quote:

Originally posted by tehlord It was monetised by user/uploader paid subscriptions. Where they went wrong (and this has been reported on) is running the business as some kind of frat boy money machine. The AVERAGE salary at Soundcloud is $80k.

I find it amazing how internet companies still think whatever they do is an instant money making machine and piss it all away. The dotcom bubble burst over a decade ago, did these people learn nothing?

___________________
Latest releases:
Endless Cycles [Capital Heaven]
The Charlatan [Morphosis]

quote:

Originally posted by Woony It's not sucessful if you can't monitize it. Soundcloud has been bleeding money for years and the existing premium model just wasn't working. Not that the new one will either.

Yeah, I meant "successful" in terms of widespread use and name recognition. I certainly didn't mean the way it was financially mismanaged, as Geoff alluded to, and which has been pretty highly publicized.

Anyway, I think I agree with everybody else here that SC is pounding the nails in its own coffin with this move, but, I guess we'll see. As an independent artist who does very little to promote myself, what happens to SC doesn't mean to much to me one way or the other.

___________________
cryophonik.com | facebook | soundcloud

Sonar Platinum | Ableton Live 9 | Logic Pro X | Access Virus TI2 Keyboard | Kurzweil PC3X | Nord Lead 4R | NI Maschine

It's just crazy - the problem with tech companies is that they all have this "world domination" ego - they have to be the next multibillion dollar media conglomerate or it's bust.

That was the problem with SC - as with many of these businesses, they start out on day one with expenditures as if they've already got lucrative revenue streams, but don't, and then its all investment and market speculation to try to get them there.

Eventually the buck stops (literally) and it collapses to a shell of it's former self.

What the problem with running a small to medium company that serves a pretty big niche and makes $10-50m a year? But no, they have to go all the way.

Soundcloud should have kept it small, including their costs, and just sustained.

Like TA

quote:

Originally posted by DJ RANN Soundcloud should have kept it small, including their costs, and just sustained. Like TA

Swamper pays me $125K/year to hang out here, and gives me access to his private jet and vacation homes in Ibiza.

___________________
cryophonik.com | facebook | soundcloud

Sonar Platinum | Ableton Live 9 | Logic Pro X | Access Virus TI2 Keyboard | Kurzweil PC3X | Nord Lead 4R | NI Maschine

quote:

Originally posted by DJ RANN What the problem with running a small to medium company that serves a pretty big niche and makes $10-50m a year? But no, they have to go all the way. Soundcloud should have kept it small, including their costs, and just sustained. Like TA

How do you know if their previous business model was sustainable at it's core though? The old premium wasn't exactly a great revenue stream (targets very small % of users + increases server load) and I'm not sure if it was enough to finance the massive server costs.

I agree that the direction they've been taking is stupid though.

___________________
June 2018 mix

quote:

Originally posted by Woony How do you know if their previous business model was sustainable at it's core though? The old premium wasn't exactly a great revenue stream (targets very small % of users + increases server load) and I'm not sure if it was enough to finance the massive server costs. I agree that the direction they've been taking is stupid though.

It wasn't sustainable - it wasn't realistic from the outset because it was another one of these bubble/boom or bust models.

Their revenue in 2013 was over $11m (which really isn't bad for any relatively new company, but their expenditure was close to $45m.

That's bonkers. Server costs aren't so high, especially if you use amazon or google, that you can't make a profit.

now granted, 100m users at that point translating in to just $11m revenue is crap, but that's a lack of realizing potential capitalizing on your base. They could have done so many things from making top artists pay for extra features or promotion, having better functionality for those wishing to pay a little more. Instead, now they're going to charge for what was once free. Bye bye existing user base.

I never get why these companies think they need 300 people all paid $200,000+ to run an established platform. Heartthis.at is a guy in his bedroom who made a better platform that scoundcloud did and all he'd need to do is scale the server demand. That 11m a year is looking real good for him.

I see it time and time again and the fundamental problem is that they behave from the outset (and are staffed as such in fancy premium offices) as if they are a roaring success, and then comes the pressure to get ever more investment, and find a path to going public or be bought.

However, youtube, soundlcoud etc al, might all be over shortly anyway....(new thread about to be posted)

So if you have a Pro account, your free listeners still hear adds, and you get no royalty fees per listen. OK, that's lame. No one uses that model. I don't see how this will work, it's unfair.

___________________
soundcloud

Youtube

So.... how many of you have actually signed up to Go?

___________________
-~-

Nope. I did notice they recently launched stations here in NL. It allows you to get a fees with similar music to listen to. Might be nice...

___________________

Storyteller Website | Storyteller @ Facebook | Storyteller @ Beatport | Storyteller @ Soundcloud | Stephen J. Kroos - Europa (Storyteller Remix)
Anthony Mea - Get It On (Storyteller Remix)

quote:

If less is more think about how much more more would be. -Frasier