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YouTube As Well As SoundCloud Should Worry About PRS Lawsuit

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Music Ally:

We reported yesterday on PRS for Music’s decision to sue SoundCloud for copyright infringement. Over the course of the day, the key contradiction between the two parties’ statements became clear: it’s about whether SoundCloud is willing to strike a licensing deal, and specifically whether that deal would apply to both its existing free service and its upcoming subscription tier.



Meanwhile, it also became clear that this lawsuit may have strong implications for YouTube, not just SoundCloud.



In recent months, when rightsholders have complained about what they see as misuse of safe-harbour protection, they have often grouped SoundCloud and YouTube together as examples. YouTube, of course, has a licensing deal with PRS for Music last renewed in 2013.



If PRS for Music takes SoundCloud to court and wins, delivering a blow to that mooted safe-harbour defence, think how much stronger its hand will be when the time comes (as it soon will) to renegotiate its YouTube deal. Multiple sources have suggested to Music Ally that this is the real significance of the SoundCloud lawsuit. “The stakes are super high,” as one of them put it. Indeed.


2016 may turn out to be ‘The Year Of The Shake-Up’.

(previously)

We Now Return To The SoundCloud Soap Opera …

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FACT:

The Performing Rights Society for Music has taken legal action against (SoundCloud).



In an email sent out to PRS members, the body explains that “after careful consideration, and following five years of unsuccessful negotiations, we now find ourselves in a situation where we have no alternative but to commence legal proceedings against SoundCloud.”



PRS is responsible for collecting publishing royalties for musicians, for radio plays, public performances and more. Its issue with SoundCloud stems from the fact that despite having over 175m unique listeners per month, SoundCloud “continues to deny it needs a PRS for Music licence for its existing service available in the UK and Europe, meaning it is not remunerating our members.”


Now here’s a thorny situation for SoundCloud to address, especially if other PROs (BMI and ASCAP especially) choose to follow in PRS’s lead. There are rumblings that indeed these US counterparts are also considering action. I’m thinking an amicable resolution is required as part of SoundCloud’s impending alliances with the three majors (see below) but, if not, is it a realistic possibility that litigation from the publishing royalty collectors could finally bring the site down, Grooveshark-style? Do the majors, with their shiny new percentage stakes in the company and cash advances, even care?

Let’s reminisce about the early days of SoundCloud, pre-2010. It was a godsend to producers and musicians, promising a social network where they could not only post and share their own material, but also create embeddable players for their own sites. I know I was excited and, like many, ponied up the $500+ a year fee for the convenience and potentially powerful new avenue for self-promotion. I believe this was the early intention of SoundCloud: a place for audio content creators to share and promote their own material, and royalty and rights weren’t a concern. The fact that we’re uploading our own material implies compliance, and how easily we can spread our SoundCloud players was an agreeable trade-off.

Of course, SoundCloud’s growth seems to have gotten in the way of that good thing we took for granted. Remember the numerous times the site was down five years ago? Running all those audio streams isn’t cheap, and I’m figuring the powers that be saw mainstream adoption as a way to solve revenue drought. The nearly $1000 a year ‘Pro’ accounts suddenly were reduced to about $99. SoundCloud was becoming less of an exclusive club, and it seems a lot more users – and not just ‘content creators’ – came on board. (Side note: I remember, a mere few years ago, telling a friend to check out my SoundCloud account for my new music. This friend – not a musician, but probably a bigger, more obsessed music fan than me – had no idea what SoundCloud was. Never heard of it. It was an interesting realization that SoundCloud was kind of this insular club house, and this was probably the root of its woes at the time.)

As SoundCloud’s earliest adopters were electronic musicians (who, more often than not, double as DJs), DJ mixes have always been a major part of the offerings on the site. Growth meant that DJ mixes were becoming more commonplace, especially as mixes were the sole offering of many accounts (it would be interesting to know how much DJ mixes make up the total percentage of site content). The issues with these mixes weren’t completely under the radar in the early days – I received a take-down notice for a DJ mix containing a Marvin Gaye track about four or five years ago – but there certainly seemed to be a permissiveness, or at least a fingers-in-ears “nah nah nah” approach to the problem. PRS, in the article above, claims to have been speaking with SoundCloud about this for five years … probably mainly about their represented tracks included in DJ mixes.

