Soundcloud have frozen Dummy’s account which we have grown to over 21,000 followers having used and supported the service since it first launched. Although the page is still visible, we can no longer access to repost or upload tracks.
The reason Soundcloud has given is that we have received three strikes for content that we have uploaded which is in breach of major record company Sony’s copyright, although Soundcloud have so far not told us which tracks are in question.
Soundcloud have stated if we can persuade Sony to remove the objections then they will remove the strikes to restore and unlock our account. However, under instruction from Sony, Soundcloud are not allowed to tell us who to contact within the organisation. We have only ever uploaded music that Sony have sent us to promote, so it seems ridiculous that they would want to shut down our account and prevent us from supporting new music signed to their label in the future.
This is an update to yesterday’s post, and more evidence that the pressure on SoundCloud is getting to deep sea levels. Not that I’m advocating favored exceptions to SC’s policy, but it hardly seems like a good idea to target a respected and somewhat influential music site like Dummy. And obviously Sony isn’t the one getting tarnished in the eyes of the public. Perhaps SoundCloud should be more transparent in their take-down notices as to why certain content is not permitted, spinning it as more of a case of boycotting content from those who won’t play nice at the bargaining table. All of this backwards-bending and high stakes negotiating won’t mean anything if SoundCloud emerges with a MySpace-like public indifference.
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