Universal Music Group strikes deal with Hook to let creators remix its recordings

Universal Music Group (UMG) has signed a deal with music platform Hook that will let fans and creators use its artists' songs to make their own social media content.

Under the deal, people will be able to take official UMG recordings and use Hook's tools to remix them, add sound effects or edit them in other ways, rather than using AI to generate brand new songs.

Artists and their labels get to decide which songs can be used and where the content can be shared. Hook tracks and attributes the resulting content, allowing artists and rightsholders to make money from its use.

The deal tries to solve a problem the music industry has grappled with in recent years: how to let fans remix and reuse songs online, something that already happens constantly on social media, without losing control over that music or the value it generates.

“Streaming has transformed how fans listen to music. Licensed fan creativity is an important part of the next chapter, combining artist control with responsible technology and new ways to create value,” said Michael Nash, UMG's executive vice president and chief digital officer.

The partnership follows two years of work between Hook and UMG, during which the pair built more than 30 campaigns tied to new releases, remixes and fan activity online. Record labels involved included Republic Records, Capitol Records, Mavin and Virgin Music Group.

Hook founder and chief executive Gaurav Sharma said the company's goal isn't to help people generate new songs that compete with artists.

“We believe the biggest consumer use case for music creation is… about expressing yourself through the artists and songs you love while participating in the communities and culture they inspire.”

The deal follows a wider pattern of entertainment companies opening up their content for creators to use. Disney recently struck a similar deal with TikTok, letting creators use clips from its films and TV shows.