MUMBAI: The National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA) has negotiated a licensing deal with Universal Music Group which will allow songwriters and music publishers to share revenues for music videos played online.

It is the first major-label deal which will pay royalties to indie music publishers for videos streamed on Youtube and VEVO (joint venture of Universal, Sony Music and Abu Dhabi Media). As per the agreement, music publishers will grant the rights necessary for synchronization of their musical works with music videos, and in return will receive royalties from these videos based on a percentage of Universal's receipts.

NMPA president and CEO David Israelite said, "The agreement announced today is an important first step in resolving industry-wide music video issues. UMG deserves credit for being the first record label to partner with the entire songwriting and music publishing community through this model licensing deal."

The agreement will also enable songwriters and publishers to receive retroactive compensation for past use of their works in UMG's music videos. In addition to videos, the agreement will also provide songwriters and music publishers compensation for additional UMG product offerings including ringtones, dual disc, multi-session audio and locked content products.

The deal was result of musicians’ growing frustration over the lack of financial compensation received for use of their work in new media services like Vevo and YouTube.