A Diverse Music Community is a Very Good Thing
By Tamara Hrivnak, Head of Music Business Development and Partnerships, Facebook
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.
Independent labels have been at the forefront of innovation and have embraced new opportunities on our platforms. Today, we are announcing key partnerships with the world’s leading independent companies.
Charles Caldas, Merlin CEO, commented: “Merlin’s global membership is at the heart of the evolution of the global digital market, in which digital innovation is delivering previously untapped value. This exciting new partnership ensures that the world’s leading independents are set to benefit from Facebook’s multi-platform music strategy, both now and into the future.”
Jeremy Sirota, Independent Label BD Lead, Facebook, said: “We are excited to partner with the thousands of global labels represented by Merlin, Beggars, [PIAS] and Ingrooves. We value their history and artists, and we’re thrilled that they’re supportive of Facebook’s vision of what music can bring to people on our platforms. This is just the beginning – we look forward to continuing to expand opportunities for the independent community to empower their voices.”
Simon Wheeler, Director of Digital and Strategy, Beggars Group, said: “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. Together we’re aiming to redefine how music is used within UGC to generate new and truly incremental revenue streams for our artists.”
“[PIAS] has always worked with the world’s most creative and inspirational independent artists and labels and has a firm belief that music makes the world a better place. Facebook’s ongoing commitment to such repertoire and recognition of its value is highly encouraging. We’re pleased that Facebook is fairly compensating rightsholders, and we look forward to working closely with them to help artists and labels develop exciting new ways to engage with global audiences,” said Adrian Pope, Chief Digital Officer, [PIAS].
“We are excited to partner with Facebook to allow access to our incredible catalog of independent label content,” said Bob Roback, CEO of INgrooves. “This deal both fairly compensates our labels and expands their opportunities to cultivate deeper engagement with their fans across the dynamic Facebook platforms.”
Our partnerships with Merlin, Beggars, [PIAS] and Ingrooves will provide people with access to music from a significant number of independent artists – music as diverse and unique as they are. We’re thrilled that independents are joining Facebook on our journey to build community together with music.
About these partners:
Merlin is the global digital rights agency for the independent label sector, and represents the largest basket of rights outside of the three major labels – with access to music from thousands of leading independent record labels across more than 50 countries.
The Beggars Group is one of the world’s largest, fastest growing and most respected label groups, is completely independent and was founded by Martin Mills who remains Chairman. It is home to 4AD, Matador Records, Rough Trade, Young Turks and XL Recordings. Artists signed to the group’s labels such as FKA Twigs, Queens Of The Stone Age, Radiohead, The National and The xx and have achieved both commercial success and wide critical acclaim.
[PIAS] champions some of the best independent music in the world, representing repertoire from both our own imprints and across a wide range of highly respected partner and distributed labels. [PIAS] is proud to have played a role in successful campaigns for amazing artists such as Agnes Obel, Alt-J, Editors, Faith No More, Father John Misty, Flume, Goldfrapp, John Grant, Matt Simons, Melanie de Biasio, Milky Chance, Oasis, Pixies and Texas, to name but a few.
Ingrooves is a modern global music distribution and marketing services company which represents a wide range of independent labels and artists – providing them innovative marketing solutions, a powerful technology platform and data-driven insights to succeed in today’s dynamic music marketplace.