Spotify and Merlin agree to new multi-year global licence agreement for the world’s leading independent record labels

20 April 2017 - Press release

Spotify, the leading global music streaming service, and Merlin, the global digital rights agency for the independent label sector, today announced a new multi-year licence agreement - ensuring the world’s leading independent record labels and their artists will remain at the core of Spotify’s offering to music fans.  

Continuing a successful nine-year partnership, the agreement is structured to reflect and promote the value of Merlin’s collective offering of its members’ repertoire, while offering improved marketing and advertising opportunities and enhanced access to data. Merlin member labels can also participate in Spotify’s recently announced flexible release policy. 

Frequently referred to as "the virtual fourth major", Merlin licenced Spotify at launch in 2008 and is the service’s 4th largest partner - offering, via a single global licence, access to music from thousands of independent record labels and distributors from more than 50 countries across all continents. These include (in alphabetical order) deeply respected music brands such as Armada Music, Beggars Group, Domino, Entertainment One, Epitaph/Anti, Hopeless Records, Kobalt Music Recordings, Mad Decent, Naxos, [PIAS], Secretly Group, Sub Pop and Warp, representing many of the world’s most important and successful artists.

Over this period, Spotify has enabled Merlin's member companies to successfully transition their digital business to benefit from the new market dynamics of streaming.