Streaming giants like Spotify and Apple Music are notorious for taking a cut of independent artists' royalties; songs, albums, and EPs that feature the blood, sweat, and tears of independent artists, and they get just a penny out of their artistry. To combat this, SoundCloud now allows artists on the platform to receive 100 percent of distribution royalties.
This announcement comes after the policy was added to the company's Artist and Artist Pro subscriptions. At the end of the month, Soundcloud says goodbye to its share of distribution revenues and actively supports artists by allowing them to keep their full royalties.
SoundCloud CEO Elia Seton shared in a statement: “SoundCloud has always put artists first. With this launch, we take that mission further by providing artists with a truly end-to-end subscription experience, including distribution without workarounds, community without barriers, and monetization without compromise, including direct support from their fans.”
The streaming service has additionally updated its “Getting Started” page, which now reads: “Artists need to eat, too. When you monetize your tracks through SoundCloud, you receive 100% of the royalties from plays there and can continue to earn money from your streams and other platforms. Simply put, the more fans that listen to your music, the more you get paid.”
The changes don't stop there, as the streaming service is introducing a new donation button that allows fans to directly contribute to artists. The platform changes offer hope to artists who have long received unforgivably low royalties from streaming services.
