Music base social networking thingimy Imeem has announced it has finalised a licensing deal with Universal Music, which means all four majors are now on board.
As previously reported, Warner was the first major to sign up to Imeem, despite initially threatening the web platform with litigation. SonyBMG and EMI followed, and now Universal will provide content for Imeem's ad funded streaming music and video services, taking a cut of ad revenues. The deal was done on Friday and Universal content from the likes of Kanye West and Amy Winehouse was already being made available via Imeem yesterday. According to Billboard, Universal benefited by holding out on the social networking firm by securing a minimum per-stream fee oblivious of whether there is ad revenue attached to a track, something the other majors did not get.
Confirming the deal, Universal Music top dog Doug Morris told reporters: "Imeem has developed an innovative way to make our artists' music a central part of the social networking experience. More importantly they've done so the right way - by working with UMG to provide an exciting musical experience for consumers, while ensuring that our artists are fairly compensated for the use of their works".