Facebook has signed pan-European licensing deals with French PRO SACEM, Canadian society SOCAN and US-based independent publisher Wixen.
The multi-year agreements, all handled by Sacem on behalf of the trio, cover more than 180 territories across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Oculus, and will enable users to create and share videos including music from Sacem, Wixen and SOCAN’s repertoire.
Wixen, which represents rights from the likes of Neil Young, Stevie Nicks, Tom Petty and The Doors, is currently suing Spotify for $1.6bn, alleging that the streaming service is guilty of illegally under-paying songwriters while handing “outrageous annual salaries to its executives”.
According to Sacem, the new deals ‘support the launch of innovative features on the platforms and strong collaboration with Facebook with the goal of establishing a first-class management system for the joint benefit of the companies and the music community as a whole’.
Jean-Noël Tronc, CEO of Sacem, said: “We are delighted to have reached this agreement with Facebook. This deal marks a new milestone in our efforts to ensure that musicians and creators are fairly remunerated for the use of their works on any digital platform.”
“In an increasingly digital age, platforms and User-Generated-Content are set to play a prominent role in our cultural eco-system.”
He added: “We will continue to work to safeguard the long-term existence of a thriving musical culture by concluding fair licensing agreements and our deal with Facebook is consistent with this goal.”
“We are looking forward to building a partnership with Facebook and will work together to create a digital environment of music rights management that is mutually beneficial.”
Cécile Rap-Veber, Director of Licensing and International of Sacem, said: “We are extremely proud to represent Universal Music Publishing International, Wixen Music Publishing and SOCAN in such an important new partnership. They have entrusted us with their rights for the digital exploitation of their repertoires, for such a vast number of countries, and we are committed to ensuring the same level of control and protection for their repertoire as for our own.”
Anjali Southward, Head of International Music Publishing Business Development, Facebook, said: “We are excited to expand our relationship with Sacem and the music rights holders they represent. Facebook is committed to partnering with industry leaders like Sacem and we look forward to working with them to discover innovative ways to use the power of songs to connect people.”
Sacem signed one of the first deals announced by Facebook on behalf of Universal Music Publishing International last December.
Since then, Facebook has inked deals with the likes of Warner Music Group and Sony/ATV.Music Business Worldwide
