Sony Yanks Adele, Hozier, and More From SoundCloud
Getty Images
by Kory Grow
Sony Music has pulled music by more than half a dozen artists, including Adele, Hozier, Miguel, Kelly Clarkson and Passion Pit, from SoundCloud, after the companies reportedly failed to broker a payment plan. A source recently told Billboard that a “lack of monetization opportunities” was the reason for the removals.
The 5 Most Powerful People in Streaming Music
Other artists affected include MS MR and Leon Bridges, the latter of whom garnered the attention that led to his deal with Sony via SoundCloud.
The company announced its first remuneration strategy last summer when it debuted On SoundCloud, an ad-supported version of the service. The service offers free, paid and “invite” levels, offering promotional tools, promoted content and revenue sharing for the upper-tiered plans.
The company claims to have paid out more than $2 million in ad revenue to more than 100 partners since launching On SoundCloud. Previously the company made money only from subscriptions and deals with artists and labels, though in 2013 it announced a $29 million loss on $14 million in revenues.
Warner Music Group signed a formal licensing deal with the company last November. The music trade magazine had previously reported that Universal was in negotiations with the service.
“We are in ongoing conversations with major and independent labels and will continue to add partners to the program,” a SoundCloud rep said in a statement for Billboard. “We’ve always put control in the hands of creators and anyone who makes music and audio can decide when and how they want to share it with fans, allowing artists to essentially broadcast out to the world the availability of new content.”
A rep for Sony has yet to comment on the situation.
Related
