SoundCloud has finally made their direct monetization program public. In other words, artists can make money off of their music through the platform. Last couple of years have been hectic for the company. The news suggested that the company was nearly bankrupt and had to terminate a lot of their employees. However, they're in the news again for different reasons. Royalty pay offs have always been a trouble for artists. This time, SoundCloud seems determine to take the matters into their own hands.The company has made SoundCloud Premier public to change the business.
SoundCloud Premier
SoundCloud Premier has been there from more than four years now. Initially, the program was limited to an invite-only beta. However, the service is now available for all the pro and pro unlimited users. SoundCloud has expanded the program to support independent creators. There're plenty of reasons for users to avail this service.
The company claims of paying royalties every month. As a result, the threshold barrier is no longer a thing. Eventually, this makes the process simple. SoundCloud has not determined any eligibility for the monetization. You create music, it gets monetized instantly. Real-time feedback from the fans is one of the best things that SoundCloud offers. The most important factor of SoundCloud Premier is that it is free for all the pro users. The rights remains with the creator.
As per reports, SoundCloud offers 55% revenue to the artist according to their streams. Spotify offers 50% shares to the artist out of the 100% royalty they generate. In other words, SoundCloud is offering a better plan. The more subscribers and ads an user gets, the more he generates. This means that the royalty pay outs are not going to be certain every month. The traditional threshold culture of Apple Music and other giants maintains stability.
Eligibility Criteria
Any pro user can avail SoundCloud Premier for free. A creator needs to have at least 5,000 plays in the last month. In addition, the music needs to be original. DJ sets, podcasts and remixes will be permitted on the platform soon. SoundCloud has suggested their plans of minimizing their conditions. The service is currently not available in India. However, the company suggests creators to post music regularly. Keeping the streams up will help them in availing the service in future.
As of now, SoundCloud needs to expand their plans to different countries. Their practical success is still left to be seen. While other companies suggests SoundCloud's plans are weak, the company promises a different future. Lil Peep, Lil Pump, Chance The Rapper, Russ and a lot of other artists have made a fortune by gaining popularity through the platform. A lot of these artists came out in support of SoundCloud when the company was falling apart. Lets wait how this plan will help the masses.