SoundCloud Go

It’s a subscription and advertising-funded music streaming service (similar to Spotify) which is built into SoundCloud’s well-established audio sharing platform.  You can find full details about features, pricing and availability on their website and blog.

https://blog.soundcloud.com/2016/03/29/introducing-soundcloud-go/

http://help.soundcloud.com/?b_id=10251

Like other streaming services, SoundCloud Go is supplied through labels and distributors.  All Kudos-distributed tracks have been delivered and will start becoming available in January 2017.  The service is integrated into the existing audio sharing platform and tracks are displayed on the artist’s profile.  In most respects they are identical to tracks the artist has uploaded directly.  Users can interact with them by commenting, liking, sharing, playlisting etc in exactly the same way.  The artist will also see the tracks in their account but, as the track’s details, metadata, availability and rights information are provided by our data feed, these details may not be edited within SoundCloud.

That’s fine.  SoundCloud will generate profiles for any artists where they’re unable to find an existing one.  They will also generate profiles to represent collaborations between multiple artists because tracks can not be posted to multiple profiles simultaneously (although the associated artists and their fans can then re-post the track to their own page and share it with their followers if they wish).

When SoundCloud first assign the artist profile, they will attempt to detect where the tracks we’ve delivered for SoundCloud Go are duplicates of tracks which have already been posted to that profile.  This should result in a single master copy of each track you’ve released being available on the assigned artist profile.  Any tracks on that profile which aren’t considered duplicates of the premium tracks will be unaffected and will continue to be available (but won’t earn any revenue).  Obviously, this system isn’t perfect so it’s possible that some duplication will occur.  Labels should speak to their Kudos Account manager if they notice any duplicates so we can request to have the tracks merged.  If you’ve uploaded preview clips rather than full tracks these wouldn’t be classed as duplicates.  However, they’re probably redundant once the SoundCloud Go track is live so you should consider removing them from your profile.  Your future releases will be delivered for SoundCloud Go and become available on the release date automatically so you should avoid uploading tracks from these releases manually as this will create new duplicates.

No.  SoundCloud will not be removing or replacing tracks which were already available on the artist’s profile.  Instead, they will be merged so that the existing track – complete with its history of fan interactions – will start earning revenue as a SoundCloud Go track.

SoundCloud has a system for preventing unauthorised uploads of copyrighted material and this will be activated to prevent future user-uploads of all Kudos-distributed material.  However, this won’t automatically remove bootleg copies that are already present.  Labels can request take-downs of any user-uploads that infringe their rights by sending links to their Kudos account manager.

Kudos will continue to routinely deliver all eligible new releases to SoundCloud so there’s no need for artists to upload tracks directly that are included on a release.  In fact, as they’ll be covered by content protection you may find that you’re unable to upload tracks if they’ve already been supplied by a distributor.  And so, to ensure tracks are correctly displayed and monetised, we’d advise you to only deliver full-length tracks as a release through our SoundCloud Go feed.   New releases will be posted to the profile automatically on their scheduled release date.  If you have additional unreleased material that you’d like to share with your followers for free then you may wish to upload that directly.

SoundCloud Go generates revenue through monthly subscriptions paid by users to obtain premium features such as saving tracks for offline playback.  It also offers a more limited “freemium” experience which is funded by audio and video advertising inserted around premium tracks and used to upsell listeners to the premium service.  Kudos will account revenue generated by our catalogue back to labels just like other digital services and labels are then responsible for distributing that to artists based on their individual agreements.

Thankfully SoundCloud Go is now widely available and covers the majority of visitors to the site.  In territories where the service is yet to launch users will still be able to see tracks that we have delivered for SoundCloud Go but will only be able to play a 30 second preview.

All SoundCloud Go tracks should be assigned to a profile which specifically represents the artist (or artist collaboration) credited on the release.  In most cases this should happen automatically.  However, if you notice a case where tracks appear on the wrong profile (for example, an artist has an existing profile, but their tracks have been assigned to an auto-generated one, or to another artist with a similar name) these can be corrected.  Labels should raise these issues with their Kudos account manager.  Note that it’s not possible to re-assign tracks anywhere other than the artist’s genuine profile.  If you would like tracks to feature on associated profiles like labels, artist collectives, etc. this can be achieved through playlisting or re-posting instead.  You should not attempt to upload duplicate copies.

If artists have concerns about making their music available on SoundCloud Go they should discuss this with their label. If the labels feel it is necessary to restrict some or all of their catalogue from SoundCloud Go they should speak to their Kudos account manager.  However, before you make that call, please carefully consider the following points:

• Removing monetised tracks will not prevent advertising appearing on your profile.  Unless the listener is a logged-in subscriber they may see/hear advertising regardless of what they are listening to or who posted it. However, you will only receive a share of the advertising revenue if you have monetised tracks available.
• From a licensing point of view SoundCloud Go is a “proper” streaming service.  They have agreements with “The Majors” as well as independents, so despite appearances it’s more like Spotify than YouTube and for their subscription product to work they need a “full-catalogue” repertoire to rival competing streaming services.
• The service is in its infancy and it will improve given time.  All rights-holders are delivering to SoundCloud exactly as we are so any issues you have encountered are by no means limited to your profile.  Ultimately SoundCloud can’t exist unless it provides an experience that consumers and creators are willing to pay for so they will be working to resolve any teething problems that arise due to SoundCloud Go integration.
• It is SoundCloud that are driving these changes and they are ultimately in control of the service they offer, how your profile looks/behaves and the user-experience.  So while you may choose not to make your content available, your profile won’t be immune from the platform-wide developments they are making to accommodate SoundCloud Go.

First, have another read because the answer might be covered under another question.  If not, you might find what you’re looking for in SoundCloud’s help section at http://help.soundcloud.com/.  If you’re still none the wiser artists should contact their label with any queries and labels can discuss these with their Kudos account manager.