Mail.Ru Group and United Music Agency Partner with Universal Music, Sony Music and Warner Music to License Media Content for Social Networks

Mail.Ru Group and United Music Agency Partner with Universal Music, Sony Music and Warner Music to License Media Content for Social Networks

MOSCOW, July 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --



Mail.Ru Group, United Music Agency (UMA) and Universal Music Group (UMG) announced
today that they have reached an agreement to license UMG's audio and video content for use
on Mail.ru Group's online platforms. With this agreement, Mail.Ru Group now has
partnership agreements in place with the three leading international music rights holders
- UMG, Warner Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment.



The deals provide the social network users of VKontakte, Odnoklassniki and My World
with access to licensed recordings from the world's leading music companies. UMA, which
specialises in licensing media content and has contracts with major rights holders,
secured the agreements.



In connection with today's announcement, VKontakte and Universal Music have reached an
amicable settlement of outstanding litigation issues. VKontakte previously concluded
settlements with Sony Music and Warner Music.



As part of the co-operation between Mail.Ru Group and the major music companies, the
Group's social networks will test various monetisation models jointly with other market
players to find the best solution for both artists and fans. The agreements apply to music
and video content owned by the rights holders.



VKontakte's music playback function will return to the iOS app and a number of
improvements will be made to the desktop version of the website. A separate application
will be developed in partnership with UMA for a range of other functions.



Dmitry Grishin, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Mail.Ru Group, commented: "Our
partnership with the leading rights holders will take the Russian music market to a whole
new level and allow us to offer users the best music from around the world through
existing and new digital products."



Boris Dobrodeyev, CEO, VKontakte, added: "Following extensive negotiations, we have
agreed terms with all of the major music rights holders, enabling us to draw a line under
this process. This is a historic moment and a new milestone in VKontakte's history. Our
constructive and mutually beneficial collaboration has put an end to earlier disputes with
the record companies. Following the removal of legal barriers, we can now create new
products based on VKontakte's music service that users will value."



Oleg Butenko, Founder, UMA, said: "Thanks to the agreement between UMA, Mail.Ru Group
and the major recording companies, social network users will be able to access their
favourite music. In addition, UMA will launch a separate application for music fans."



Adrian Cheesley, Senior Vice President, Universal Music Group stated: "Music has
tremendous value and we're gratified to reach a commercial agreement that ensures UMG's
artists are fairly compensated for the use of their music. Russia is an important, and
growing, market for UMG and with this important step we're looking forward to developing
more local artists, investing in growing the music scene and broadly licensing services."



Adam Granite, President, Northern & Eastern Europe and Africa, Sony Music
International, said: "Russia is a music market with tremendous opportunities. Through the
signing of our agreement, we are pleased to be working with Mail.Ru Group and UMA to
provide Russian fans with licensed music via services that compensate recording artists
and make their work available in appealing new ways via the country's largest social
networks."  



Stu Bergen, CEO, International and Global Commercial Services, Warner Music Group,
commented: "We see enormous growth potential for our business in Russia and opportunities
for further investment in Russian artists when performers and rights holders receive fair
compensation. These agreements represent significant progress towards a properly
functioning market." 



Note to editors 



Mail.Ru Group, which operates internationally under the My.com brand (MAIL:LI, listed
on 5 November 2010, founded in 1998), is one of the largest internet companies in Europe
and ranks number one in the world by the average time spent on its websites by each user
(comScore 100, April 2016).



United Media Agency (UMA) is a content aggregator and distributor for internet and
mobile audiences, a developer of internet solutions and a service provider. The company
licenses audio and video music content and distributes it online through its partners and
its own products. UMA is a longstanding partner of Mail.Ru Group.




Mail.Ru Group

CONTACT: Mail.Ru Group, Madina Tayupova, +79265105021, m.tayupova@corp.mail.ru


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