SoundCloud Unveils Fan-Powered Royalties

SoundCloud puts more power in the hands of listeners with their new fan-powered royalties payout system that levels the playing field for artists.

The music industry has been shaken up significantly over the past few years, but even more so since the onset of the pandemic. With the loss of shows, artists have looked to more creative ways to generate revenue ranging from merch drops to ticketed streaming events, but the question of how they could make more money from streaming platforms continued to loom. Now, SoundCloud is looking to change the game with their latest announcement of fan-powered royalties.

Much like other streaming platforms, SoundCloud had pooled the revenue from subscriptions and advertisements on the platform to divvy out to artists. But in their efforts to create a more level playing field for large artists and rising stars alike, this new payout structure shifts that process to one driven by the fans themselves. Revenue will be split based on listening history and further pushes artists to develop deeper connections with their most dedicated fans – a first in the streaming world.

Many in the industry have wanted this for years. We are excited to be the ones to bring this to market to better support independent artists. SoundCloud is uniquely positioned to offer this transformative new model due to the powerful connection between artists and fans that takes place on our platform.
Michael Weissman, Chief Executive Officer, SoundCloud

The rollout for the fan-powered royalties will begin on April 1, 2021. Until then, SoundCloud will continue to educate artists, industry partners, and listeners on how the new change will benefit the near 100,000 independent artists who are monetizing directly on the platform.

Head over to their website to learn more about this new payout structure, and let us know what you think of this change in the comments!

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