Juliana Zammit
SoundCloud – one of the world’s biggest music streaming platforms is reportedly going up for sale.
What do we know so far about the SoundCloud sale
According to Sky News, the stakeholders of the streaming platform have been preparing for a year to look for new ownership. With a deal of over $1 billion being offered, they’ve since hired a new finance officer to take the lead on the sale. In the last two years, 10% of the SoundCloud workforce were laid off due to financial changes.
Founded back in 2007, SoundCloud opened its doors to provide artists an online space to build their careers. With more than 40 million artists releasing over 300 million tracks, among them xxxtentacion, and Lil Yachty who rode through overnight success with his debut song ‘1 Night’.
A lasting impact
SoundCloud has helped many artists reach milestones in their music career, from hip-hop to electronic.
Speaking with WIRED, IAMNOBODI said that he wouldn’t have made it to where he is today without the music platform that lead him to a Grammy nomination and high profile collaborations.
Where does this leave artists?
For DJs and producers, SoundCloud is a space to showcase their tracks, live sets, mixes and even podcasts. However, new ownership could mean new rules. Artists could be looking at new pricing and policies which could potentially change how DJ’s use the platform as well as a restriction in creative freedom.
