SOUNDCLOUD-SONY DEAL DONE: CUE CLOUDS PARTING (UPDATE)

SoundCloud has completed a pact with Sony Music, the service has confirmed, meaning it now has deals with all the majors:

If you’re an artist signed to SME or its affiliated and distributed labels, including those distributed by The Orchard and RED Distribution, you’ll now have a way to make money off your tracks on SoundCloud. You’ll also get access to SoundCloud’s promotional tools, analysis and data in order to build deeper direct relationships with your fans.

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Having deals in place with all three major music labels means we can continue to build a unique platform and empower our community of more than 18 million artists to share their work and connect directly with their fans. It also means listeners will have even more excellent music and audio to discover.

The popular streaming service had been criticized by rights holders as another of many "freemium" scourges, and several majors had dismissed it in the past for its lack of a promising path to profit. Indeed, Sony yanked its music from the site last year. But the company is planning a subscription-based service, expected to be priced at around $10 a month, like its major competitors, and has clearly persuaded the right folks; Warner Bros., UMG and indie collective Merlin have all signed on as well.

Meanwhile, evidence is mounting that SoundCloud has emerged as a powerful discovery engine for biz tastemakers, as several recent derbies have swirled around artists who surfaced on the site.