such as Billie Eilish, Post Malone, Lady Gaga and the Rolling Stones. Vivendi, UMG’s parent company, plans to spin off UMG into a publicly traded company by the end of 2021, valuing UMG at $36.4 billion.
