YouTube has signed a crucial licensing deal for its long-in-the-works streaming music service with Merlin, an agency that represents thousands of independent record labels. That’s according to a report from the Financial Times, which claims the newly reached pact didn’t come quick; it took “months of acrimonious negotiations” for both sides to hammer out a deal that could bring music from artists including Adele to YouTube’s subscription offering. (Adele was signed to indie label XL Recordings before also coming under the Columbia Records umbrella.)

Read the full story: The Verge