| Ultimate Guitar | |
| Parent: | Muse Group |
| Commercial: | Yes |
| Type: | Tablature archive |
| Registration: | Optional |
| Owner: | Ultimate Guitar USA LLC |
| Author: | Eugeny Naidenov |
Ultimate Guitar (Ultimate Guitar USA LLC), also known as Ultimate-Guitar.com or simply UG, is an online platform for guitarists and musicians, started on October 9, 1998 by Eugeny Naidenov[1] and based in San Francisco, US. Its website and mobile application provide free and paid user-submitted guitar tablatures and chord sheets, as well as video courses, reviews of music and equipment, interviews with musicians and forums. It is now part of Muse Group.[2]
Users of Ultimate Guitar are able to view, request, vote and comment on tablatures in the site's forum. Guitar Pro and Power Tab files can be run through programs in order to play the tablature. Members can also submit album, multimedia and gear reviews, as well as guitar lessons and news articles. Approved works are published on the website. The forum is moderated, but there has been no censorship of curse and swear words since September 1, 2015.
On August 12, 2007,the Ultimate Guitar site launched "UG Profiles", a feature which allowed users to promote their bands' information, photos and gear, among other things. This was intended for networking in a similar way to other sites such as MySpace. Users were also able to upload their own MP3 recordings to their profiles. However, some time in 2014 the feature was disabled due to lack of use, as well as legal liability in the case of copyright violations.
In late 2004 to early 2005, after Taborama and MXtabs.net began closing due to legal threats from the Music Publishers Association of America, UG saw a surge of new users flock to the community. UG argued that it was not subject to the MPA legal actions because its headquarters were in Russia and the site’s practices complied with Russian laws.[3] Since then, UG has signed license agreements with thousands of publishers, including Sony, EMI, Peermusic, Alfred, Hal Leonard, Faber and Music Sales, through which the songwriters receive compensation for the display of the tabs.[4]
On April 10, 2010, Ultimate Guitar entered an additional licensing agreement with Harry Fox Agency.[5] The agreement included rights for lyrics display, title search and tablature display with download and print capabilities. HFA's over 44,000 represented publishers have the opportunity to opt into the licensing arrangement with UG.