SoundCloud announces new $15million cash boost to help creators
SoundCloud has revealed plans of a $15million cash boost to help artists who use their platform amid the global coronavirus outbreak’s negative impact on the music industry.
The streaming service has announced the introduction of a series of financial measures aimed to help creators as the outbreak continues to take hold with the platform also announcing they have seen a 50% growth in creators uploading in the past month.
One of the initiatives is a $5million fund that offers free promotional support for all artists in an attempt to gain more plays through its ‘promote tool’. There is also a new direct fan-support button which allows SoundCloud profiles to receive direct support from their followers through sites such as Patreon or Paypal.
Repost has also been announced by CEO Kerry Trainor, this tool is a new marketing and distribution service which gives independent artists access to professional marketing, monetisation services and distribution features. Finally, SoundCloud has announced details of Repost Select which sees the streaming service commit $10 million to help fuel the careers of independent artists with its new artist service.
“Since our founding, SoundCloud’s mission has been to give people the power to share, connect and grow through music,” Trainor said in a statement. “As the coronavirus crisis has unfolded, we’ve seen a global outpouring of tracks on SoundCloud–with a 50% surge in creators uploading in the past month alone. But behind this creative response, we know there continues to be financial loss and uncertainty for our creator community.”
Trainor continued: “Last week we rolled out our first wave of creator support–our partnership with Twitch, 50% off SoundCloud Pro Unlimited, a resource guide and weekly creator office hours with our artist relations team–to help with the impact some of you are facing. This felt like a good start, but we want to do more for the long term.
“Today, we’re accelerating a series of new initiatives and over $15M in direct investment to support creators on SoundCloud during this difficult time.”
See a breakdown of SoundCloud’s plans, below.
- New direct fan-support button for all creators
We’ve created a simple button for your SoundCloud profile to connect your preferred way to receive direct fan support including Kickstarter, Patreon, Bandcamp, PayPal and more. Learn how to get this live on your profile right now. - $5m in free promotional support for all creators to drive more plays on SoundCloud
For the rest of 2020, we’re giving away all of our Promote on SoundCloud inventory. Tag your SoundCloud uploads #GetMorePlays and our editorial team will select up to 5 artists per week to feature with promotion. - Immediate launch of Repost by SoundCloud, a new marketing and distribution service
Independent artists who want to take their career to the next level can now access professional marketing and monetization services plus industry-leading distribution features. Repost by SoundCloud is available to everyone, no play count thresholds. Learn more here. - $10m artist accelerator program to support independent creators’ career growth
We are committing $10M to help fuel the careers of independent artists upstreamed from Repost by SoundCloud into our artist services offering, Repost Select. Apply here.
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