SoundCloud has become much more strict with what artists and fans put up on their accounts over the last few months. SoundCloud accounts have been dropping like flies due to copyright infringements. Mixes with unlicensed tracks, remixes, bootlegs and unauthorized samples are all things that can get you a strike.
Artists’ musical freedoms are being compromised severely due to the obvious lack of profit SoundCloud is bringing in. First strike is a warning letting you know that they have received a complaint for copyright infringement and/or an unauthorized use of track, the second strike is that they take away your ability to make your tracks/mixes available for download and the third and final strike is that they remove you from SoundCloud for good.
SoundCloud is also currently being attacked by a European collection agency, which is reportedly about, “copyrighted content for which publishing rights may not have been cleared in certain European territories”. SoundCloud replied back with:
We can’t comment on specific rightsholders, but we’re happy to host any content on the platform as long as it’s properly authorised. If we’re told that any content has been posted without permission, we need to remove that content in accordance with applicable law.
Many artists and fans (including myself) have received an email from “SoundCloud Copyright” stated that we must provide evidence:
that you or your company fully own all rights including publishing rights in all territories where the tracks have been made available and that you are NOT affiliated with any European collecting societies” or “that you or your company have cleared all publishing rights – including mechanical rights AND public performance rights – in all territories where the tracks have been made available.
If the artists or fans do not provide the proof requested above within a short time period, they warranted a strike and so on and so forth.
According to Fact Mag, SoundCloud has also suspended people’s accounts over music that they own and created, which is absolutely ridiculous! Something has to change before SoundCloud completely implodes.
