Another week of high drama for struggling streaming platform Soundcloud comes to an end. The company finally secured enough funding to stay afloat. This revelation arrives just in time as rumors of a shutdown within 24 hours circulated on Thursday, August 10th.
Variety first confirmed reports that Soundcloud secured an investment of $170 million from the Raine Group and Temasek. Not without some stipulations, however. This infusion allows the two investors to hold a majority stake in the company. Today, Variety also reported that Soundcloud’s current CEO Alexander Lijung must step down in favor of Kerry Trainor, former CEO of Vimeo.
Hours later, reports from several media outlets confirmed this transition. In addition to Kerry Trainor, music industry attorney Fred Davis and music investor Joe Puthenveetil will fill positions as board members of Soundcloud.
The shuffling of leadership seems amicable for the time being. In an open letter, the (now former) CEO Alexander Lijung also announced that he will stay on the company as Chairman. He writes:
…[a]fter a decade of balancing the roles of Founder, CEO and Chairman I’m excited to hand the CEO reins over to Kerry [Trainor] to allow me to fully focus on the role of the Chairman and the long-term…
With that bit of news, Soundcloud extends its tenuous lifespan once more.
Feature image courtesy of Soundcloud.