Snapchat has signed new music licensing deals with a number of music distributors and rightsholders across the globe to further expand its music library.
The social media platform entered into new licensing deals with UnitedMasters (US), BUMA/STEMRA (Netherlands), SUISA Digital Licensing AG, which includes the repertoire of SUISA (Switzerland), AKKA/LAA (Latvia), Albautor (Albania), Armauthor (Armenia), Autodia (Greece), COMP (Pakistan), EAÜ (Estonia), GCA (Georgia), LATGA (Lithuania), SOZA (Slovakia), Abramus Digital (Brazil), Soundreef (Italy), and several other direct-licensing publishers.
“These partnerships will add local artists’ music to the Snapchat Sounds library, allowing Snapchatters more options to innovate and easily embed licensed music into their messages and Snaps across Snapchat’s platform and creative tools like augmented reality Lenses,” Snapchat said Thursday (April 13).
Snapchat already has existing licensing deals with major record labels and music publishers like Universal Music Group, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Music Publishing, Warner Music Group and Warner Chappell.
Sony Music was the latest of the three majors to strike a licensing agreement with Snapchat in November 2021.
“We are excited to expand the Snapchat Sounds experience as we continue building new tools and developing music industry relationships globally.”
Ted Suh, Snap
The platform also has deals in place with independent record companies like Kobalt, DistroKid, BMG, NMPA publisher members, Merlin, Empire Distribution, and over 9,000 others.
Snapchat started entering into licensing deals with labels after it launched its Sounds feature in October 2020. The feature lets users add music to their Snaps.
Snaps with Sounds lets anyone view the album art, song title, and name of the artist, and when users hit the ‘Play This Song’ link, it leads them to platforms like Spotify, Apple Music and Soundcloud.
The new music licensing deals come as Snapchat said it now has over 375 million daily active users.
“With over 375 million daily active users, Snapchat Sounds offers a powerful distribution tool for artists and creators to share their music globally. Sounds provides an effective way for artists to lead fans to discover new music and listen on streaming services, while making content on the platform a more fun and immersive experience to share with friends,” Snapchat said.
“We are excited to expand the Snapchat Sounds experience as we continue building new tools and developing music industry relationships globally,” said Ted Suh, Global Head of Music Partnerships at Snap.
“By offering a wider selection of music, we want to enable discovery and make it easier for Snapchatters around the world to express themselves creatively with the music they love.”
Snapchat is no exception to the wave of job reductions taking place in the tech sector. The company in August revealed plans to lay off about 20% of its headcount amid a restructuring of its business “to increase focus on our three strategic priorities: community growth, revenue growth, and augmented reality”.
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