Image Credit: Snapchat

Add famous songs to your Snaps. Universal Music Group and Snap Inc. have signed a deal bringing more music to Snapchat, as well as future promotional AR experiences from Universal Music artists.

Snapchat has signed a new multi-year deal with Universal Music Group, bringing more music from the record company’s artists to the Snap library.

Snapchat users can now soundtrack their Snaps with songs from the entire Universal Music catalogue, from Lady Gaga to Queen. Snapchat debuted the Sounds on Snaps feature in October 2020, and since then videos with music have been created 521 million times, to a tune of 31 billion views.

In addition, Universal Music Group and Snapchat are working together to develop augmented reality music Lens content featuring Universal artists, available in the Lens Carousel and Lens Studio on Snapchat. The companies indicated it will open up merchandise and e-commerce opportunities for artists.

Universal Music Group and Snapchat have collaborated over recent years on releases from artists like Justin Bieber, who premiered “Lonely” with benny blanco through Sounds. Augmented reality Lenses on the platform are another source of promotion for artists. Olivia Rodrigo was the first to use Snapchat’s AR VFX tech in Lens Studio for the release of Sour. There’s been 10 million videos created using Rodrigo’s graphics, which featured stickers from her debut album cover.

Image Credit: Snapchat

Ben Schwerin, Snap’s SVP of Content and Partnerships, said: “It’s been exciting to see how quickly Snapchatters have taken to our Sounds creative tool, and in turn the immense impact it has had on the music industry as they discover and share music with their friends and the community.

Universal Music Group has been a tremendous partner over the past several years, and we’re thrilled to expand our relationship to bring Snapchatters even more music to express themselves and create engaging Snaps.”

The launch of music on Snapchat was aimed at bringing Snapchat into lucrative TikTok territory. Other social media platforms have paid close attention to how regularly music on TikTok goes viral on the platform, subsequently spreading out into the wider web and then the music charts. Artists gain exposure and the platform gains publicity – so, the more popular music Snapchat adds to its library, the better the chances of a viral moment.

Universal Music Group’s Executive Vice President of Digital Strategy Michael Nash said: “When entertainment and social media companies work together, fans are able to creatively build close-knit communities around the artists and the music they love, all while ensuring that artists are fairly compensated for the use of their music. We’re looking forward to working with Snap to unlock even more innovative features and allow creativity and expressive communication across Snapchat’s community.”

The deal with Snapchat isn’t an exclusive one – Universal Music confirmed a similar deal with TikTok back in February this year.