SoundCloud has become the first major music streaming company to launch a $4.99-a-month, ad-free, fully on-demand service – but there’s a catch.
The firm has today announced that its paid-for tier, SoundCloud Go, will now be available for the budget price (or £5.99 in the UK).
That’s because its true premium product will now be called SoundCloud Go+ – and continue to cost $9.99/£9.99-a-month.
The difference? SoundCloud Go has 120m available tracks. SoundCloud Go+ has 150m available tracks.
You can bet your bottom dollar the 30m difference contains a whole wealth of music distributed by major and large independent labels.
(Worth noting that Amazon technically offers all of this premium content on-demand for $3.99-a-month via its Amazon Music Unlimited service – but this price is only available for those who lock their account to a single Echo speaker.)
“SoundCloud’s unique mix of content, much of which can’t be found anywhere else, is an incredibly attractive offering for music lovers who are at the forefront of what’s happening now and driving what’s next in music,” said Alison Moore, Chief Revenue Officer at SoundCloud.
“SoundCloud Go answers the call from our users who want the ability to take the huge catalog of content found in SoundCloud’s free, ad-supported offering with them anytime, anywhere, without interruptions, at a very affordable price.”
Alison Moore, Soundcloud
“SoundCloud Go answers the call from our users who want the ability to take the huge catalog of content found in SoundCloud’s free, ad-supported offering with them anytime, anywhere, without interruptions, at a very affordable price.
“And at the same time, we’re now giving users who haven’t made the jump into a music subscription plan, a robust, fully on-demand option at an accessible price.”
Additional exclusive product features for SoundCloud Go+ will be announced later this year, said the company.
Alex Ljung, Chief Executive Officer at SoundCloud, adds: “SoundCloud offers the largest, most diverse mix of established and emerging artists, all in one place. Now with three ways to experience SoundCloud: SoundCloud’s free, ad-supported offering, SoundCloud Go and SoundCloud Go+, users have even more freedom to choose the features and content they want, at the price that fits their budget.
“By expanding our offering, we not only enhance the experience for listeners on the platform, but also unlock new revenue opportunities to further expand our creator-payout program.”
SoundCloud Go and SoundCloud Go+ are available in the US, UK, Ireland, France, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Germany.
Users can sign up for a free, 30-day trial of SoundCloud Go or SoundCloud Go+, after which a monthly subscription fee applies: Thanks to Apple‘s ‘app tax’ charges, SoundCloud Go is $4.99 (web/Android)/$6.99 (iOS) per month, and SoundCloud Go+ is $9.99 (web/Android)/$13.99 (iOS) per month.Music Business Worldwide
