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Twitter invests $70 million in SoundCloud
Twitter might not have bought SoundCloud, but it still wants a say in the streaming music service's future. The social network has confirmed that it recently invested in SoundCloud -- it won't provide details, but Recode sources peg the value at $70 million. The move is meant to boost "efforts with creators," and reflects the "community-supported approach" that both sites share. It's not certain if there's an official partnership, but it's easy to see Twitter getting some say.
SoundCloud Go is available to creators for $2 a month
When SoundCloud's long-rumored streaming service launched in March, the same rate applied to all users. The audio hosting site has been offering Pro plans to creators for quite some time, with the priciest Pro Unlimited tier including unlimited uploads, advanced stats and more for $15 a month. When SoundCloud Go arrived, there was no mention of a discount for paying customers. If they wanted access to the new tunes, they had to pay the $10 monthly fee.
SoundCloud Go music streaming expands to the UK, Ireland
We thought SoundCloud Go could use some polishing when it launched in the US just over a month ago, but the ad-free, offline-enabled option is already expanding to other countries. CTO and co-founder Eric Wahlforss tells Reuters that the subscription option is now available in the UK and Ireland for 9.99 pounds/euros per month, with plans to roll out in "multiple" additional countries this year. There's no word on the number of paying customers yet, as Wahlforss says many users are still in their trial period. Still, he says the company is "well funded" and even though it's not profitable yet, it's looking to go worldwide with the paid option over the next couple of years. If you signed up day one then you've already exhausted your free month so let us know, are you sticking with SoundCloud Go?
SoundCloud's subscription service is a mess
SoundCloud first tipped its hand for a music-streaming service in late 2014, and after wrapping up a series of licensing deals with labels, it's finally here. Called SoundCloud Go, the subscription plan costs $10 a month and includes a library of additional content as well as the usual remixes, emerging artists and podcasts. SoundCloud's variety of music and its community of creators could make Go an attractive option for listeners willing to pay for a monthly subscription. Right now, though, it's difficult to use and lacks many songs that other services offer.
SoundCloud's music streaming service launches in the US
Just over a week ago, Soundcloud announced a licensing deal with Sony Music, agreeing to terms with the third of the three major record labels. It looks like the deal with Sony was the only thing keeping the company from debuting its long-discussed streaming service. As of today, listeners in the US can stream music via SoundCloud Go: a $10 unlimited ad-free monthly subscription. SoundCloud doesn't only want to be a go-to spot for emerging artists, remixes and podcasts, but now it wants the be the app where you do all of your music listening.
SoundCloud inks deal with Sony Music as streaming service looms
Back in January, SoundCloud and Universal Music Group came to terms on a licensing deal and now the popular music site has inked another agreement. SoundCloud announced today that it has a deal in place with Sony Music Entertainment, which means that the company now has agreements will all three major labels. In late 2014, the audio repository revealed its licensing deal with Warner Music Group and added 20,000 indie labels last summer after hashing out royalty terms with Merlin.
SoundCloud adds stations to encourage music discovery
It's no secret that SoundCloud is aiming to roll out its audio streaming service this year, and the company is laying the groundwork with new features. With an update to both the Android and iOS apps, SoundCloud added a new stations feature to encourage music discovery. The continuous play tool will help you find songs that aren't available anywhere else by starting an endless mix from any track. And yes, it's a feature that the likes of Pandora, Spotify and Apple Music already offer.
SoundCloud and Universal finally agree on licensing deal
It took a while to complete, but SoundCloud and Universal Music Group have a licensing agreement in place. Back in 2014, reports surfaced that the music hosting site was working on deals with both Universal and Warner Music, and the company inked an agreement with the latter in the months that followed. SoundCloud also reached a deal with Merlin last year, a company that represents 20,000 indie labels on matters of royalties and licensing. With its latest agreement, SoundCloud secures access to Universal Music's massive roster of artists which includes the Weeknd, Sam Smith and U2.
Radiohead released a 'Spectre' theme tune for Christmas
It's the season for giving, and Radiohead just gave us a real treat. The British band was apparently invited to write a theme tune for the Bond movie Spectre last year. Ultimately, "it didn't work out," and Sam Smith ended up recording "Writing's On The Wall" for the film. Radiohead's track became something the band "love very much," though, so much so that it's just released it to the world via SoundCloud.
No, SoundCloud didn't remove a silent track for violating copyright
On November 22nd, artist collective DJ Detweiler posted a screenshot of a message from SoundCloud that said its track, "John Cage - 4'33 (DJ DETWEILER REMIX)," had been removed because it appeared to contain copyrighted content. The joke here is that the original "4'33"" is completely silent and a remix would supposedly be just as soundless. DJ Detweiler shared the image with the caption, "MADE A NEW REMIX TODAY, SOMEHOW THIS HAPPENED," and tagged a handful of music publications. The story was picked up online with headlines decrying SoundCloud's over-reach of copyright law and the absurdity of content-protection algorithms.However, DJ Detweiler's "remix" wasn't silent at all, according to SoundCloud. "The upload referenced in the screenshot was not a track of silence and was taken down because it included Justin Bieber's 'What Do You Mean' without the rightsholder's permission," the company says.
SoundCloud's latest mobile app helps share your audio creations
SoundCloud has made much ado over playing its eclectic audio mix from your phone. But what if you're a creator who wants to make sure those tracks blow up? That's where the new SoundCloud Pulse might come in handy. The Android app currently lets you share audio, track the popularity of your work and respond to comments. That may not sound like much, but SoundCloud is promising a lot more in the future. Among other things, you'll eventually get to edit track info and upload new content directly -- helpful if you just have to record a podcast episode on your phone. There's no mention of when these features or a promised iOS version will arrive. However, it's clear that SoundCloud doesn't want you to retreat to a computer just to manage your masterpieces.
