Universal Music Group and LEGO signed an exclusive global partnership, April 26. The partnership is said to empower further UMG's immense catalog for a new LEGO suite set to release in 2021.
Olivier Robert-Murphy, the global head of New Business UMG, said that music plays an integral part in children's lives from birth to maturity.
"Across the decades, children have continued to explore this passion via vinyl, radio, cassette, music videos, CDs, and streaming," Robert-Murphy stated. "Now through the partnership between the LEGO Group and UMG, we will provide a new interactive way of inspiring the next generation of fans and creative visionaries," he added.
UMG also added that they would bring the partnership both local and global stars, its unrivaled catalog of recorded music, and publishing of all genres and languages to all programs made by Lego, according to a Variety article.
Julia Goldin, Chief Marketing Officer at LEGO, added that the partnership would "celebrate the power of merging music and the Lego System in Play." She said that the partnership would provide children a new way to express themselves and bring music in their world in a creative way.
Deadline reports that the partnership was done after Universal and the Lego Group entered a five-year exclusive contract that will lead to the development, production, and theatrical distribution of films. More details about the partnership will be revealed later this year.
Children's music, according to Hollywood Reporter, saw a rise during the pandemic and stay-at-home mandates. Streaming in the said genre increased up to 9.8% over the week until March 19 when many states began lockdowns. An article from USA Today also reported last March 31 that streaming of children's music went up 5% in audio while video streams got a 22% increase.
About Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group was established on October 30, 1998. It is one of the largest recording companies in the world, currently based in Santa Monica, CA. They operate a vast array of businesses engaged in recording, publishing, merchandising music, and audiovisual content in more than 60 countries. They own some of the record label brands around like EMI, Capitol Records, Republic Records, Verve, Def Jam Recordings, Eagle Rock Entertainment, Decca, Lava, Polygram Records, and many more.
UMG is home to many of the biggest names in all of the music genres including Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Keith Urban, Pearl Jam, DaBaby, Demi Lovato, Imagine Dragons, Shawn Mendes, Miguel, Coldplay, and many more.
About Lego
Lego is a private toy company based in Billund, Denmark. Kirk Kristiansen founded it in 1932, and his family still owns it. The name comes from "leg godt" meaning "play well" in Danish. It is the largest brick toy company in the world. Now, it also produces movies like "The LEGO Movie" under Warner Bros. Some of the movies made by Lego were "The LEGO Movie," "LEGO Batman Movie," "LEGO Ninjago Movie," and the second installation of "The LEGO Movie." The deal between Lego and Universal became possible after Lego's movie business with Warner Bros ended, according to a report from Deadline.
