
SoundCloud is here to stay - techthumb
https://blog.soundcloud.com/2017/08/11/exciting-news-future-soundcloud/
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strict9
SoundCloud, if you want to make money off of me, a devoted listener and user
of the platform for 7 or 8 years, it is really easy:

Create a frictionless way for me to send a few dollars to artists hosting
music on your platform, and you take a cut.

I don't want to pay $10 or $20 every month that gets dispersed into the ether.
I want to directly thank the DJs and creators that enable me to be productive
during the day and relax at night, a few dollars at a time.

~~~
mikodin
I second this!

Make me have a subscription for $7 a month, but that money goes directly to an
artist I choose and then take a cut.

~~~
orangejewce
So, you want the twitch.tv model then?

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shidoshi
I actually don't see that as a bad concept. It might make Amazon/Twitch
curious about how they might do the same, but competition is good.

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bogomipz
>"I’m happy to announce that together with investors The Raine Group and
Temasek we’ve just wrapped up the largest financing round in the history of
SoundCloud"

After a big round of layoffs couldn't that message have been a little bit more
nuanced?

Also if there is new CEO and COO coming on board what will this individual be
doing?

Honestly this guy seems a little tone deaf.

~~~
FTA
FTA: "I’m excited to hand the CEO reins over to Kerry to allow me to fully
focus on the role of the Chairman and the long-term."

~~~
bogomipz
Sure but what does that actually mean, in practical terms? What does a
"chairman" do? I can't recall any start up that had a full time "chairman."

I believe the CEO and COO's job description's very much include looking after
the "long-term" goals of the company.

~~~
joemi
Let me direct you to this Slate piece[1] that explains the whole stepping-
aside-as-ceo-to-just-be-a-chairman thing, the mentions when Bill Gates did the
same thing at Microsoft and Steve Case at AOL. Obviously some of the specifics
are going to be a bit different for Soundcloud, but it still explains the
general concept a bit.

[1]
[http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/20...](http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2000/01/whats_the_difference_between_ceos_and_chairmen.html)

~~~
bogomipz
>"Obviously some of the specifics are going to be a bit different for
Soundcloud, but it still explains the general concept a bit."

However both Bill Gates and Steve Case moved into into an exclusive chairman
role after steering their respective companies to great heights and giving
investors good returns.

This individual is doing so as part of an agreement that's necessary in order
keep the company alive. I don't think the specifics could be more different.

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et-al
Is the _music_ here to stay? The memo doesn't explicitly say, and I think
that's main concern of most users.

~~~
tomphoolery
I don't understand how you could have one without the other?

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paulcole
6 months from now, "What an incredible journey..."

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whitepoplar
Business model: Unlimited free streaming with ads. Every artist has a "become
a patron" button on their profile. Once you pledge over $10/month in
aggregate, ads are removed. Soundcloud takes a 30% cut, like Apple does in the
App Store. VIP patrons ($$$) get special perks as outlined by artists.

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ChrisArchitect
subscribing to labels or artists works for a small amount, Bandcamp does this.
I pay an amount to select few of my fave labels that are doing it, and I get
unlimited streaming and downloads of new releases It's great.

However, Soundcloud serves more purposes. I don't think that works for the
_rest_ of the music out there I want to listen to. I mean there are tons of
other podcasts, clips, etc that I want to listen to regularly and am not going
to pay hundreds of dollars for. SoundCloud's rise to popularity is very much
likely because it is a storehouse for audio, the internet needs easy to use
and access repositories like this and since no one else was doing it at time,
SC did well.

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geekrax
I was holding off on integrating Soundcloud API. I guess there's no excuse
now.

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jtmarmon
A little self congratulatory no?

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Artemis2
I think they desserve a pass on this one, media made it sound like they were
on the brink of imploding in the past few weeks.

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CharlesW
They were.

Without this lifeline deal they had only enough cash to see them through the
end of summer if you believe media sources, or until sometime in Q4 if you
believe SoundCloud.

