Not So Fast: SoundCloud Walks Back The Good News

SoundCloud giveth and SoundCloud taketh away….and taketh away again. Recently, we told you that SoundCloud was finally going to become the place we all hoped, by allowing us to actually upload our DJ mixes without worrying about lawyers or losing your account over a Calvin Harris song. If you’re already at the two strikes level, this news was a godsend.

Now, the service is clarifying those statements with a blog post, explaining that takedowns are now greatly reduced, but still occur. Even worse, they say they simply will occur “at the request of the content creator”. To that the best response we can muster is…..duh? Essentially, SoundCloud is telling you to feel more free to upload your DJ mixes, but they may still be taken down. Go ahead everybody try your luck, and once you hit three bad rolls of the dice, you lose your account. Way to go SoundCloud, taking a huge positive and actually managing to make it worse than it was before the good news. Here’s the full statement below:

There have been a number of incoming questions this week from our community around creativity and content on SoundCloud. Today, through a number of agreements with labels, publishers and other partners, there are far fewer takedowns of various forms of content – including DJ sets – shared on SoundCloud. It’s clear from our conversations and agreements with the industry and creative community as a whole, that enabling a place for all forms of creativity to live is important, and that SoundCloud can be that place.  

With that, it’s important to note takedowns are at the request of creators. While the agreements we have in place across the industry have greatly lessened the likelihood of takedowns, as a creator driven platform, we respect all creators, and therefore we respect the rights of all creators who request to have their content removed.

As always, SoundCloud’s aim is to continue building a unique ecosystem where all forms of expression can live and thrive. The community of creators who gather, share their work and collaborate on SoundCloud is hugely important to us. Creators on SoundCloud continue to be a driving force in pushing culture forward in the world, and we are honored to be the place to help amplify the millions of creative voices who call SoundCloud home.