It’s far too late, but it would be great to see SoundCloud try to pivot back to their content creator-focused days. Perhaps they can have a two-tiered system – a paid option for musicians to post and embed their own work without the hassle of advertisements, and then one for the DJ mixes and whatever else is being posted outside of the uploader’s copyright authority. I can’t imagine this happening … now that the majors are stake holders I’m not sure that they would like to see SoundCloud re-focus back towards independent and unsigned artists.

But it’s not all bad news for SoundCloud … or is it?


Digital Music News:

Universal Music Group and SoundCloud are now ‘days away’ from finalizing a momentous agreement, with sources close to the negotiations pointing to a pact potentially by the end of this week. The deal follows a massively-protracted, multi-year and cantankerous tug-of-war over licensing costs and a range of other issues, with critical financiers and a stable of lawyers hovering on the sidelines.



According to key sources with knowledge of the negotiations, the deal with Universal contains a substantial percentage stake in SoundCloud, with a significant upfront payment likely but not confirmed. That bears similarity to ongoing major label licenses with mega-streamers like Spotify, and reflects an interest in capturing an elephantine payout around a ‘liquidation event’.



“The majors are getting more interested in making money around the acquisition or IPO,” one industry lawyer told Digital Music News. “That’s more important than the huge advance but a lot of times they’re getting both.”



Indeed, we may be looking at the beginning of an entirely different SoundCloud, one that would replace billions of unpaid streams with actual payments to rights owners. Great news for artists, right?



Not exactly. Fast-forward a few months, and a fully-licensed SoundCloud is likely to replicate the problems currently dragging rival Spotify, with artists seeing tiny micro-payments while labels hoard gigantic lump sum payments. That includes proceeds from a massive acquisition or Wall Street IPO, something the largest rights owners will now enjoy as part owners.


The entire Digital Music News article is worth reading, as it goes into great detail about these sorts of deals and the aggressive maneuvering of the major labels. As a music publisher myself, I certainly know and applaud the benefit of royalties accrued from DJ mixes – especially those reaching thousands of plays – but I’m not certain that the deals that are being made will deliver for songwriters, especially independent ones. These agreements aren’t being made with the artists in mind, as evidenced by the lack of distribution of the upfront cash payouts (at least the PRS grievance is legitimately in representation of affiliated songwriters). Instead, my concern is that SoundCloud will become crippled or useless as a ‘level playing field’ promotions platform, and we’ll look back wistfully at the site’s golden days as we receive yet another tiny ‘micro-payment’ for our trouble.

Universal Music Cuts Deal With Soundcloud, Reported Equity Stake Could Hurt Artists

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Hypebot:

Soundcloud is in the final stages of a licensing deal with the Universal Music Group, sources tell MBW. The deal would reportedly give UMG a substantial stake in Soundcloud.



While details of the deal are not yet known, many in the industry question the efficacy of similar label deals with other music streamers which exchange potential revenue for artists for an equity stake for the corporation which artists often do not participate in.



That leaves Sony, the second largest player after UMG, the missing deal in Soundcloud’s monetization strategy; and given Sony forced takedowns earlier this year, a deal may not be imminent.

An Update: What The Hell Is Going On With Soundcloud?

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I really don’t mean to be posting about SoundCloud every single day, but this new article from FACT, nicely summing up the service’s recent headaches and the cause for these issues, is too good to pass up.

