Soundcloud Signs Sony Music, Runs Out Of Excuses To Better Monetize Content

Soundcloud is great for musicians, both as a tool and for its massive community for music lovers. But it needs to do more to help those creators profit from the content that made it popular; and then there are those nagging indicators that it's burning cash…

Soundcloud has signed a licensing deal with Sony Music, thus paving the way for a paid subscription service launch later this year, according to multiple sources.  The company already has deals with Warner Music, Universal Music Group, indie rights organization Merlin and many major independent aggregators.

The plan is to launch a full $10 per month subscription music service much like Apple Music or Spotify, one source tells The Verge.

How Soundcloud can do that while not alienating its 175 million users, who are used to listening to almost anything for free, remains very unclear.