Streaming giant Spotify recently opened the floodgates, trialling a system that allows any user to directly upload songs onto their service. Now SoundCloud have gone one step further by extending their monetisation services to anyone with a SoundCloud account.
“Expanding SoundCloud Premier’s direct monetisation offering from thousands, to hundreds of thousands of eligible creators is an exciting step in our commitment to empowering as many creators as possible to grow their careers first on SoundCloud,” says company CEO, Kerry Trainor.
Spotify’s direct upload service may have opened the floodgates but SoundCloud’s response just put the service one step ahead of the game – the company’s monetisation scheme now allows all users to share in advertising revenue.
For four years, SoundCloud’s Premier tier was previously an invitation-only scheme that allowed users to monetise their songs by sharing in advertising revenue. The tier also allowed users faster upload times and access to tools like Spotlight and streaming statistics.
The monetisation option was previously only available to users in the US, but has since expanded to anyone in territories where subscriptions and advertising are available. This includes the US, UK, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands and New Zealand.
The premier account boasts rates that “meet or beat any other streaming service,” as well as instant monetisation, real-time updates on fan activity and direct payment to the artist each month.
Creators are eligible to monetise their content if they’ve had 5,000 streams in the last month and their content is original.
The monetisation deal is non-exclusive and creators retain all rights to their music.
