In this screengrab, Lele Pons speaks during SHEIN Together Virtual Festival to benefit the COVID – 19 Solidarity Response Fund for WHO powered by the United Nations Foundation on May 09, 2020.
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Facebook plans to launch music videos starting in the U.S. on Saturday after reaching deals with big and independent music companies in a move that could grab advertising dollars from Google-owned YouTube.
In a blog post, Facebook announced deals with Sony Music Group, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Merlin, BMG, Kobalt and other independent music groups to launch music videos on its platform.
Users will be able to react to, comment on and share music videos on their news feed, on Groups and in Messenger. Artists with videos will include Blake Shelton, Diplo, Jonas Brothers and Nicki Minaj, the company said.
“Over time, the experience will become more personalized to your tastes based on artists you follow and videos you engage with,” the post says.
Facebook said users will be first to see an official music video for a new song from artist Lele Pons.
Bloomberg reported in December that Facebook was pursuing the rights to music videos from major record labels in hopes to boost Facebook Watch. According to the report, Facebook’s deals previously allowed it to use songs in the background of videos but it didn’t previously have the rights to offer official music videos.