Google inks massive licensing agreement with European music publishers, includes 5.5M musical works

Google just signed a licensing deal in Europe that will give Google Play users access to 5.5. million musical works across 35 countries.

The Internet Giant signed the agreement with representatives of Armonia, a massive alliance of musicians and publishers that also features French, Italian, and Spanish licensing groups, and their deal includes tracks by popular artists, such as Lady Gaga and Rihanna, works from Universal Music Publishing’s British and American catalogs, and Sony’s Latin repertoire.

According to the Associated Press (via Businessweek), Catherine Kerr-Vignale of SACEM, a French group whose sole mission is to protect, represent, and provide service for music authors and composers, noted Google’s main competition, a.k.a., Amazon and Apple, have country-by-country licensing agreements:

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She added that the royalty for publishers and artists was in line with industry standards involving Google rivals like Amazon and Apple’s iTunes. She declined to specify.