the "soundcloud community" is really the 2% of users who are heavily active, involved, and attract the other 98% of users who consume the community's output. I

the "soundcloud community" is really the 2% of users who are heavily active, involved, and attract the other 98% of users who consume the community's output. I'm sure the "community" would happily pay for the service. but the other 98% probably would not, because they just want to consume content with the least friction. payment is friction, even a $0.05 payment. so they follow the path of least friction and go somewhere else, some other site that is currently in the early funding rounds, providing service for free to ramp up as quickly as possible. then, in three years, their investors will demand they monetize... rinse and repeat.