In what could be a major disruptor for the platform, SoundCloud recently dropped a new toolset in its Premier program which will give its users the option of sharing music to other major platforms like Spotify and Apple Music.
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Guest post by Bobby Owsinski of Music 3.0
In what may be a game changer for the platform, SoundCloud has released a new toolset that allows a user to share music with other online services like Spotify and Apple Music as well. The new feature is part of an upgrade to its SoundCloud Premier program.
SoundCloud Pro and Pro Unlimited subscribers can now gain access to Premier at no additional cost. The tier was originally set up to help artists monetize their works on the platform. With the new distribution tool, it now becomes much more powerful, especially thanks to the fact that the company says it will not take a cut from earnings received from other services.
As stated before, Premier is available to SoundCloud Pro and Pro Unlimited subscribers that are at least 18 years old, own the rights to their original music, have at least 1,000 track plays, and more importantly, have no copyright strikes against them at the time of enrollment.
Since so many artists begin their online music lives on SoundCloud, the new distribution feature will make it easy for them to continue on to other platforms when they’re ready without having to use a distributor like CD Baby or Tunecore and pay the additional fees involved. Also, since Spotify recently took a financial stake in the distributor Distrokid and incorporated that distribution outlet into its dashboard, SoundCloud needed a response in order to stay relevant.
That said, the distribution tool on SoundCloud Premier is still in beta, and additional features are promised in the coming months.
The company has a huge installed base of over 20 million creators in 190 different countries, with a library of over 200 million songs. If you’re one of them, this feature is worth checking out.