• SoundCloud, Universal Music Group Sign Licensing Deal

    SoundCloud has had trouble with its transition from a small, music discovery platform to a billion dollar company that has played a vital role in artist development, but also found itself in the crosshairs of industry executives who want all aspects of the platforms to play exactly by the rules. It has sought licensing deals with the three major labels, Warner, Sony and Universal, but has struggled to get obtain. Warner was the first domino to fall and now in a big move for SoundCloud, it has just announced a licensing deal with the biggest label on the planet, Universal Music Group.

  • SoundCloud Pulse: Streaming Service Unveils App For Creators

    SoundCloud has unveiled a brand new Android app dedicated to its creators. Called SoundCloud Pulse, the new app will give content creators much more functionality to control and manage songs that has been missing for them in the regular app.

  • Music Has Been Streamed Over One Trillion Times In 2015

    Streaming is the present and future of music consumption. Consumers, artists and industry observers will all agree on that point. There has been a growing number of data as to how ubiquitous the practice has become in the past few years, but the Pandora-owned music data analytics company Next Big Sound has put it very simply. In the first six months of 2015, music was streamed over one trillion times across various services such as Spotify, YouTube, SoundCloud, Rdio, Vevo, Vimeo and Pandora.

  • Soundcloud, Universal Music Group Reportedly Agree To Licensing Deal

    Just as reports of SoundCloud's impending demise started to grow louder, it appears they maligned streaming and discovery service may have taken a major step towards creating a sustainable business model. According to a new report in Music Business Worldwide, SoundCloud is close to agreeing on a new licensing deal with Universal Music Group that could potentially net UMG significant equity in SoundCloud.

  • Soundcloud Could Be in Financial Trouble as Major Label Deals Loom

    SoundCloud could be facing some dire financial consequences, including being "dangerously low on cash," according to reports from Digital Music News. although the company is valued at more than $700 million, two sources indicated to the publication that the digital music platform could be broke in four or five months if it doesn't secure additional funding.

  • Soundcloud Introduces 15,000 Play Limit on API Embedded Tracks

    Amidst all of the pressure from other major streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music and TIDAL, Soundcloud has found itself struggling to keep up as it attempts to resolve its ability to monetize the content on its platform without alienating its users. On Tuesday, the service announced a move to cap the number of plays on a third party site like a blog using a Soundcloud customized API. The cap is at 15,000 plays over 24 hours per streamable item, which may sound like a lot, but for a select few number of sites that are able to drive a lot of traffic, this could be pretty devastating.

  • Soundcloud Announces Deal With 20,000 Independant Labels

    Just as news surrounding Soundcloud has intensified over the past few weeks as they try and create a legal platform that will crate monetization opportunities for artists and labels alike, the streaming and discovery service made a major announcement today that could turn the tide in its favor. Soundcloud today announced that it had stuck a deal with Merlin, one of the largest independent label and publishing consortiums in the world with over 20,000 members under its umbrella.

  • Soundcloud Contract with Music Publishers Leaked: Paid Tiers Coming?

    A contract that Soundcloud is reportedly about to sign with major music publishers has just been leaked. Digital Music News got their hands on the contract, which outlined splits and advances between the Berlin-based streaming and discovery service, as well as paid tiers for customers that would increase royalty payouts and create an ad-free experience.

  • Ultra Records CEO Patrick Moxey Backs Sony In Soundcloud Fight

    The battle between Sony and Soundcloud has turned ugly this month as the label has decided to start pull down it's artist's music from the Berlin music service. Among those who have been affected this far include Adele, Miguel, Passion Pit and in the next day or two Madeon. Sony Music recently bought dance music label Ultra Records as its U.S. electronic music branch. Ultra Records CEO Patrick Moxey was a speaker at IMS Engage in Ibiza, a conference for electronic music industry folks and he was asked about the conflict between his label parent and Soundcloud. According to Music Week, he backed Sony and spoke rather candidly about the lack of monetization opportunities found on Soundcloud at the moment - a common theme echoed among labels now.

  • Soundcloud vs Sony: Madeon Slams Imminent Takedown of Account

    The war between Soundcloud and the second largest label in the world, Sony, is getting uglier by the day. It was reported earlier this month that negotiations between the two parties had broken down over "lack of monetization opportunities" and Sony was pulling down music from some of its major artists like Passion Pit, Adele and Miguel. Now the takedowns are spreading to their smaller artists and some are not happy at all. One artist who is about to get his music removed from Soundcloud is French electronic producer, Madeon, and he is not happy at all about the situation.

  • Sony Pulls Adele, Miguel, Hozier, Passion Pit Music From Soundcloud

    The relationship between the majors and Soundcloud has been complicated. The labels know they need the influential discovery and streaming service to help find new artists and to promote their own music. However they are frustrated at the copyright infringement and lack of monetization opportunities present on the platform. Sony apparently is fed up with Soundcloud as the two parties are at an impasse over licensing negotiations. In response, Sony has pulled down the pages of more than a dozen artists including, Miguel, Adele, Hozier, Kelly Clarkson, Passion Pit, Leon Bridges and MS MR.
View More
Festivals
Popular Now
Real Time Analytics