SoundCloud
Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2016 7:50 pm
Howdy y'all, got some news to share about SoundCloud.
I know all of us here use or have used SoundCloud to host our music in the past. But it looks like the service might end up getting shut down due to gross inefficiency, huge financial losses, and allowing major labels to ram metaphorical phallic objects up their posteriors through unwarranted copyright strikes. That, and the new ad system in place in conjunction with 'sponsored' tracks from 'unknown' artists (like rappers with major record label deals) have all driven enough people away that the service might disappear.
Then again, it might not, but the point of this post isn't to be a naysayer. It's just a heads-up to all of the SoundCloud users out there to maybe look at other platforms to host your music on, so you aren't caught unaware and watch your discography vanish into digital dust. I personally have switched exclusively to Bandcamp, which isn't a perfect system (I don't know much about the royalties, since no one has ever bought any of my songs before), but SoundCloud and YouTube have both slammed me with bogus copyright strikes that I couldn't contest, something Bandcamp doesn't do unless you outright steal a famous artist's song and get a ton of attention. The other main thing with Bandcamp is that they have you upload WAV files instead of MP3, and your album artwork has to be 700x700 pixels as a JPEG. Not steep demands, but I normally don't work with WAV files myself.
I know all of us here use or have used SoundCloud to host our music in the past. But it looks like the service might end up getting shut down due to gross inefficiency, huge financial losses, and allowing major labels to ram metaphorical phallic objects up their posteriors through unwarranted copyright strikes. That, and the new ad system in place in conjunction with 'sponsored' tracks from 'unknown' artists (like rappers with major record label deals) have all driven enough people away that the service might disappear.
Then again, it might not, but the point of this post isn't to be a naysayer. It's just a heads-up to all of the SoundCloud users out there to maybe look at other platforms to host your music on, so you aren't caught unaware and watch your discography vanish into digital dust. I personally have switched exclusively to Bandcamp, which isn't a perfect system (I don't know much about the royalties, since no one has ever bought any of my songs before), but SoundCloud and YouTube have both slammed me with bogus copyright strikes that I couldn't contest, something Bandcamp doesn't do unless you outright steal a famous artist's song and get a ton of attention. The other main thing with Bandcamp is that they have you upload WAV files instead of MP3, and your album artwork has to be 700x700 pixels as a JPEG. Not steep demands, but I normally don't work with WAV files myself.