Amazon Music & Universal Strike Deal To Collaborate on Streaming Music, Audiobooks, and AI. Here Are the Details

Amazon Music and Universal have struck up a deal to collaborate on streaming music, audiobooks, and AI. The deal is one of the largest of its kind and part of Universal’s “Streaming 2.0” strategy. Let’s look at what we know about this new deal.

All About the Amazon & Universal Deal

According to Variety, the announcement of an expanded worldwide partnership between Universal Music Group and Amazon Music states that it will “enable further innovation, exclusive content with UMG artists, and advancement of artist-centric principles including increased fraud protection.”

The partnership is meant to further UMG’s “Streaming 2.0” strategy, which focuses less on scalability in streaming and instead tries to create value through different membership tiers and selling goods and other things to fans, even if complete details were not given.

According to the release, UMG and Amazon Music will collaborate “to explore new and enhanced product opportunities designed to benefit artists and enrich the experience of their fans.” As Amazon Music continues to grow its audio business through investments in livestreamed content, audio and visual programs, and audiobooks, UMG will also work with the streaming service. The two companies will cooperate to combat illegal AI-generated content and safeguard against fraud and misattribution.

“We are very excited to advance our long-standing, excellent partnership with Amazon Music that marks a new era in streaming — Streaming 2.0,” said UMG president Lucian Grange in a statement to Variety. “We appreciate Amazon Music’s deep commitment to the interests of our artists and look forward to progressing our shared artist-centric objectives through product innovation and accelerating the growth of their service.”

Steve Boom, VP of Audio, Twitch, and Games for Amazon, added, “UMG has always been a collaborative partner to Amazon Music, and as we continue to invent and introduce more artist-to-fan connections through our product and exclusive content, we’re redefining what it means to be a streaming service. We’re thrilled to expand our relationship with UMG which will enable us to partner on meaningful new ways for artists to deepen their engagement with fans around the world, while working together to protect the work of artists, songwriters and publishers.”

Workers on Strike

On Thursday, Dec. 19, at 6 a.m. EST, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters’ workers at the warehouse giant went on strike against the retail behemoth. According to President Sean O’Brien, workers demand safer working conditions, longer breaks, and higher wages.

Per NPR, the Teamsters union said workers in Illinois, California, Atlanta, and New York City joined the picket line. In other cities, drivers and warehouse workers also went on strike.

In a news statement, Teamsters President O’Brien stated, “You can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed if your package is delayed during the holidays. We set a firm deadline for Amazon to attend the meeting and treat our members fairly. They disregarded it.”

He continued: “These greedy executives had every chance to show decency and respect for the people who make their obscene profits possible. Instead, they’ve pushed workers to the limit and now they’re paying the price. This strike is on them.”

Staten Island, New York, employees were the first to organize a union in 2022. The firm has, however, continuously appealed the decision in court, arguing that union leaders influenced employee voting. The National Labor Relations Board dismissed this argument over two years ago. They began as a small, independent organization called the Amazon Labor Union and united with Teamsters, a union that represents 1.3 million people in the U.S. and Canada, in June 2024.

The shipping behemoth is not acknowledging the legitimacy of the strike. “For more than a year now, the Teamsters have continued to intentionally mislead the public — claiming that they represent ‘thousands of Amazon employees and drivers.’ They don’t, and this is another attempt to push a false narrative,” Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in a statement, according to NBC News.