“On SoundCloud” is a new offering from SoundCloud. I wish I could say there is a clear comparison chart that explains the difference between your regular SoundCloud membership, and membership in “On SoundCloud”, but I haven’t found one yet.
The email that came Wednesday explained it thusly: “On SoundCloud lays the foundation for creators to make money from their work on the platform.”
Hmmm, OK, I’m listening. What else? (Keep in mind SoundCloud caters more to musicians than anyone else, but also note how they carefully use the word “creators”, so as not to off-put anyone else dealing in audio production.)
SoundCloud goes on to say:
“We’re laying this foundation by initially inviting a small group of creators to become Premier partners in the On SoundCloud program, enabling them to make money on the platform. Over time we will roll this out across the creator community. To make this possible, we’re introducing advertising from select brand partners to SoundCloud. When someone sees or hears an ad, they’re supporting an artist. We will include ads gradually and bring on more advertisers as we grow On SoundCloud.“
Now I’m wondering if this means SoundCloud is going to start cluttering-up their relatively clean interface with a bunch of ads.
I already have a “Pro” subscription, and this is what I get for $107/year:
- Post unlimited sounds (Single file size limit of 2GB and up to 30 hours of upload time a week)
- Unlimited downloads/sound
- Comprehensive stats
- Quiet mode
- Spotlight
The Stats, quiet mode, and spotlight features make it worth the pro plan for me. Stats (like VoiceZam) lets you see who listened to what. Quiet mode lets you moderate comments, and Spotlight allows you to “pin” certain tracks to the top of your profile.
I compared both SoundCloud and On SoundCloud sites for quite some time, and I think this is what all this amounts to: On SoundCloud creates yet another new category above “Pro” called “Premier”.
Premier offers all you get with the Pro plan, but adds promoted tracks and profiles, and revenue sharing. Cost is not quoted. The site asks you to contact them for pricing. When I did so, I basically entered my contact information and was told I’d be in a queue for more information, and that Premier was going to be available only in the USA for starters. Surprising, as SoundCloud is based in Germany.
So there you have it. SoundCloud is gearing up for a plan that actually might get your tracks promoted, but for voice-actors…kinda doubtful that your tracks will bring in much revenue sharing. I could be totally wrong…so for now, it’s wait and see for me.
I like that SoundCloud, though, doesn’t like to rest on their achievements. It’s a good service, but they always seem to be looking for ways to make it better.
CourVO
