SoundCloud Nears Deal With Major Labels, Ownership Stake Included
(UPDATED) Soundcloud is close to finalizing a deal that would give the three major label groups an ownership stake in exchange for the labels not suing the audio platform. The deal, which gives Universal. Sony and Warner Music each a 3-5% share in exchange for the right to keep some major label music on the platform, reportedly values SoundCloud at $500 million.
What About Independent Labels & Artists?
[UPDATE: Multiple sources have now confirmed the report.]
As with the early days of MySpace and other social music sites, independent music helped create SoundCloud and remains crucial to its popularity. But so far, there's no mention in the reports that surfaced overnight of any deals with the independent music community.
Fear not, we're sure Merlin, Impala, A2IM and others will be making their concerns known.
Dear Independent Musicians,
Thank you for your hard work building Soundcloud into an essential platform. We’re going to ruin this now, too. Also, thanks again for MySpace & Facebook. We still remember those IPO’s fondly.
Sincerely,
Big Money Always Wins
ps – Looking forward to the next one! Keep ’em coming!
the death of soundcloud. next.