No, they were not forced to yield to the establishment, they chose the establishment because it is the path with seemingly less risk. There is a meaningful diff

No, they were not forced to yield to the establishment, they chose the establishment because it is the path with seemingly less risk. There is a meaningful difference, by using well know and established music it becomes easier to gain the hallowed "traction" VC funded musictech startups want. Soundcloud has little to no interests in focusing on truly independent artist and productions the way Bandcamp has and is doing.