Sony Pulls All Music Off Soundcloud

Yesterday started strong for Soundcloud, with an important deal with the National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA). But later in the day, it became apparent that Soundcloud's bid to go legal and monetize content has a ways to go.

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The globe's second biggest music group, Sony, pulled its music off of SoundCloud yesterday after failing to reach an agreement. Gone are such hit artists as Adele, Kelly Clarkson, Hozier and Miguel.

Sony dispute with Soundcloud is over “a lack of monetization opportunities,” an anonymous music executive told Billboard, who were first to report the takedown. “[It’s] been a good place for exposure,” added an artist manager. “At the same time, artists and labels need to get paid for music. Until that can be worked out, we’re going to have situations that are incompatible with artist development.”

Ongoing Negotiations, $2 Million Paid

In addition to the NMPA, Soundcloud has also been able to strike a licensing deal with Warner Music Group; and talks with other rightsholders are ongoing.

“We are in ongoing conversations with major and independent labels and will continue to add partners to the program,” noting that the company has already paid out more than $2 million in advertising revenue to more than 100 partners since On SoundCloud’s establishment in late 2014" Soundcloud said in a statement. “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.”