SoundCloud’s plans to become a fully-fledged Spotify rival got a huge boost on Tuesday after the music sharing platform secured its first licensing deal with a major label.
The streaming service now has the rights to offer music from within the Warner Bros. catalogue and, as a result, has agreed to cough up royalties every time a track from a Warner artist is played.
Interestingly, dues will also be paid when a Warner track features as part of the site’s trademark mash-ups or mixes, curated by users.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the deal does not require Warner to make its entire catalogue available, while it also gives the label a vested interest in SoundCloud.
The German company was able to convince Warner to sign on the dotted line with a vow to launch a paid subscription service in the first half of 2015 to complement the existing ad-funded, free site. The deal could now open the floodgates and see other major labels jump into bed with SoundCloud.
A paid service will allow SoundCloud to create a revenue stream beyond its advertising income and subscriptions to the DJ-friendly SoundCloud Pro platform.
The deal comes following a newsworthy few months for the popular audio-sharing platform. Earlier this year Twitter was rumoured to be interested in acquiring the company, while last month SoundCloud made an accord with Twitter to embed audio clips within tweets.
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Via: The Verge