Snapchat finally partners with music publishers and record labels

Snapchat is partnering with the music business in a bid to remain relevant up against fast-rising rivals in the short-form social video space.

Major copyright players including Warner Music, Warner Chappell, Universal Music Publishing, NMPA publisher members, Merlin have licensed music to social video platform Snapchat.

Parent company Snap Inc. revealed it has secured a robust catalogue of music with tracks by emerging and established artists, allowing users to add music pre or post-capture to their Snaps.

As Bloomberg reports, a test of the feature is set to roll out in Australia and New Zealand shortly. The feature allows followers to swipe up and view the album art, track title and artist.

A ‘Play This Song’ link will also open in the user’s mobile browser, providing a direct route to the track on Spotify, Apple Music and SoundCloud.

“We’re constantly building on our relationships within the music industry, and making sure the entire music ecosystem (artists, labels, songwriters, publishers and streaming services) are seeing value in our partnerships,” said a spokesperson for Snapchat.

“We’re always looking for new ways to give Snapchatters creative tools to express themselves,” added Snapchat. “Music is a new dimension they can add to their Snaps that helps capture feelings and moments they want to share with their real friends.”

The new feature will seemingly bring Snapchat into line with Instagram and TikTok, both of which have inked licensing deals to enable increased music usage and partnerships in recent times.

To really compete with the comparable features on these adjacent platforms, Snap Inc. will need to lock down deals with Sony Music and the record label side at Universal Music.

“We’re excited to be the first major partnering with Snap on this new feature,” said Oana Ruxandra, chief digital officer and EVP, business development, Warner Music Group.

“Both Warner Music and Snap have long track records of embracing innovation and experimentation, and working closely together, our goal is to enable cutting edge social tools to bring our artists’ music to Snap’s highly engaged user base.”

Snapchat claims to reach 85% of 13-24-year-olds and 90% of 18-24-year-olds in Australia. As of 2020 the platform has an estimated worth of $25 billion.

“Merlin is excited to partner with Snap given the unique role they can play in the evolution of social music,” Merlin CEO Jeremy Sirota said.

“Merlin’s members have always been early adopters of innovation in the ever-changing digital ecosystem. We look forward to a productive relationship that offers users new ways to express themselves, enables artists to build new audiences, and provides value to our members.”