FACT:

Moves like this and the suspension of Dummy’s account aren’t great PR for SoundCloud. In both cases there’s no evidence to suggest they’ve done anything to warrant having their accounts shut down, and it affects the livelihood of both. Dummy, like many music sites, relies on its account to host track premieres from small artists, who in turn get the boost from Dummy’s following. If a music magazine were to lose its SoundCloud account, it could suffer a loss of traffic from a lack of premieres, and smaller artists lose a platform for exposure. But anecdotal evidence suggests this isn’t necessarily the fault of SoundCloud, but of heavy-handed requests from major labels over a licensing impasse that’s been going on for over a year.



SoundCloud has an official line on copyrighted material, but much of what goes on behind the scenes is still unknown to most people. In Dummy’s case, the trigger for its problems was material it claims had been sitting there for years. The goalposts seem to be moved on a daily basis, and nobody really has any idea why, or to what extent.



FACT asked Sony Music for comment on both their policy regarding SoundCloud account takedowns and Dummy’s allegations that it was given the tracks to host by the company itself, but Sony has yet to respond. Sony has every right to ask SoundCloud to remove illegally uploaded or remixed material, but its treatment of Dummy seems especially heavy-handed given the situation, and its silence on the matter makes it seem as if it’s happy to let SoundCloud take the blame.



The potential loss of the platform would have fairly serious implications, not just for small artists but the music industry as a whole. If the service goes the way of Grooveshark, it won’t just be underground artists like Plastician that lose their access to a wealth of undiscovered talent – it’ll be the majors losing their access to the next generation of hitmakers too.

SoundCloud’s ‘Three Strikes’ Policy Claims Another High Profile Victim

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Dummy:

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.

Living In Fear Of Soundcloud’s Take-Down Robot

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FACT:

In April, we reported that SoundCloud’s new copyright infringement software was removing DJ mixes from various websites, including FACT’s.



Things appear to have got worse. London internet station Radar Radio has today had its entire account taken down, despite clocking up over 900,000 plays.



We spoke to Radar Radio, who told us that they were originally told that they had seven days to sort out any copyright infringements on their page, but the account was closed the next day.



Mystifyingly, on top of that DJ Plastician has had his account suspended over a track that he produced, released and owns the publishing rights to.


Behold, once again, the perils of automatic copyright-detection software combined with intense legal pressure from outside forces. There’s no real mystery why Radar Radio was penalized — I’m sure they were posting shows with content that triggered the detection software — but the DJ who claims to have ownership of every facet of the removed track seems to have been a victim of electronic misidentification. (Update: Another possibility I just considered is that his distributor may have claimed the copyright which triggered the take-down. It wouldn’t seem that a distributor would hold the necessary rights to be able to do this, but I do know — from experience — that INgrooves was causing some take-downs for a while. If that’s still happening or how common a practice this is among digital distribution entities is unknown to me.)

I was told that SoundCloud had a ‘three strikes’ rule, where an account would be terminated if this threshold of copyright infringement had been reached. This was worrisome for me as I have a lot of Q-Burns Abstract Message content on my SoundCloud account that have master rights ownership by various entities, though I am the songwriter and publisher. Legally the master holders do have the right to flag my content, but I am always able to work it out with them to keep these tracks live on my account. But every time SoundCloud updates this detection software (or new audio fingerprints are added en masse) then I’m confronted with a number of new take-downs to dispute. It’s annoying, but even more annoying is the fear of suddenly acquiring three take-downs at once for my own compositions, and then I’m going through the hassle of reinstating my terminated account.

One should not have to use a service — and pay for it, as I am — while being fearful that it could be taken from you for reasons outside of your control. Surely this can’t be the way forward.

I am pretty certain SoundCloud are sick about all this and wish it weren’t the case. Indeed, our friends at Universal, Sony, et al are to blame. And credit where credit is due — when I do have to deal with a take-down, SoundCloud are always reasonably swift to consider my dispute and have the track reinstated. As always, I remain interested, though not necessarily optimistic, in how the company works to resolve their own dispute with the major label bullies.

SoundCloud Losing Money Fast As Record Labels Apply Licensing Pressure

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More SoundCloud pain.

