4 ms·

While I like SoundCloud a lot, what the hell have they been up to for the last few years? From where I'm sitting Spotify, Apple Music and many more out-innovate

by owenwil 11y ago

While I like SoundCloud a lot, what the hell have they been up to for the last few years? From where I'm sitting Spotify, Apple Music and many more out-innovated them and SoundCloud did... well, nothing.

6stringmerc 11y ago
I think that's a fair perspective. With all these deals shaking out as a customer I'm quite happy with Amazon Prime Music for streaming/mainstream and then purchasing tracks or the occasional album via Beatport/CDs/etc. So now SoundCloud wants creators to pay for a Pro account and listeners to pay for a Go account...hmmm...well it does sound like they are genuinely trying to get revenue up. We'll see if this works.
ihsw 11y ago
Just want to throw Google Play Music into the mix (pun intended!) as I have been using it exclusively for the past few months. It is excellent and I cannot recommend it enough, and it is available in Canada (unlike SoundCloud Go).
- snickmy 11y ago
  Google Play Music deserve a honor spot. they have the best recommendation system in place (radios) and curated playlist (songza acquisition). Unfortunately is a great example that is not always a matter of quality, but more a matter of trend and hype. I'm sure SoundCloud Go will be available in Canada soon.
aiw1nters 11y ago
as the article states they were trying to score deals around content derivatives (e.g remixes, dj sets) that never existed before. I wouldn't underestimate that!
- 6stringmerc 11y ago
  Another article over on Billboard points out that Apple Music and Dubset just announced a system for remixes and DJ sets that actually pays the remixer and DJ a portion of funds while also compensating the original content owners, and about a week before this SoundCloud announcement. I know about it because I'm already signed up and have an account. SoundCloud has provided nothing in the way of notification, tools, or access to a similar platform. Sure, they're getting in better position with the RIAA/Merlin groups but that's not traditionally the value proposition with SoundCloud for listeners/creators. Maybe in time we'll learn more about why SoundCloud and Dubset both have competing systems for license revenue (apparently?!), and which one might be the better of the two.
  - snickmy 11y ago
    What scares me the most is the bureaucracy that apple has in place. It takes about 8 weeks to get a content live in Apple music. No matter what sort of content. On Soundcloud it takes about 8 seconds (well maybe 8 minutes if you have a slow connection). Also, with 175M users, vs the 30M of Apple, and over 7 years of exclusive content, I don't see Apple getting ahead too fast.
    - 6stringmerc 11y ago
      Well I know Apple has that turnaround potential - up to 16 days I think is the wording - but I've had very good success with 24-48 hour turnaround time on most of my material. I'd have to double check, but your point is a good one. Spotify, Amazon, Tidal, Google, YouTube all have the content up within 24 hours, and some even quicker it seems. If the lag is a bit of an inconvenience I understand, but I find the results worthwhile in my use case. If SoundCloud does essentially 'legitimize' the remix and DJ set market and corners it, with revenue, I think the music industry will be pretty happy with that outcome. As a customer/content creator I do like competition, even if it means managing more outlets.
      - snickmy 11y ago
        Correct. Spotify has an optimistic scheduler that sometimes swings under 2hours for point to point ingestions. Google Play is fast too. I'd love to find out more about user adoption of all this players in about 6 months. As you correctly point out the next big technical challenge is having a unified delivery system (without any additional cuts, so no aggregators pls).
kevando 11y ago
What sort of innovation are you talking about? I always felt like Soundcloud got it right way before everyone else and it makes sense they spent the last few years getting the business right.
snickmy 11y ago
I'm sorry but I need to disagree. The problem that SoundCloud is trying to solve has nowhere else being address. Yes, spotify and Apple Music are growing at a fast pace, but they don't necessarily play in the same landscape of SoundCloud. Content is what differentiate SoundCloud from any of its competitors. If you want exclusive content, early gems or just unreleased reworks, soundcloud is the place to go. Solving this on the legal prospective is a huge pain. That is what Soundscloud has been doing for the last ever. Allowing you to enjoy Rihanna new song as well as 'Dj in his bedroom remix of Rihanna new song'. Try to find that on Spotify or Apple Music. Now that they've close all the deals they needed in place, you'll see how fast the product will grow.
- Artistry121 11y ago
  I think YouTube Red is their largest competition here and has a comparable remix catalog, a music video catalog and a larger live collection.
  - snickmy 11y ago
    I completely agree with you. Although Video vs Audio content can be a differentiation, especially in the growing market where there is a shortage of data.
Kiro 11y ago
I don't think you can compare SoundCloud with Spotify or Apple Music. I use SoundCloud to follow artists directly, where they post snippets, WIPs, free downloads, re-post other artists tunes etc.

