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|Founded=2008-10-28
|Founded=2008-10-28
|Industry=Entertainment
|Industry=Entertainment
|Logo=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/78/Soundcloud_logo.svg/1280px-Soundcloud_logo.svg.png
|Logo=Soundcloud.svg
|Type=Private
|Type=Private
|Website=https://soundcloud.com/
|Website=https://soundcloud.com/
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SoundCloud is a music streaming platform founded in 2007. The SoundCloud website was made public in October 2008.
SoundCloud is a music streaming platform founded in 2007. The SoundCloud website was made public in October 2008.


==Consumer-impact summary==
==Consumer impact summary==
{{Ph-C-CIS}}


===Subscription Tiers===
===Freedom===


*SoundCloud has three membership tiers for listeners. Free, which is ad-supported, Go, which is ad-free, and Go+, which is ad-free and gives access to locked songs not available with other subscriptions.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=SoundCloud |date=2025 |title=What type of subscription is for me? |url=https://help.soundcloud.com/hc/en-us/articles/360051072534-What-type-of-subscription-is-for-me |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250727092854/https://help.soundcloud.com/hc/en-us/articles/360051072534-What-type-of-subscription-is-for-me |archive-date=2025-8-16}}</ref>
*SoundCloud allows artists to enable direct downloads on their tracks. Listeners of any membership tier can use direct downloads on the website.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McCall |first=Vivian |date=2021-01-14 |title=How to download SoundCloud songs from the website onto your computer, or from the mobile app with SoundCloud Go |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/how-to-download-soundcloud-songs |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250816170647/https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/how-to-download-soundcloud-songs |archive-date=2025-08-16 |work=Business Insider}}</ref>
*SoundCloud has three membership tiers for artists. Without a paid subscription, SoundCloud limits the hours of music which can be uploaded to an account. The upload limit for the Basic package is is 2 hours, 3 for Artist, and Artist Pro users have no limit.<ref name=":0" />


===User Downloads===
===Business model===


*SoundCloud allows artists to enable direct downloads on their tracks. Listeners of any membership tier can use direct downloads on the website.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McCall |first=Vivian |date=January 14th, 2021 |title=How to download SoundCloud songs from the website onto your computer, or from the mobile app with SoundCloud Go |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/how-to-download-soundcloud-songs |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250816170647/https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/how-to-download-soundcloud-songs |archive-date=August 16th, 2025 |work=Business Insider}}</ref>
*SoundCloud has three membership tiers for listeners. Free, which is ad-supported, Go, which is ad-free, and Go+, which is ad-free and gives access to locked songs not available with other subscriptions.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=SoundCloud|title=What type of subscription is for me? |url=https://help.soundcloud.com/hc/en-us/articles/360051072534-What-type-of-subscription-is-for-me |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250727092854/https://help.soundcloud.com/hc/en-us/articles/360051072534-What-type-of-subscription-is-for-me |archive-date=2025-07-27}}</ref>
*SoundCloud has three membership tiers for artists. Without a paid subscription, SoundCloud limits the hours of music which can be uploaded to an account. The upload limit for the Basic package is is 2 hours, 3 for Artist, and Artist Pro users have no limit.<ref name=":0" />


==Incidents==
==Incidents==
===Generative AI===
===Generative AI===
In January 2024, SoundCloud announced integration with AI music tools Fadr, Soundful and Voice-Swap, allowing users to directly post AI generated content to the platform. <ref>{{Cite news |last=Paine |first=Andre |title=SoundCloud integrates with assistive AI tools to enable direct uploads for artists |url=https://www.musicweek.com/digital/read/soundcloud-integrates-with-assistive-ai-tools-to-enable-direct-uploads-for-artists/089164 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250816171344/https://www.musicweek.com/digital/read/soundcloud-integrates-with-assistive-ai-tools-to-enable-direct-uploads-for-artists/089164 |archive-date=August 16th, 2025 |work=MusicWeek}}</ref>  
In January 2024, SoundCloud announced integration with AI music tools Fadr, Soundful and Voice-Swap, allowing users to directly post AI generated content to the platform. <ref>{{Cite news |last=Paine |first=Andre |title=SoundCloud integrates with assistive AI tools to enable direct uploads for artists |url=https://www.musicweek.com/digital/read/soundcloud-integrates-with-assistive-ai-tools-to-enable-direct-uploads-for-artists/089164 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250816171344/https://www.musicweek.com/digital/read/soundcloud-integrates-with-assistive-ai-tools-to-enable-direct-uploads-for-artists/089164 |archive-date=2025-08-16 |work=MusicWeek}}</ref>  


