Suspected SoundCloud closed, many people love music dazed

SoundCloud is a popular music sharing application, similar to YouTube audio version. Yesterday, the shocking event was revealed when SoundCloud fired 40% of its employees last week. According to the source, founder Alex Ljung and Eric Wahlforss acknowledged that this action will only help the company with enough money to operate until the fourth quarter (ie there are 80 days left). The PR unit of SoundCloud admits that 'We still have enough capital until the fourth quarter', although saying that they are still negotiating with potential investors.

If SoundCloud is closed, it means that we lose a means to listen to music because there are many other services. But SoundCloud also stores music, so if it disappears, this also means that hundreds of thousands of audio hours - including music, podcasts, radio shows . saved on SoundCloud will also disappear. In addition, SoundCloud is the cradle of the music community and its own music genre, a branch of hiphop that is very close to the website that people still call SoundCloud rap.

This is a music listening platform used by many people because there are very few regulations on participation, music downloading, sharing and commenting . compared to other music services. However, SoundCloud has almost never found a way to collect money from users. After 10 years and earning over $ 200 million, SoundCloud was unable to continue to exist as 'YouTube of music'.

For product creators, SoundCloud provides hosting packages from free (up to 3 hours of audio) to $ 15 / month (unlimited). For listeners, there is SoundCloud Go package, $ 5 or $ 10 to remove ads. However, compared to Spotify and Apple services, SoundCloud lacks the categories to make it easier for users to search.

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SoundCloud packages are less attractive

Compared to Bandcamp, where artists can download music for free or streaming sites such as Twitch, they both give users the option to pay directly to artists, whether for downloadable MP3s or packages. In return, the service itself will receive a share.

But with SoundCloud, users will have to spend an amount of money without knowing what they will buy, and just hope the artist he likes will get money from advertising or Subscription fee.

The lesson from the crisis of SoundCloud is not only that the creative business is difficult to exist online or the company is not quick enough to find a way to generate revenue to maintain operations. It is also the scenario when we move everything online, publish, store products on the host and take the risk of losing everything. The story of SoundCloud makes it hard to remember Vine, a popular video sharing application that collapsed last year: The online world not only lost a shared space, but all the videos on it disappeared. forever.

Although SoundCloud can still be saved by being acquired by a large company, borrowing more money or receiving investment. Chance The Rapper tweeted that 'I'm working with SoundCloud', hoping he can save the situation. But the new owner can save SoundCloud, not sure whether the content has been uploaded.

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SoundCloud is one of the popular music applications

News about SoundCloud's risk has caused many artists and lovers of music to back up their products. According to Jason Scott of Internet Archive, audio data on SoundCloud must be calculated in petabytes - one million GB - and is worth between $ 1.5 and $ 2 million to host.

It has been nearly 3 years since SoundCloud updated user data, though the company said it still attracts 175 million listeners every month. Some analysts say this number is only 70 million.