Tech Times:

Digital Music News has reported that SoundCloud is hemorrhaging cash so quickly that it might actually run out before the end of the year, unless it can convince a bank or other investment group to hand out more dough until it can figure out a way to monetize its business model. This is despite a recent report valuing the company at $700 million dollars.



One reason SoundCloud is burning through money so quickly is the huge legal expenses the company is incurring. Record labels are growing impatient with talks intended to legitimize the service through licensing deals, with most labels currently uncompensated for the content streamed on SoundCloud. The record labels are threatening to sue the company if talks don’t progress faster.



I always tell labels / musicians that there’s a danger in making a site that’s outside of your control the main aspect of your promotional strategy (i.e. Facebook, etc). But SoundCloud has been such a useful one, especially as an embeddable platform for our own sites. I’ll be in some trouble just like the rest of you if SC goes under, or if they limit streams for non-paying listeners or start to include audio ads in my content … there will be a heavy load of site embeds to replace. It might be a good idea for us all to start thinking about and preparing for this now.

A SoundCloud Subscription Service Is Officially On The Way

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Complex:

Over a month after a leaked contract broke the news of SoundCloud’s plans to implement a paid subscription service the company’s co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Eric Wahlforss has confirmed the move. While Wahlforss didn’t confirm or deny the details featured in the June leak, the contract that popped up online last month outlined a three-tier subscription service consisting of a free option and two premium offerings. The free option will allegedly give users access to a limited catalog with advertisements included while the cheapest paid service offers a larger catalog and an ad-free experience. The most expensive option would allow users unlimited and ad-free access to SoundCloud’s entire catalog.



SoundCloud’s paid services applied solely to musicians / labels up to this point, with potential listeners being the reason to deposit the yearly fee. It will be interesting, and probably frustrating, to see how SoundCloud will juggle its usefulness to professional users with an apparent new emphasis on listener generated revenue. Many labels and artists — including those in the ‘majors’ — are reliant on SoundCloud for promotion and embeds on their sites. If this forced compromise cripples its effectiveness for promotion then there will be a bit of scrambling from labels of any stature.

The Tonearm — Music Pitches

If you’d like to cover anything listed below, please shoot an email to michael@thetonearm.com

Please don’t share any of the (listen) links.

The release dates give an idea of when we would like to publish a story on a release, but they’re a guide, not a rule. We can still cover a release or artist if the date has passed.

Aho Ssan & Resina – Ego Death (Subtext – July 11)

Experimental / Cinematic Dark Ambient

Across the album’s eight chapters, Ego Death brims with cinematic intensity, pushing the tonality of the cello to its limits. Crackling noise, field recordings, and expansive synthesis shape the compositions, generating an ever-shifting sonic landscape where dissolution gives way to reassembly, and presence emerges through distortion.

(listen)

Hannah Marcus – Ten Bones from a Virgin Graveyard (July 11)

Post-Rock / Post-Folk

Released at last into the wild after well over a decade in hibernation, this early 2000s gothic quilt of dark and tender lit-folk, filmic instrumentals and post-rock musical theatre numbers by unrepentant singer-songwriter Hannah Marcus features a host of luminaries and n’er-do wells – including several acknowledged emperors of anarchist caravan Godspeed You! Black Emperor, genius horn player-composer Matana Roberts, violinist-sound sculptor Jessica Moss, tuba playing artist-activist Nadia Moss and drummer Kevin Shea. A collection that revels in human fallibility.

(listen)

Isaac Sherman – A Pasture, Its Limits (July 11)

Electronic / Indie / Kosmische

Drawing on a hybrid palette of synthesizers, woodwind-like samples, electric guitar, watery field recordings, and processed vocals, Sherman constructs swirling collages of sound—at once tactile and ephemeral—where pop fragments are suspended like snapshots between granular textures and recursive loops. Themes of weather, longing, and personal transformation saturate fragmented falsettos and repetitive grooves, evoking the diaristic intimacy of Arthur Russell and short poetic verses of Laurie Anderson. Elsewhere, instrumental moments evolve with a slow meditative repetition echoing the reflective minimalism of Terry Riley, Laurie Spiegel, Maman Sani and Hans-Joachim Roedelius.

