Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) and Banijay signed an exclusive global music publishing and production agreement Thursday that seeks to maximize music-related revenues from the latter’s content catalogue.
The deal reinforces UMPG’s foothold as a leading music publisher for film and TV content.
Banijay’s portfolio includes over 110,000 hours of content, including shows such as “Peaky Blinders,” “Survivor,” “Temptation Island,” “Lego Masters,” “Black Mirror” and “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.”
In the deal, UMPG will work with Banijay Brands — the independent content creation and distribution group’s commercial arm — to expand music-related commercial opportunities worldwide. Universal Production Music will also represent Banijay’s existing 30,000-track global catalogue.
The new partnership will be led for Banijay by Antonia Gilham.
“Combining our extensive and ever-evolving portfolio of standout brands with Universal’s music excellence makes perfect sense,” she said in a statement. “In a world where IP is king, exploring new avenues for exploitation is key and through this collaboration, we have no doubt there is room to further innovate our revenue streams to bring additional value to our creative home.”
Mike McCormack, UMPG’s U.K. managing director, expressed his anticipation of a “mutually successful collaboration.”
“This new partnership with one of the leading, most ambitious, creative new media companies in the world is an extremely important one for UMPG, not only in the U.K., but globally,” he said.
Jane Carter, Universal Production Music’s U.K. managing director and VP of global repertoire, said her team was “extremely proud” of the new partnership.
“With Universal Music global offices and expert teams working alongside Banijay productions, we are looking forward to supporting their portfolio and working collectively on ground-breaking new initiatives.”
