Jan 26 (Reuters) - Universal Music Group (UMG),

the world's biggest music label, and Swedish streaming giant

Spotify ( SPOT ) have reached a new multi-year agreement for

recorded music and music publishing, they said on Sunday.

The publishing agreement establishes a direct license

between Spotify ( SPOT ) and UMG across Spotify's ( SPOT ) current product

portfolio in the U.S. and several other countries, they said in

a statement.

"Artists, songwriters and consumers will benefit from

new and evolving offers, new paid subscription tiers, bundling

of music and non-music content, and a richer audio and visual

content catalog," the companies said.

The partnership will ensure constant innovation, making

music subscriptions even more attractive to a broader worldwide

audience, Spotify ( SPOT ) founder and CEO Daniel Ek said.

Spotify ( SPOT ) has laid off employees, pulled back podcasts and cut

marketing spending over the past year to boost profitability. It

has also raised prices of its U.S. plans to capitalize on demand

for its premium products.