(listen)

Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia Honer – Different Rooms (International Anthem, June 20)

Electronic Meets Acoustic

Los Angeles based duo of modular synthesist Jeremiah Chiu and violist Marta Sofia Honer — Different Rooms collects songs and musical motifs composed, edited, and collaged by Chiu and Honer in the weeks between late 2024 and early 2025. Except for pieces composed from improvisations recorded with Jeff Parker and Josh Johnson in 2023, most of the ideas were initially developed during live performances on the duo’s fall 2024 EU tour, then fully realized when they returned to their home studios to record, arrange, and shape the music into album form in the beginning of 2025.

(listen)

jess joy – Won’t Be Kicked Out the Garden (Joyful Noise, May 30)

Carnivalesque Odd-Pop

New Orleans-based multi-disciplinary artist jess joy — some music artists have out-of-the-box sounds, while others make music that sounds completely out of this world. jess joy is an artist who alchemizes life’s experiences — love, joy, death, and pain — and transforms them into experimental, audible, and visual art expressions. Her music is more than theatrical voice changes, fierce vibratos, wisecracks, and energizing tunes. The lyrics are deep, heartfelt, and often heavy. Produced and mixed by Greg Saunier of Deerhoof.

(listen – “dreams” + “owed the spring“)

Lenny Pickett and John Hadfield – Heard By Others II (Adhyâropa Records – June 6)

NYC Jazz / Experimental

Pickett and Hadfield are two artists equally comfortable and adventurous working within either acoustic or electronic mediums, or both at the same time as in this project. The musical freedom and personal connection they found in each other is evident right from the start. Pickett’s writing on ‘Dance Music for 4 Saxophones #5 and #8’ is of a piece with the contrapuntal, deeply grooving arrangements he did for Borneo Horns and other artists, but with the added element of Hadfield’s dancing, skittering drum work. Counterbalancing the Dance Music movements are Hadfield’s compositions, ‘Joshua Tree’ and ‘Jungle Room.’ The textures here are more atmospheric and synth-based, a chance for Hadfield to showcase his soundscaping skills on the Teenage Engineering OP1 and K.O. II synth/samplers.

(listen)

Lucrecia Dalt – A Danger to Ourselves (RVNG Intl. – Sep 5)

Avant-Pop

Lucrecia Dalt’s A Danger to Ourselves is a fearless reflection on the unfiltered complexities of human connection. Stripping away fictional narratives present on the artist’s last several albums, A Danger to Ourselves arrives from a place of emotional sincerity. Sonically unravelling like a deeply personal conversation, Dalt’s voice is foregrounded and formidable, supported by a lush array of acoustic orchestration and processing, collaged percussive patterns, and an esteemed cast of collaborators.A Danger to Ourselves features David Sylvian joining as co-producer and guitarist on select tracks. Vocal contributions from Juana Molina, Camille Mandoki, and Eliana Joy appear throughout, while the instrumental landscape is shaped by Cyrus Campbell on upright and electric bass, and Chris Jonas on saxophone.

(listen – “divina” + “cosa rara (ft. David Sylvian)“)

Pan American & Kramer – Interior of an Edifice Under the Sea (Shimmy Disc – June 27)

Organic Ambient

Interior of an Edifice Under The Sea takes Nelson & Kramer deep under the earth’s seas, pulling the listener down beside them as they explore the uncharted currents that fuel the human imagination–fluid, always moving, and always changing. It is an excursion into the lowest depths of ambient music, and a new beginning from the very place where life itself began. The floor of the ocean has a new sound, and it is breathtakingly beautiful.

