UNIVERSAL CITY, CA and SAN BRUNO, CA (By
Julie Supan/ YouTube) - YouTube, Inc., a consumer media company, which enables people to watch and share original videos through a Web experience, and Universal
Music Group (UMG), the world's leading music company, today announced an agreement offering YouTube and its users access to thousands of videos on YouTube from UMG's extensive roster of artists covering every genre of music. In addition, under this agreement, UMG broadly embraces the power and creativity of user-generated content, allowing users to incorporate music from UMG's recorded music catalog into the videos they create and upload onto YouTube. UMG and its artists will be compensated not just for UMG produced videos but also for the unique, user-created content that incorporates UMG music.
YouTube and UMG have also agreed to a process to protect UMG copyrights using technology to filter out UMG content that is not authorized to appear on the YouTube service. "With this strategic alliance, UMG brings an incredible array of entertaining video content to the YouTube community to help its artists communicate directly with fans. By allowing the use of their content in user-generated videos, UMG is embracing the creative spirit of our users and music lovers around the world while protecting the rights of their artists," said Chad Hurley, CEO and Co-Founder of YouTube. "As a new distribution channel for media companies, YouTube is committed to balancing the needs of the fan community with those of copyright holders to continue to provide the best video entertainment service on the Internet -- one that promotes individuality, respect and originality."
"Universal is committed to finding innovative ways to distribute our artists' works, and today's agreement with YouTube furthers that strategy by helping transform this new user-generated content culture into a mutually beneficial business opportunity," said Doug Morris, Chairman and CEO, Universal Music Group. "We pride ourselves in empowering new business models that create new revenue streams for content creators. You Tube is providing a new and exciting opportunity for music lovers around the world to interact with our content, while at the same time recognizing the intrinsic value of the content that is so important to the user experience."
UMG's strength and legacy of music flows from a diverse family of record labels which include: Interscope Geffen A&M, Geffen Records, Island Def Jam Music Group, Machete Music, Mercury Records, Polydor Records, Universal Motown Records Group, Universal Music Classics Group (which includes Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, Philips and ECM), Universal Music Latino, Universal Music Group Nashville (which includes Lost Highway, MCA Nashville and Mercury Nashville), and Verve Music Group.
About Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group is the world's leading music company with wholly owned record operations or licensees in 75 countries. Its businesses also include Universal Music Publishing Group, one of the industry's largest global music publishing operations.
Universal Music Group consists of record labels Decca Music Group, Deutsche Grammophon, DreamWorks Nashville, Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Geffen Records, Island Def Jam Music Group, Lost Highway Records, MCA Nashville, Mercury Nashville, Mercury Records, Philips, Polydor Records, Universal Music Latino, Universal Motown Records Group, and Verve Music Group as well as a multitude of record labels owned or distributed by its record company subsidiaries around the world. The Universal Music Group owns the most extensive catalog of music in the industry, which is marketed through two distinct divisions, Universal Music Enterprises (in the U.S.) and Universal Strategic Marketing (outside the U.S.). Universal Music Group also includes eLabs, a new media and technologies division, and Universal Music Mobile.
Universal Music Group is a unit of Vivendi, a global media and communications company.
About YouTube
Founded in February 2005, YouTube is a consumer media company for people to watch and share original videos worldwide through a Web experience. YouTube allows people to easily upload and share video clips on www.YouTube.com and across the Internet through websites, blogs, and e-mail. YouTube currently delivers more than 100 million video views every day with 65,000 new videos uploaded daily and it has quickly become the leading destination on the Internet for video entertainment.
