Saregama, Facebook ink global licensing deal

Saregama on Wednesday announced a global deal with Facebook to license its music for video and other social experiences across Facebook and Instagram.

This partnership will allow users to choose from a wide variety of music to add to their social experiences such as videos, stories via music stickers and other creative content, a statement said.

Users will also be able to add songs to their Facebook profile, it added.

"...Now millions of Facebook users will be able to add music from our vast catalogue to stories and videos they create and share," Saregama India Managing Director Vikram Mehra said.

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Saregama has a catalogue of over one lakh songs across many different genres including film songs, devotional music, ghazals and indipop in more than 25 languages.

"Saregama will allow people, globally, to use their favourite retro Indian music to further enrich their content on our platforms", Manish Chopra, Director and Head of Partnerships at Facebook India, said.

In another initiative, Indonesian payments and ride-hailing firm Gojek today announced that Facebook and PayPal had joined Google, Tencent, and others as investors in its current fund raise. 

Facebook’s investment is the first it has made in an Indonesia-based business as it seeks to create new opportunities for businesses in the country, including through its ubiquitous WhatsApp service. 

This new investment will support Gojek’s mission to boost Southeast Asia’s digital economy, with a focus on supporting payments and financial services in the region, the company said in a statement.

Commenting on the investment, Matt Idema, Chief Operating Officer at WhatsApp, said,

“Gojek, WhatsApp, and Facebook are indispensable services in Indonesia. Working together we can help bring millions of small businesses and the customers they serve into the largest digital economy in Southeast Asia.” 

(Disclaimer: Additional background information has been added to this PTI copy for context)