DJs are seeing a revolution in the way we think about music streams from Grammy nominations to a better-appreciated form of art. SoundCloud just announced that DJs will be able to make money off of their remixes and mixes on the platform for the first time ever. Their invite-only revenue sharing program will include artists that create, “recorded and live sets, remixes, and other user-generated content.”
Their Premier program allows record labels, producers and independent artists to track their statistics, use private promotional tools and of course, revenue share. It was started in 2014 as a way to monetize the artists’ work instead of uploading free content. The standards for being invited into the program were not specified, but artists like Chance the Rapper were claimed to be invited.
Although listeners are bummed about the loss of a completely free Soundcloud streaming service, the newly introduced $4.99/month plan and the existing $9.99/month plan allow long overdue benefits to the artists we love.
We all know that SoundCloud has seen some struggles in the past with multiple companies looking to buy the service, which ended in a deal with Universal. The platform has definitely been improving. The legalization of mixes and the new “listening history” feature show us how we should be looking up, not down. The new addition to revenue sharing is no different.
Music streaming is the future, if not the present, and these companies are finding ways to feed the talented starving artists out there. This revenue sharing service will bring more motivation to the electronic community and more artists will find the drive to carry on with their music careers.
