SoundCloud Sign Licensing Deal With Warner Music, Announce Paid Subscription Model

It was reported earlier this year that SoundCloud, the music streaming service, were making moves to pay artists royalties. Today, they’ve taken another major step in that direction, landing a licensing deal with Warner Music Group, The New York Times reports. The deal reportedly guarantees that Warner artists will get paid when their music is played on SoundCloud, even in DJ mixes and mash-ups.

SoundCloud have also announced that a paid subscription tier will be introduced in 2015. Details about that development are still scarce. Earlier this year, they announced that they were planning to implement advertising.

WMG will reportedly pay for a three to five percent equity stake of SoundCloud. According to the Times‘ source, past copyright infringements against SoundCloud will be indemnified. The story also notes that unlike Spotify and Apple’s licensing deals with the major labels, SoundCloud’s deal isn’t all-encompassing and doesn’t cover the label’s entire catalog. Instead, WMG artists will be able to choose which specific songs are made available to SoundCloud.

“SoundCloud is a platform built on music innovation and it has a rare ability to drive music discovery while enhancing the connection and collaboration between an artist and their following,” said WMG COO Robert Wiesenthal in a statement. “Our deal will foster that relationship, while providing a powerful range of income opportunities for WMG’s artists and songwriters.”

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