In May 2025, an article published by Futurism accused SoundCloud of updating their Terms of Service to allow all content on the platform to be used to train generative AI.<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 9th, 2025 |title=SoundCloud Quietly Updated Their Terms to Let AI Feast on Artists' Music |url=https://futurism.com/soundcloud-ai-terms-of-service |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250816171715/https://futurism.com/soundcloud-ai-terms-of-service |archive-date=August 16th, 2025 |work=Futurism}}</ref> SoundCloud later clarified that it's use of AI was strictly to provide “personalized recommendations, content organization, fraud detection, and improvements to content identification”, not to train generative AI models.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Corcoran |first=Nina |date=May 14th, 2025 |title=SoundCloud Updates AI Policy in Terms of Use After Backlash |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/soundcloud-updates-ai-policy-in-terms-of-use-after-backlash/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250816172013/https://pitchfork.com/news/soundcloud-updates-ai-policy-in-terms-of-use-after-backlash/ |archive-date=August 16th, 2025 |work=Pitchfork}}</ref>   
In May 2025, an article published by Futurism accused SoundCloud of updating their Terms of Service to allow all content on the platform to be used to train generative AI.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2025-05-09 |title=SoundCloud Quietly Updated Their Terms to Let AI Feast on Artists' Music |url=https://futurism.com/soundcloud-ai-terms-of-service |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250816171715/https://futurism.com/soundcloud-ai-terms-of-service |archive-date=2025-08-16 |work=Futurism}}</ref> SoundCloud later clarified that it's use of AI was strictly to provide “personalized recommendations, content organization, fraud detection, and improvements to content identification”, not to train generative AI models.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Corcoran |first=Nina |date=2025-05-14 |title=SoundCloud Updates AI Policy in Terms of Use After Backlash |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/soundcloud-updates-ai-policy-in-terms-of-use-after-backlash/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250816172013/https://pitchfork.com/news/soundcloud-updates-ai-policy-in-terms-of-use-after-backlash/ |archive-date=2025-08-16 |work=Pitchfork}}</ref>   


==See also==
==See also==

Revision as of 01:15, 17 August 2025

SoundCloud
Basic information
Founded 2008-10-28
Legal Structure Private
Industry Entertainment
Official website https://soundcloud.com/

SoundCloud is a music streaming platform founded in 2007. The SoundCloud website was made public in October 2008.

Consumer impact summary

Overview of concerns that arise from the conduct towards users of the product (if applicable):

  • User Freedom
  • User Privacy
  • Business Model
  • Market Control

Add your text below this box. Once this section is complete, delete this box by clicking on it and pressing backspace.


Freedom

  • SoundCloud allows artists to enable direct downloads on their tracks. Listeners of any membership tier can use direct downloads on the website.[1]

Business model

  • SoundCloud has three membership tiers for listeners. Free, which is ad-supported, Go, which is ad-free, and Go+, which is ad-free and gives access to locked songs not available with other subscriptions.[2]
  • SoundCloud has three membership tiers for artists. Without a paid subscription, SoundCloud limits the hours of music which can be uploaded to an account. The upload limit for the Basic package is is 2 hours, 3 for Artist, and Artist Pro users have no limit.[2]

Incidents

Generative AI

In January 2024, SoundCloud announced integration with AI music tools Fadr, Soundful and Voice-Swap, allowing users to directly post AI generated content to the platform. [3]

In May 2025, an article published by Futurism accused SoundCloud of updating their Terms of Service to allow all content on the platform to be used to train generative AI.[4] SoundCloud later clarified that it's use of AI was strictly to provide “personalized recommendations, content organization, fraud detection, and improvements to content identification”, not to train generative AI models.[5]

See also

References

  1. McCall, Vivian (2021-01-14). "How to download SoundCloud songs from the website onto your computer, or from the mobile app with SoundCloud Go". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 2025-08-16.
  2. 2.0 2.1 SoundCloud. "What type of subscription is for me?". Archived from the original on 2025-07-27.
  3. Paine, Andre. "SoundCloud integrates with assistive AI tools to enable direct uploads for artists". MusicWeek. Archived from the original on 2025-08-16.
  4. "SoundCloud Quietly Updated Their Terms to Let AI Feast on Artists' Music". Futurism. 2025-05-09. Archived from the original on 2025-08-16.
  5. Corcoran, Nina (2025-05-14). "SoundCloud Updates AI Policy in Terms of Use After Backlash". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 2025-08-16.