Photo Credit: Psycho Kev
One Winter Olympics rights debacle later, choreographed-sports licensing specialist ClicknClear has inked a deal with Universal Music Group (UMG).
ClicknClear founder and head Chantal Epp took to LinkedIn to unveil that pact on the heels of much-discussed (at least in figure-skating circles) Olympics licensing headaches.
To bring the uninitiated up to speed, closer to February’s beginning, Spanish skater Tomas Guarino indicated that last-second licensing hurdles meant he’d be unable to incorporate tracks from Minions into his routine as planned.
When lamenting the 11th hour obstacle, Guarino also emphasized that he’d tapped ClicknClear to, in keeping with its name, clear the works. Per Sportico, this disclosure made for a bit of finger pointing between ClicknClear and the International Skating Union.
But all’s well that ends well: With fan outrage having undoubtedly urged things along, the Royal Spanish Ice Sports Federation revealed that the Minions-inspired routine could go forward thanks to approval for each of the relevant works.
(Epp took to LinkedIn to describe what’d transpired: “After originally getting some denials for music used in Tomas Guarino’s routine mix, the team and I spent the rest of the week frantically trying to get clearance for 3/4 songs that were not available on our platform instantly, and turning a denial from Universal Pictures into approval.”)
As for the routine itself, the judges who scored Guarino’s performance must not have been Minions fans; the athlete, dressed in yellow and blue to boot, didn’t secure enough points to advance.
But he’s still enjoying a wave of social media engagement due to the episode, and ClicknClear, in sponsoring his routine, presumably smoothed over any lingering hard feelings.
(Plot twist: What if the publicity fuels a music-rights crackdown on figure-skating socials? A cursory glance shows that plenty of companies and organizations are incorporating likely uncleared songs into videos as “original audio.”)
Needless to say, though, the situation isn’t exactly a good look for ClicknClear given that its sole purpose is enabling professionals to click and clear music.
Enter the Universal Music agreement, which the former CueSongs exec Epp said will afford “athletes a streamlined way of licensing” the appropriate works while driving a new revenue stream on the major’s end.
Elaborating on the latter, UMG SVP of digital business and strategy James Healy praised ClicknClear’s “simple, tech-driven platform.”
“We’re excited for our artists to benefit from this deal which will help them generate new revenue streams and reach new audiences around the world,” Healy concluded.