by owenwil 11y ago

6stringmerc 11y ago

I think that's a fair perspective. With all these deals shaking out as a customer I'm quite happy with Amazon Prime Music for streaming/mainstream and then purchasing tracks or the occasional album via Beatport/CDs/etc. So now SoundCloud wants creators to pay for a Pro account and listeners to pay for a Go account...hmmm...well it does sound like they are genuinely trying to get revenue up. We'll see if this works.

ihsw 11y ago

Just want to throw Google Play Music into the mix (pun intended!) as I have been using it exclusively for the past few months. It is excellent and I cannot recommend it enough, and it is available in Canada (unlike SoundCloud Go).

snickmy 11y ago
Google Play Music deserve a honor spot. they have the best recommendation system in place (radios) and curated playlist (songza acquisition). Unfortunately is a great example that is not always a matter of quality, but more a matter of trend and hype. I'm sure SoundCloud Go will be available in Canada soon.

aiw1nters 11y ago

as the article states they were trying to score deals around content derivatives (e.g remixes, dj sets) that never existed before. I wouldn't underestimate that!

6stringmerc 11y ago
Another article over on Billboard points out that Apple Music and Dubset just announced a system for remixes and DJ sets that actually pays the remixer and DJ a portion of funds while also compensating the original content owners, and about a week before this SoundCloud announcement. I know about it because I'm already signed up and have an account. SoundCloud has provided nothing in the way of notification, tools, or access to a similar platform. Sure, they're getting in better position with the RIAA/Merlin groups but that's not traditionally the value proposition with SoundCloud for listeners/creators. Maybe in time we'll learn more about why SoundCloud and Dubset both have competing systems for license revenue (apparently?!), and which one might be the better of the two.
- snickmy 11y ago
  What scares me the most is the bureaucracy that apple has in place. It takes about 8 weeks to get a content live in Apple music. No matter what sort of content. On Soundcloud it takes about 8 seconds (well maybe 8 minutes if you have a slow connection). Also, with 175M users, vs the 30M of Apple, and over 7 years of exclusive content, I don't see Apple getting ahead too fast.
  - 6stringmerc 11y ago
    Well I know Apple has that turnaround potential - up to 16 days I think is the wording - but I've had very good success with 24-48 hour turnaround time on most of my material. I'd have to double check, but your point is a good one. Spotify, Amazon, Tidal, Google, YouTube all have the content up within 24 hours, and some even quicker it seems. If the lag is a bit of an inconvenience I understand, but I find the results worthwhile in my use case. If SoundCloud does essentially 'legitimize' the remix and DJ set market and corners it, with revenue, I think the music industry will be pretty happy with that outcome. As a customer/content creator I do like competition, even if it means managing more outlets.
    - snickmy 11y ago
      Correct. Spotify has an optimistic scheduler that sometimes swings under 2hours for point to point ingestions. Google Play is fast too. I'd love to find out more about user adoption of all this players in about 6 months. As you correctly point out the next big technical challenge is having a unified delivery system (without any additional cuts, so no aggregators pls).

kevando 11y ago

What sort of innovation are you talking about? I always felt like Soundcloud got it right way before everyone else and it makes sense they spent the last few years getting the business right.

snickmy 11y ago

I'm sorry but I need to disagree. The problem that SoundCloud is trying to solve has nowhere else being address. Yes, spotify and Apple Music are growing at a fast pace, but they don't necessarily play in the same landscape of SoundCloud. Content is what differentiate SoundCloud from any of its competitors. If you want exclusive content, early gems or just unreleased reworks, soundcloud is the place to go. Solving this on the legal prospective is a huge pain. That is what Soundscloud has been doing for the last ever. Allowing you to enjoy Rihanna new song as well as 'Dj in his bedroom remix of Rihanna new song'. Try to find that on Spotify or Apple Music. Now that they've close all the deals they needed in place, you'll see how fast the product will grow.

Artistry121 11y ago
I think YouTube Red is their largest competition here and has a comparable remix catalog, a music video catalog and a larger live collection.
- snickmy 11y ago
  I completely agree with you. Although Video vs Audio content can be a differentiation, especially in the growing market where there is a shortage of data.

Kiro 11y ago

I don't think you can compare SoundCloud with Spotify or Apple Music. I use SoundCloud to follow artists directly, where they post snippets, WIPs, free downloads, re-post other artists tunes etc.