SoundCloud secures future with $170M investment
Just a month after laying off 173 staff members, music streaming app maker SoundCloud received a “significant” investment it said will ensure its future independence and drive development of its core tools.
The investment came from from global merchant bank The Raine Group and Singapore-headquartered investment company Temasek. According to media reports, the investment is around $170 million.
Raine Group partner Fred Davis and Joe Puthenveetil, a VP, will join the SoundCloud board. Also, in connection with the investment, digital media experts Kerry Trainor and Michael Weissman will join the SoundCloud team respectively as CEO and COO. In a statement, the company announced Trainor will also join the board of directors.
Alexander Ljung, founder and chairman of the board at SoundCloud, said: “Now in its tenth year, I’m proud to say SoundCloud stands as an indispensable part of global music culture. I look forward to fully dedicating my time to leading the board and helping drive SoundCloud’s long term strategic vision, and forging strategic partnerships and connections with industry partners and our one-of-a-kind creative community.”
At the time of the job cuts, Ljung said while the company more than doubled revenue in the previous 12 months, it still needed to cut costs and grow its existing advertising and subscription revenue streams.
He admitted the world of music streaming is extremely competitive, and said “with more focus and a need to think about the long term, comes tough decisions.”
SoundCloud said it “continues to grow rapidly with creator subscriptions, uploads, total catalogue, listening time and listener subscriptions up double-digit percentages, and at all-time highs” adding it is the number three music app on iOS, number five on Android, and a top 40 app globally on both platforms.
The company competes with apps including Spotify and Apple Music. Spotify, as well as Twitter, was once in talks to acquire SoundCloud.
Commenting on the investment round, SoundCloud said its current suite of tools are used by musicians, DJs, producers, managers and podcasters, to
(Source: Mobile World Live)
