The music veteran and executive will be advising the CEO of the European music streaming company.

Troy Carter was one of the minds behind the success of Spotify. He helped in turning Spotify Technology SA into the largest paid music service in the world. And now, the Spotify veteran is hoping for another huge success for European music streaming company. 

Carter will be joining SoundCloud Ltd. as a board member. Notably, SoundCloud is a german music streaming service that hosts more than 175 million users. In addition, the former Spotify executive will advise Michael Weissman, the CEO of SoundCloud.

Moreover, the open audio platform is prominent, with independent artists as a place where they can publish new tracks. It is also one of a kind music platform that offers both rough cuts and demos. It also offers listeners a full complement of licensed music. Its catalog holds more than 250 million tracks that came from more than 30 million artists.

More and More Artists are Trying to Publish Music Without Having to Sign With Major Music Labels

However, the open audio platform has faced some struggles in turning its huge customer base into a thriving business. Many of its users are subscribed to a paid tier, and its advertising business falls behind its competitors, including Spotify and Pandora. But now, the music streaming company is already swinging back in the direction of success. The number of artists who seek to release tracks without signing with a major music label is increasing significantly. One of the reasons is that smaller artists struggle to stand out in an industry that Spotify playlists rule.

Moreover, Carter said that buying real SoundCloud Plays would thrive by positioning itself as an artist-friendly platform that gives space to independent artists. It can serve as an alternative to services that companies worth billions and trillions of dollars run. 

In an interview, Carter noted that the music streaming platform is created for independent artists. He added that it is obvious that “the future of music is independent.” In this shift and tipping point, more tools for artists are accessible. In addition, there is more funding and a more direct connection between artists and listeners. 

The new SoundCloud board already has years of experience when it comes to navigating the steep terrain of connecting artists, record labels, and technology companies.

Moreover, Carter first made his name in the music industry as the manager of singers John Legend and Lady Gaga. He then joined Spotify in 2016 as the music company’s primary liaison with the music industry. During his stay at Spotify, the company doubled in size. It grew from approximately 100 million users to almost 200 million. 

Now, Carter is running his own company called Q&A. This company works with independent musicians. In addition, he recently sold Human Re Sources, an independent distribution company, to Sony Corp.

The Ups and Downs of SoundCloud

The music streaming company went on fire with the record industry in the past. The reason is that there had been issues with their licensing work. However, that was mostly left in the past because Singapore’s state-owned Temasek Holdings and Raine Group LLC acquired a huge majority stake in 2017. 

SoundCloud founders Alex Ljung and Eric Wahlforss stepped aside after Raine Group’s and Temasek Holding’s stake acquisition. As a result, Kerry Trainor, the former CEO of Vimeo, became the chief executive of SoundCloud. On the other hand, Weissman became the chief operating officer.

In February 2019, SoundCloud received a $75 million investment from Sirus XM Holdings Inc. In December, Weissman became the SoundCloud CEO. During his CEO-ship, the music streaming company’s revenue has grown three years in a row. 

According to Weissman, after the turnaround process was complete, the business is undoubtedly in great shape. And by great shape, it means that they are transforming SoundCloud for the future.

Moreover, the music streaming platform is exploring new methods of paying artists so that it could serve independent musicians better. Now, independent acts will receive payments directly from people who actually listen to them.

Buying More Plays, SoundCloud Recruits Spotify Veteran Troy Carter

Almost every music streaming platform right now places all the money that they get from subscription fees into a pool. They will then distribute the collected funds proportionately to various record labels and royalty collectors. These intermediaries will then pay the artists. As a result, most of the money collected is captured by major music companies and streaming services. For this reason, the major stars who actually exert the most significant efforts receive a disproportionate share of earnings. 

But under the new approach that SoundCloud is looking to implement, nearly 90,000 artists would receive payments directly from the service based on their share of listening from individual users. SoundCloud predicted this will increase overall SoundCloud plays by a substantial margin.

Furthermore, Carter and Weissman have not discussed any new plans for the payments yet. However, the two noted that their priority is to come up and launch products that will bring benefits to independent artists. 

According to Carter, if one will look at Amazon, Apple, and Spotify, one will see that those are not necessarily platforms where an individual is going to listen to indie music. These places are not where an artist can develop their music careers without having to sign to major music labels. 

Final Takeaway

SoundCloud is a platform that values the importance of giving benefits to its users. It knows that independent artists turn to it in order to share their music with the world in the best and easiest way possible. For this reason, the music streaming platform is doing its best to cater its services to independent artists. It is creating various tools and products that these acts can use to grow and develop their careers. 

Date: June 15, 2021 / Categories: Marketing, SoundCloud Plays, / Author: Joy P