Written by Tim Ingham — SoundCloud’s long-awaited subscription service has officially launched.
The streaming platform just confirmed that a paid-for tier, SoundCloud Go, has arrived in the US market and will roll out to other territories later this year.
After a 30-day free trial, SoundCloud Go costs $9.99 a month on Android – but will cost $12.99 if you subscribe via an iOS device, thanks to Apple’s 30% ‘app tax’.
Subscribers will be granted ad-free access to an expanded catalogue of 125m tracks, as well as offline listening.
SoundCloud will also continue to receive money from ‘Pro’ and ‘Pro Unlimited’ uploaders – who pay between €4 and €9 a month for benefits such as quicker upload time and better analytics.
Pro Unlimited uploaders will be able to subscribe to SoundCloud Go at a discounted rate of $4.99/month for their first six months.
Today’s news comes two weeks after MBW revealed that Sony Music Entertainment had licensed SoundCloud for the first time, as well as taking equity in the business.
That deal meant that all three major label groups had enacted licensing clearance with the Berlin-based service.
Universal Music Group’s similarly-structured agreement was announced at the start of the year.
“TODAY’S LAUNCH IS AN EXCITING STEP. WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING SOUNDCLOUD AND ITS COMMUNITY THRIVE.”
STEPHEN COOPER, WARNER MUSIC GROUP
The first major to ink a deal with SoundCloud was Warner Music Group, which announced an agreement with the platform in late 2014.
Reacting to the news today, WMG CEO Stephen Cooper told MBW: “SoundCloud’s commitment to launching a subscription tier was one of the main reasons that Warner Music Group became the first major music company to sign a licensing deal with the service.
“It was important to us to preserve the creative elements that make SoundCloud so popular with artists and fans, while evolving the business model to better recognize the value of music, and provide a range of new commercial opportunities.
“Today’s launch is an exciting step and we look forward to seeing SoundCloud and its community thrive.”
SoundCloud CEO and co-founder Alexander Ljung said: “SoundCloud Go represents our vision of the future of music streaming: a platform for creators to collaborate on; for fans to discover the latest tracks, enjoy legendary music and connect with their favorite artists; and for our unique creative community to have the opportunity to be paid for their work.
“SOUNDCLOUD GO REPRESENTS OUR VISION OF THE FUTURE OF MUSIC STREAMING.”
ALEXANDER LJUNG, SOUNDCLOUD
“We are proud to offer the ultimate music streaming choice for both artists and fans and, together with the music industry, enable artists at all stages of their careers to be heard on SoundCloud.”
SoundCloud, which boasts 175m users around the world, launched an ad-funded element to its service, On SoundCloud, in the US in 2014.
On SoundCloud paid out $1 million to music rightsholders in its first six months.
SoundCloud’s journey towards becoming a fully-licensed streaming player was given a big boost after the service settled with UK-based collection society PRS For Music just before Christmas.
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