(listen – “Under The Mariana Trench” + teaser reel)

Stars of the Lid – Music for Nitrous Oxide (reissue) (Artificial Pinearch – July 25)

Post-Rock / Ambient

Releasing two of the most important and influential ambient/drone albums of the 21st century, Stars of the Lid have inspired generations of musicians, authors, artists, and filmmakers, developing a cult following and near-mythic status. Over the course of their career, they have excelled at designing subtle, minimalist epics that sound as if they’re being played on a single multifaceted organic instrument. This 30th anniversary edition follows the death of Brian McBride who passed away in 2023. Adam Wiltzie is available for interview.

(listen)

TL;DR and Peter Knight – Too Long; Didn’t Read (Earshift Music – July 4)

Fourth World / Atmospheric Jazz

TL;DR is a new quartet led by trumpeter and composer Peter Knight, featuring Helen Svoboda (bass, voice), Theo Carbo (guitar), and Quinn Knight (drums). Blurring the boundaries between jazz, ambient, and electronic music, the group’s sound draws from influences like Brian Eno, Jon Hassell, The Necks, and vintage analog electronics. Knight writes: “We all wanted to form a band that makes music for its own sake… music that is not trying to ’say’ anything, not telling you how to feel, but rather creating a space into which your own thoughts can drift”. Crossing the boundary between jazz and electronica is something very natural for next generation musicians and this is integral to TL;DR’s approach. 

(listen)

3+1: Ordos Mk.0

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The 3+1 paradigm is simple: the subject receives over a dozen questions. These queries are mostly ‘stock,’ but I specifically target a few at the artist’s work. And then, the subject is asked to name something loved but has yet to be widely known. That’s the ‘+1.’ I expect a paragraph or two, three at most, with the 3+1 pieces serving as a quick look into an artist and their worldview. 

Ordos Mk.0 has other ideas, and I’m thankful for that. Avoiding the stock questions, Ordos Mk.0 honed in on the ones that directly addressed his craft and intentions. The resulting responses are lengthy and thoughtful. I could post each answer as a stand-alone post if I wanted to. I admit surprise, but I should have known Ordos Mk.0 would deliver with such depth. That’s because the launching point for this piece is the ambitious and sprawling three-part album(s), Sisyphean Audio Therapy. 

Ordos Mk.0 (I only know the artist by the alias) leans into the therapy aspect, presenting the three installments as a healing process for both the musician and the listener. ‘Music as therapy’ is a familiar trope, but in answering these questions, Ordos Mk.0 brings a unique and interesting take. In the press write-up, the artist explains:

[The albums] are intended to serve as tools for relief from stress and anxiety as well as being inspired by and about the music and other media we turn to escape from it. It was due to this cyclical nature of being music to relax and escape while also being about media to relax and escape to, combined with the unending need to do so, which feels impossible to fulfill, that it is described as “Sisyphean.” 

And the music approaches the idea distinctively, too. The albums’ tracks — admittedly and audibly influenced by the likes of Biosphere, Alessandro Cortini, Suzanne Ciani, and Trent Reznor’s work with Atticus Ross — favor song-like lengths as opposed to extended ambient drone exercises. There are nods across the electronic music spectrum and references to its history. Field recordings flutter in and out, triggering imagined possibilities and sonic contextualizing. Melody is also an essential element; there are plenty of compelling synth lines and motifs to grab us. These tracks are like snatches from misremembered dreams.

Ordos Mk.0 states that he intended his latest album, Sisyphean Audio Therapy 3, to have balanced doses of hope and despair. I hear an unequal division — there’s a bit more hope when I listen, but I tend to be a glass-half-full kind of guy. Perhaps part of the therapy for the listener is how Ordos Mk. 0’s music is open to emotional interpretation, a sort of Bandcampian Rorschach test. These cuts slice through hard times and take us — creator and listener — along with them. And it’s important when listening to remember that Camus considered Sisyphus a happy but absurd hero, “one who does not have false hope but also does not sink into despair.“

Enjoy this extended bit of 3+1 with Ordos Mk.0 — there’s a lot to sink your teeth into. Also — the artist provided the original photography on which this post’s graphics are based.

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