SoundCloud is about to get slightly more annoying – the Berlin-based company has announced a new creator partner program dubbed \”On SoundCloud\” which now allows specific users to have monetization on their tracks as they\’re being streamed in the US. The downside? Advertisements. Similar to YouTube, advertisements will now be presented before a track is played, with the enduser being allowed to skip the commercial half way in.
Although it is a great initiative into making sure artists are compensated for their hard work, it just seems unnatural for SoundCloud in particular. Now, you won\’t be hearing advertisements for EVERY song as the monetization program is only available for users with a new invite-only \”Premier\” account plan. However, it\’s safe to say that every big name recording artist on SoundCloud will get their hands on this feature, and every \”Top 40\” or \”Beatport Top 10\” track will take advantage of the advertising.
SoundCloud has been using the \”freemium\” model for quite some time now, more recently adding \”Promoted\” tracks in top of searches or streams, but this clearly takes it to a whole new level of annoyance, for a lack of a better word. What are your thoughts on ads coming to SoundCloud? Let us know in the comments below.