Burner's disposable phone numbers save everything in the cloud
Thanks to The Wire (one of the greatest TV shows ever), we know all about burner phones. These cheap and quickly discarded phones are an easy way to communicate without sharing your permanent number with random folks (or the police). The Burner app for iOS and Android works under the same concept. It creates temporary numbers to hand out to people while keeping your main digits a secret. To add value to those short-term (and in some cases long term) numbers Burner is adding integration with Dropbox, Soundcloud, Evernote and Slack. Linked numbers can auto-save texted photos and voicemails to Dropbox. Slack can route messages from a channel to a number and accept replies. While Evernote can create an auto-response bot that replies to texts with pre-determined messages.
Major UK music body sues SoundCloud over unpaid royalties
With 175 million unique listeners each month, SoundCloud has established itself as a major player in the streaming space. Despite its size, the company has faced an uphill battle to convert its huge community into customers who are willing to pay for "unprecedented access to the world's largest community of music & audio creators." SoundCloud has struck deals with some major labels and independent artists, but in the UK, the Performing Rights Society for Music (PRS) has decided to take legal action against the music sharing service for allegedly not paying artists the royalties they deserve.
Breaking up is painful, so is this vertical music video
If it's been a while since you've had your heart broken, and you forgot the feelings it can provoke, watching the vertical video for Harrison's song "How Can It Be (feat. Maddee)" will bring up that distinct combination of disbelief, loss, regret and nausea all over again.
SoundCloud adds Google Cast to its Android app
You can add SoundCloud the list of services that employ Google's Cast tech to beam tunes to speakers and other devices. With the latest update, the music library not only lets you wirelessly send tracks to your audio gear, but it'll also play them via Chromecast, Android TV and other Cast-friendly gear. In terms of speakers, options are available from LG and Sony with streaming services and audio apps like Rdio, TuneIn, Deezer, Pandora and Google Play are ready to serve up that Yacht Rock playlist.
SoundCloud iOS update makes it easier to find new music
SoundCloud has been keen on adding new features regularly to make its version of music streaming more useful for listeners. With an update today, the company's iOS app received a handful of tools that'll make it a bit easier to find new tracks and keep your favorites organized. When you find a song you like, selecting the "Play related tracks" option from the menu will serve up some related suggestions. For that collection of songs you've liked, or playlists you've created, there's a new shuffle option to change things up a bit. Finally, when the time comes to edit those playlists, you can now add or remove tracks from inside the app. You'll no longer need to venture over to a browser to do a bit of organizing. The new tools are available now for iOS users, but, unfortunately, there's no word on when the Android faithful will get access.
Prince removes his music catalog from streaming services
Unless you're a Google Music or Tidal customer, you may have noticed that Prince's catalog is absent from your go-to service. Music from the artist is gone from the likes of Spotify, Rdio and Deezer, leaving Jay Z's streaming venture and Google Music All Access as the only two places you can still listen on demand. According to Prince's artist page on Spotify, the musician's "publisher has asked all streaming services to remove his catalog." TechCrunch reports that Google didn't receive the same request as the other companies, so the tunes may remain available there. However, that could change, soon enough as Prince has already pulled official tracks from YouTube. In case you're wondering, they weren't available on Apple Music, so there's no change there. Prince has ties to Tidal, though, as the service streamed his Rally 4 Peace concert from Baltimore back in May.
SoundCloud inks licensing deal with 20,000 indie labels
SoundCloud continues to lend a hand to independent artists, and today the music site announced a royalty agreement with Merlin. While the name may not ring a bell, Merlin works with 20,000 indie labels and distributors including Beggars Group (Vampire Weekend), Secretly Group (Bon Iver), Domino (Animal Collective), Kontor Records (Tiësto) and more. Merlin works with smaller outfits to negotiate things like royalties and licensing, which is exactly what it's done here with SoundCloud. The deal means that on top of being able to pipe in content from labels and distro, the streaming repository will offer compensation when tunes are played. "You'll also be able to discover and listen to more new tracks from the best independent label creators on the planet, safe in the knowledge they'll now have the opportunity to get paid while you listen," a blog post announcing the deal explains.
SoundCloud will start tracking what songs you remix
SoundCloud has partnered with rights management company Zefr to identify music owned by major labels uploaded to the streaming service. The partnership announcement is pretty vague, but Zefr co-founder Rich Raddon told Engadget that the deal is currently about sharing data and insights with SoundCloud with a focus on the remixes. Raddon said that these uploaded songs are "highly engaging" and that it's great for the fans, the platform and the media-rights holders. "We started referring to services like SoundCloud as social networks because of the very social act of uploading content," Raddon added. So instead of issuing copyright takedown orders because you sampled Iggy Azalea's Fancy, Zefr will share that information with SoundCloud. Of course in the future the data could result in On SoundCloud ads being placed in or around those audio files. But for now, the two companies seem more interested in giving you a place to upload your remixed versions of Pharrell's Happy than pushing ads.
Aphex Twin gives away 150 unreleased tracks on SoundCloud
To say that Richard D. James likes mixing music and technology is the biggest understatement this side of Bruce Willis admitting he's a bit thin on top. The artist better known as Aphex Twin has previously tweaked his music so that, if you ran the track Formula through a spectroscope, you'd see his face, not to mention launching his last album through Tor. 2015 has seen the musician decide to release a plethora of demo material onto SoundCloud, albeit under the guide of user48736353001.
