SoundCloud... should I renew?

[VanderBoegh]

Hey everyone, I just got an email from SoundCloud saying that my Pro account is set to expire in two weeks. They're giving me a discount from the regular annual price (although in the email it doesn't say exactly what the discount is... might be $5, might be half off..... from what I see, there's no way to tell).

But regardless, with all the news about SoundCloud recently, should I even bother renewing? I've found it to be a priceless tool for my own business model and the way I share and shop my music around. But every new article read seems to say that SoundCloud is on it's last legs. That it's hemorrhaging money. And most alarmingly - that it won't last through 2017. Of course, people have been saying that about SC for a few years now. "Experts" also "predicted" the demise of hard-copy newspapers too, saying they wouldn't last beyond 2010, and well, they're still printing 'em.

Any thoughts? Anybody else up for renewal and having the same decision to make?

~~Matt

[davekropf]

I say renew. I'm of the belief that SoundCloud's demise is greatly exaggerated.

[funsongs]

Hey, Professor. Good question - even though I still cling onto the free one (does that make me a Klingon? )

Yesterday, in a phone call with a Soundcloud collaborator (not a Taxi-ite), I listened to the tale of this one's account being so badly hacked that they not only stole ALL of the music material - the 'infection' wiped out (her) computer, too. I don't know how it was discovered, but somehow it was revealed that the thieves
had made copyright claims to her stuff.

If Soundcloud goes belly-up - what's the alternative for those of us who want/need to get our music out - to a population that's moving away from the physical CD market?

I hope some good light can be shed onto the question you pose. A lot of us are probably in the same boat.
Cheers.

[andygabrys]

yeah probably renew.

On the other hand - if you are mostly using it to display your reels there is ReelCrafter

and it seems like the Artists Union is gathering steam too.

[Cruciform]

Hey Matt,

I was due to renew on the 30th July but I've held off for the moment. I didn't want to pay, and then watch them go belly up a month later. If they sort out their mismanagement, I'll renew then. Ultimately, they've chosen to be a business rather than a music community so potential investors or debt funders are going to want to see profitability or a sale of the business. They can only be propped up for so long.

In the meantime, try checking out Orfium, Hearthis.at and as Andy mentioned, Reelcrafter.

[VanderBoegh]

Hmmmm, thanks for the heads-up on those other services, Andy and Rob. I just saw the thread in these Forums about Reelcrafter posted by Dave, and just checked out their site & service. Looks really cool! And the pro plan - at $17 per month with 2 months free if purchased annually - actually comes out to be very close in price in SoundCloud.

Looks very sleek and sophisticated. Just a nice player that seems easy to embed into a website. Which is nice, because I don't need all those "social media'ish" bells & whistles like commentary and a bunch of automated bots trying to sell me inflated play counts. I just need something to showcase my music where I can group things into sets to send off for pitches and to play for the random listener who pops onto my website.

I may jump the SoundCloud ship and try out Reelcrafter. Gonna do a bit more research first, but I like what I see so far.

~~Matt

[funsongs]

Likewise - I appreciate the sharing of info for other sites that are music-community friendly.
It's probably too much to ask or hope for: but wouldn't it be cool if TAXI (for its members) had its own music-sharing platform?
I would dig that - as well as TAXI RADIO.

[markhimley]

Not sure where you're at in your decision making process, Matt, but this might be worth looking at:

https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2017/0 ... -24-hours/

[davekropf]

Looks like it was saved:

https://techcrunch.com/2017/08/11/soundcloud-saved/

[LOCK88]

Looks like it was saved:

https://techcrunch.com/2017/08/11/soundcloud-saved/

Great news, thanks Dave. Looks like a Renew is in order Matt!