Move all your music over to Spotify or Beatport ASAP because Soundcloud shows signs of continued failure after attempting to be a profitable business. According to a report via TechCrunch, the independent company has only enough money to last for another 50 days. This report comes from sources within Soundcloud only days after it laid off over 150 employees and closed down two offices.
Talks about Soundcloud going under have been around since last year. Around winter of 2016, there was even discussion of a buyout from Spotify (which never happened) after Soundcloud announced they made no major profit for the 2015 and 2016 year. The company even raised membership prices for users and added more ads in between songs for those that use the free membership to try and alleviate the no-profit margin, however the efforts were to no avail. Soundcloud‘s free option could be one major reason why the company is failing; many listeners utilize the free option and disregard the ads, saving themselves $12.99/month.
Soundcloud’s PR team responded to inquiries from TechCrunch by completely discrediting the reports information.
The PR team claimed that the company has enough money to last through the duration of the year (quarter 4 2017). However, meetings with potential investors prove otherwise. Overall, the company has suffered significantly as it continuously fights to become a profitable business. After losing $52 million in 2015, the company never had a second chance to redeem itself.
It’s a shame to see this downfall, because Soundcloud offers much more artist diversity for producers. If Soundcloud were to go under, YouTube may become even more popular, but we will see…only time will tell!
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