SoundCloud has launched its long-rumored subscription music service in the United States. Called SoundCloud Go, it will provide streaming music to its users from major established artists as well as those hosted on the service, after making licensing deals with major distributors including UMG, Sony, Merlin, and Warner, with streams offered without any advertising, and with the added option of downloading many tracks and playlists for offline listening.
The new service is being made available to all users free for 30 days, before becoming a paid subscription. While it will be $10 per month, it suffers from a similar issue that Spotify ran into with purchases via the iOS app, with the price increased to $13 to take into account Apple’s 30 percent transaction fee. US-based music creators with a Pro Unlimited account have the added bonus of being able to subscribe to SoundCloud Go at a discounted $5 per month for the first six months.
It is unclear how much SoundCloud Go and its expanded track catalog will help SoundCloud rectify its financial situation. TechCrunch notes the company has raised over $123 million since it was founded, but its 2014 accounts showed it lost $44 million in the year after earning just $20 million in revenue, combined from both advertising revenue and paid subscriptions.
