Soundcloud Launches Experimental Labs, Partners With Headliner.fm
SoundCloud has launched SoundCloud Labs, a site dedicated to experimental projects and features built on its API. The company also announced a partnership that enables a SoundCloud-supported mp3 streams directly in the Facebook feeds of Headliner.fm artist marketing campaigns
With Labs, SoundCloud users can access prototypes and apps that extend the platform. “While creating new opportunities for our users, we’re also able to showcase the potential of our API and continue to encourage third-party developers to build their own apps on our platform”
Starting today, four features are available in Labs
- Social Unlock – create a customised page to promote and stream music then reward fans with a download when they share the track link via Twitter
- Importer - More options to get your sounds onto your SoundCloud account including the ability to import tracks from a URL, via email or phone.
- Google Apps Gmail Plugin – SoundCloud waveform players are automatically included for track and set links in received emails, allowing anyone to play your sound from within the message (currently for Google Apps accounts only)
- Takes Questions – A simple, personalized audio Q&A.
SoundCloud users can also access more than 150 apps created by third-party developers with the newest launched just yesterday by Headliner FM. Now, when a Headliner.fm user creates a promotion, they can include a SoundCloud-supported Mp3 stream that will place their music directly in the Facebook feed of potential fans.
Headliner.fm offers musicians the ability to reach new fans who like similar music by having other artists recommend them to their fans on Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. In the last month, 16,000 artists reaching 40 million new fans joined the network, according to the company.
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SERIOUS ethical issue with this article, Bruce. You’ve faced accusations in the past of only writing articles about companies you do business with or hope to do business with (although maybe you’ve never seen those accusations because you rarely read comments) but it is not only ethically wrong to use the advertisement URL for Headliner.FM in the actual article, it may actually be illegal.
In other words, in the article instead of linking to Headliner.FM by the straight URL, you copied the URL from the ad on the right and used it, therefore using your article/blog post to trick people into clicking an ad (as far as behind-the-scenes metrics are concerned), which is in violation of FTC laws regarding compensation for blog postings, since your article gets you paid and you’re not disclosing it.
This is not to mention Headliner.FM may not be happy to know you’re artificially inflating your click count.
You are now subject to a fine for up to $11,000 for this violation.
That headliner.fm runs an ad here is obvious and need no disclosure. That they had an announcement yesterday is obvious too. None of that seems unethetical to me – nor do I believe it would to most people.
It’s true that I linked to the speacial Hypebot Headliner url. For Soundcloud I linked to their Labs page,
Do you really see that as unethical? Do other readers?
The vast majority of the companies that we write about never give us a dime.
I work hard to be fair and open, but its all fresh territory. I’d love to know everyone’s thoughts.
Wow. I can’t see a problem at all with this article, it’s relevant news!!! Interesting and informative just as it should be.
Thanks Bruce … nothing unethical here.
What I didn’t like is Dan from Skilful Method Records irrelevant plug. Smacks of MySpace-style spamming “BUY MY RECORD”.
Actually it is violation of FTC rules. You don’t need to disclose that the subject of an article is an advertiser (although you should if the article is an editorial in support of or defense of the company). That’s all well and good and you can have as many advertisements as you want, but by using the ad’s code, you merged the blog post and the advertisement into one, and there is no distinction.
You absolutely cannot benefit financially or through other means (discounted/free access to services, swag, etc.) from within a blog post. You are allowed to write about the advertiser’s product, but by using the paid-for-click URL, you are in fact getting paid for the article itself, and that requires disclosure in the text of the article. Full text: http://www.ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005endorsementguidesfnnotice.pdf
Also, as a blogger myself, I do actually think it’s unethical as well. In fact, the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics (http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp) specifically states “Distinguish news from advertising and shun hybrids that blur the lines between the two.”
Fair points that I don’t 100% agree with, but I’ll take under advisement and make some changes accordingly. I
‘m curious if you think that mentioning a book with an affiliate link to Amazon is unethical?
Thanks Evan, you made my day.
I wanted to try that “Social Unlock” with Twitter , but WTF ??
App wants to :
“Read Tweets from your timeline.
See who you follow, and follow new people.
Update your profile.
Post Tweets on your behalf.”
You can disagree all you want about the ethics part, but the law is black and white. I don’t agree with where my tax money gets spent, but that doesn’t give me the right to break the law. The FTC forbids you from including advertisements as part of the blog entry text. You may not think of it as an advertisement, but by using your ad link, you make it an advertisement. By publishing this blog (and by me clicking on the link within the blog text), you have been paid money by the subject of the blog.
You’ve had almost a full 24 hours, including warnings and even the full text of the FTC mandate you are specifically and clearly in violation of. You got your fair warning, so now I’ve submitted my online complaint to the FTC. You can sort it out with them.
Before responding to any more comments are saying what you will or won’t do or agree or disagree with, read the law. Even though it is obvious that over to the right is an advertisement for headliner.fm, under the law, you MUST disclose that the subject of the posting is an advertiser within the text of the article. Not only is it required by law, it’s the ethical thing to do (ask a real journalist). In this one, you took it a step further, and actually put the advertisement within the article itself.
Disagree all you want, but if you and your blog are in the United States, you have to play by the rules.
Twitter rights management only allows to switch between Read and Read & Write. So if you want to be able to post tweets, you will automatically get all the rights as seen above.
This might change when Twitter introduces more fine-grained rights control for connected apps.
You can read more about this issue for example here: http://zachholman.com/2011/01/oauth_will_murder_your_children/
Best,
Johan from SoundCloud
The growing tip is a small proportion of mankind. They will carry on. As a matter of fact, that is what is happening with the whole humanistic synthesis now; the groundbreaking is done by a few people, and most of the stuff is just routine. Mankind does need to move away from where we are to explore somewhere else.
It’s his blog, let him do what he wants. publicrecords.org