We caught up with the team from SoundCloud where they tell us about the exciting projects they are working on and their delight in being a part of the Tileyard community.
SoundCloud is a household name for music creators and listeners. How did the concept of SoundCloud first come about?
SoundCloud was founded by musician Eric Wahlforss and sound engineer Alexander Ljung, who met through their local music scene while students in Stockholm. They built SoundCloud with a simple goal: create the best audio sharing social networking platform in the world to give people the power to share and connect through music. This vision is still a through line in everything we do, build and create today: for artists, by artists.
As technology has improved, so have the services that SoundCloud offers. What are some of the more recent updates that have excited the team the most recently?
One of the most exciting recent launches was the game-changing, first-to-market Fan-Powered Royalties, which ties artist payouts directly to fandom. It offers a more equitable and transparent way for the over 130,000 independent artists who monetize on SoundCloud. Under this new model, payouts are driven directly by an artist’s fan base, meaning each listener’s subscription or advertising revenue is distributed among the artists that they listen to, rather than their plays being pooled – benefiting rising independent artists with loyal fans. What’s even more exciting is that we’re seeing the model work. Over the last year since launch, independent artists monetizing on SoundCloud have earned on average 60% more through FPR than the traditional pro-rata model, getting them significantly closer to their dream of creating full-time.
SoundCloud has been at the heart of the careers of many artists. What are some of the success stories that the team are most proud of?
There’s too many to count! SZA, Billie Eilish, Juice Wrld, Kehlani, Chance the Rapper, Marshmello, Post Malone, Lorde, Khalid, Kali Uchis, Lil Uzi Vert, Rico Nasty, Lil Tecca, Saweetie, $UICIDEBOY$, Alina Baraz, Lewis Capaldi, Towkio, Louis the Child, Lil Yachty, Doja Cat, Megan Thee Stallion, Lotic, Violet, Peggy Gou, DaBaby, NLE Choppa, Bad Bunny, Roddy Rich, Rod Wave, Chika and many more began their careers ‘First on SoundCloud’. These artists have topped the charts and have taken home some of the industry’s most prestigious awards such as the BRIT Awards, GRAMMYs, MTV Video Music Awards and more.
SoundCloud is a way for fans to discover talent. What’s the process to nurture the artist through their journey, with Soundcloud Pro being an integral part of that?
SoundCloud has always been one of the world’s most important cultural platforms for music discovery. A big reason for our unique position is because of the direct relationship the platform holds with artists and fans — which is unlike any other streaming service — and the ability for artists and fans to connect in direct and authentic ways on our platform.
A good example of how we’re nurturing this is the recent launch of a joint venture agreement with Solid Foundation, a full-service artist management company, to discover new talent and revolutionise artist partnerships by empowering creatives with bespoke resources, tools and access. We’ll continue to focus on even more ways to optimize the experience of direct engagement and relationship building between artists and fans.
You and the team have set up a base at Tileyard, the creative community in Kings Cross, London. Why did you choose Tileyard as your home?
Being based at Tileyard feels like an essential move for SoundCloud, given the foothold the area has gained in the music industry. We were looking for space where we knew we would have room to grow the team, whilst being closer to relevant business and people in the industry. Tileyard seemed like the perfect place to achieve this and we’re already seeing the benefits by being part of the community.
The music industry is ever-evolving and SoundCloud has been a part of it since 2007. Any predictions for the not-too-distant future that we can look forward to?
We recognize that we’re in the age of the fan economy, and we think fans are set to truly power the next era of the music industry. Innovation will be focused on finding engaged fan bases and then being able to follow, develop and reach them. Fan-Powered Royalties is that first stepping stone in making an interaction between an artist and fan mean something more than it ever has, and we think there are even more opportunities to come for more engagement between artists and fans by building an innovative, integrated ecosystem to drive the artist-fan relationship across multiple touchpoints.
