New Soundcloud function: artists from the streaming service can now distribute their music directly on other platforms. But isn't the company weakening its own offer?

Soundcloud expands its artist monetization program. Anyone who already earns money with their music on the platform should be able to sell it directly on other streaming services such as Spotify , Apple Music , YouTube, Deezer or Amazon in the future - at no additional cost and directly from their own Soundcloud account. The Berlin company is currently testing this feature in an open beta.

According to Soundcloud, the artists do not have to pay any distribution fees and are allowed to retain 100 percent of their rights and license income. The only prerequisites: The performers must be of legal age, have a certain minimum number of streams and are only allowed to stream original music that does not infringe any copyrights.

Here's a little tip for Soundcloud users: If you don't know how to download music from Soundcloud, go to: Soundcloud to mp3 download

Soundcloud focuses on artists

A remarkable step. Because with Soundcloud Go and Go +, the company operates its own paid music streaming offers, which are theoretically weakened as a result. So far, there have been numerous, often exclusive, niche artists on Soundcloud who can now easily be present on other platforms - and make them more attractive without Soundcloud making any profit.

In other words: why should listeners pay for Soundcloud when they will soon get the same artists - and many more - on Spotify or Apple Music?

“We don't see it that way,” says Soundcloud Marketing Director Sheri Ladner in an interview with “Gründerszene”. "We are an artist-centered organization in a two-sided ecosystem: artists attract listeners and listeners attract artists."

And Soundcloud has a unique audience, according to Ladner. “We are now giving artists the opportunity to reach fans on other platforms. But they will keep coming back for the community that they can only find here."

Soundcloud Premier

This fits in with the announcement made by CEO Kerry Trainor when he took office in 2017 that he would concentrate in future on musicians, DJs and labels who want to monetize their works on Soundcloud. The platform is now becoming more attractive for them, albeit with restrictions, as The Verge notes : The cheaper variant of artist access only allows one release on other services per year.

An unlimited number is only available in the more expensive package. For interpreters of electronic music, for example, who usually publish many individual pieces rather than just one album a year, this is rather unfavorable.

Last fall, the company launched its Soundcloud Premier monetization program. However, the terms of the contract were quickly criticized as unfair , whereupon they were relaxed . Meanwhile, Soundcloud is not alone in the recent multi-platform effort.

The music streaming service Spotify also announced a tool last autumn with which artists should be able to sell their works on other platforms - directly from their own Spotify account.