Well, we all thought SoundCloud was going down for a while there. It seemed certain that the streaming platform couldn’t compete with the likes of Apple Music and Spotify. Turns out, we may have been wrong.
SoundCloud actually excelled in 2019. More specifically, their Q4 performance exceeded $200m for the first time in the company’s history. A company spokesperson spoke with Music Business Worldwide regarding the exciting growth:
2019 results will be filed later this year, but we are pleased to report SoundCloud surpassed its full-year growth plans for the second year in a row [in 2018], increasing revenue to $127m (€108m). We look forward to continuing to grow SoundCloud’s unique creator-driven ecosystem and business in the year ahead.
While the platform currently has over 200 million tracks, the combined audience includes a staggering 100+ million.
SoundCloud says its key drivers of 2019 growth included:
- Expansion of its SoundCloud Premier monetization, which distributes the work of “tens of thousands of creators”.
- Improvements to SoundCloud’s interactive listener experience. This includes the ability to comment directly on tracks in the mobile application, higher-quality streaming and hand-picked, curated playlists.
- Partnering with Pandora as SoundCloud’s exclusive U.S. advertising and sales partner. While creating “the largest digital audio advertising offering in the U.S. reaching a combined audience of more than 100 million”.
Only time will tell what the future holds for SoundCloud, but this growth is certainly a good sign for the streaming company. Read the full MBW report covering the growth here.