Commercial-free music will become a thing of the past for SoundCloud users.
According to CNET, the streaming service is joining other companies in looking for new ways for artists to get paid and advertisements seem like the answer.
It has been reported that the music sharing company introduced a tier called Premier to its free and paid options. This new feature will make it possible for uploaders to make money from the tracks they share.
SoundCloud is also introducing "occasional ads" to make revenue for artists.
The new ads include 30-second audio spots that will run before a track starts to play. Listeners will be prompted with the choice to skip the rest 15 seconds into the ad.
Ads will run only with files that the creator has opted to start monetizing through the program.
The number of ads that will play vary because of the creator opt-in nature the new feature.
"Some users might bump into content that's in the program and have an ad, and some users may not," Chief Business Officer Jeff Toig said in an interview.
Premier is a part of SoundCloud's artist-partnership program "On SoundCloud" and operates as invite-only. At launch, the new feature will be limited to the United States. SoundCloud hopes to eventually allow any creator who wants to participate to join.
The program is also free for artists to join and participate. Toig did not specify how much of the advertising revenue goes to the actual artists but characterized it as a majority of the money.
SoundCloud has 175 million unique listeners a month and hit its 250 millionth user milestone late last year.
What do you think of SoundCloud adding the option to monetize music? Share your thoughts in the comment section.
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