UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP AND HOOK PARTNER TO EXPAND LICENSED FAN CREATIVITY ACROSS SOCIAL MEDIA

Groundbreaking framework for licensed UGC across social media gives fans new ways to create while giving artists and rightsholders greater control and compensation  

Two-year collaboration built new model with learnings from over 30 UMG artist campaigns 

LOS ANGELES and NEW YORK, Aug. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Universal Music Group (UMG), the world's leading music company, and Hook, the platform innovating music's social economy, today announced a landmark licensing partnership that enables fans to create and share content using UMG's official recordings, build communities around the artists they love, and turn social music engagement into additional revenue streams for artists and rightsholders.

Hook's technology is purpose-built for how fans often create using music today: by personalizing and sharing the music they love across social media. Unlike generative AI platforms, Hook does not generate new tracks. Instead, it enables fans to create user-generated content (UGC) with licensed music from their favorite artists.

Music is already one of the biggest drivers of UGC. Together, UMG and Hook have built the licensing framework and artist controls needed to monetize fan creativity at greater scale. Every creation is licensed, attributed and tracked, so artists and rightsholders benefit both when fans create with their music and when those creations are shared across social platforms. 

At the core is artist control. UMG artists and rightsholders decide which songs are available for creation or community features, which creative experiences fans can use, and where the resulting content can be shared. Individual experiences – such as remixes, sound effects, or video clipping – can simply be switched on or off. 

"We believe the biggest consumer use case for music creation isn't making original songs that compete with artists. It's about expressing yourself through the artists and songs you love while participating in the communities and culture they inspire. We spent the past two years working with UMG's incredible labels and artists to figure out how to make that possible in a way that empowers artists and rightsholders," said Gaurav Sharma, founder and CEO of Hook.

The agreement caps two years of close collaboration with UMG and its global network of labels including Republic Records, Capitol Records, Mavin and Virgin Music Group to create more than 30 artist campaigns across new releases, remixes, and social fan activations.

"Streaming has transformed how fans listen to music. Licensed fan creativity is an important part of the next chapter, combining artist control with responsible technology and new ways to create value. Gaurav and the Hook team have developed a dynamic, groundbreaking platform that respects artists and strengthens the music ecosystem. It's exactly the kind of innovation we want to help lead," said Michael Nash, Executive Vice President & Chief Digital Officer, Universal Music Group. 

Hook is backed by Khosla Ventures, Point72, Imaginary Ventures, and Waverley Capital (co-founded by Edgar Bronfman Jr.), who has led two of the world's largest music companies. Rather than building on artists' work and asking permission later, Hook spent its first years earning licenses and building the rights framework with the industry first.

"For too long, this industry has been asked to accept a false choice: that innovation in music must come at the expense of the people who make it. It never had to," said Edgar Bronfman Jr., investor in Hook. "The technologies that endure in music are the ones that deepen the connection between artists and their audiences, not the ones that exploit it. Hook was built on that conviction from its first day."

About Hook 

Hook brings creation, consumption, community, and monetization into a single social music platform – built around artists and the communities that love them. Hook's innovative and proprietary tools let fans legally remix and create with their favorite songs for social media, while its attribution and rights infrastructure ensures artists and labels earn from every piece of fan creativity it powers. For more information, visit www.hookmusic.com.

About Universal Music Group 

Universal Music Group is the world leader in music-based entertainment, with a broad array of businesses engaged in recorded music, music publishing, merchandising, and audiovisual content in more than 60 countries. Featuring the most comprehensive catalog of recordings and songs across every musical genre, UMG identifies and develops artists and produces and distributes the highest quality music in the world. Committed to artistry, innovation, and entrepreneurship, UMG fosters the development of services, platforms, and business models in order to broaden artistic and commercial opportunities for our artists and create new experiences for fans. For more information on Universal Music Group, visit www.universalmusic.com.

SOURCE Universal Music Group