Earlier this year, several hugely popular rappers — Lil Nas X, Lil Yachty, and Kid Laroi — each took to SoundCloud to release exclusive tracks that can only be listened to on the streaming platform.
“Lil NAS X, unbeknownst to his label Columbia, unbeknownst to his management and unbeknownst to us, posted three exclusive tracks one week after another this spring,” SoundCloud CEO Eliah Seton told The Post. “He knows where his super fans are … And he wanted to light that fire, so he dropped those tracks out of nowhere.”
It was a moment of triumph for SoundCloud, which has, at times, faced a cash crunch as it has struggled to compete with tech behemoths.
First launched in 2007 — before Spotify, Apple Music, or Amazon Music existed — the New York-based SoundCloud is now profitable. It’s become the go-to platform for true music junkies and mega-fans, and it recently moved into new offices in the Meatpacking District.
The company, which was valued at $700 million in 2021, operates in 193 markets, but it’s firmly rooted in the Big Apple. Fred Wilson, the notable New York venture capitalist and Union Square Ventures partner, sits on the company’s board.
“New York’s the center of the world culturally and if you’re an artist or if you’re a fan, there’s no better place to be able to engage with music, live music or, or really music in any way,” Seton said.
Subscribers pay $10.99 per month to stream music from both big-name artists like Taylor Swift and emerging artists, as well as access features that mirror social media and directly connect artists and fans.
Users can post their own music or remixes, comment on songs, repost other music, join “community pages” and follow and DM other artists.
It’s the ability to both interact with and find artists that has given the company an edge. Post Malone, Billie Eilish, and Chance the Rapper were all discovered on the streamer.
“This is a place where their fans can really engage with them and their music, and that’s why they keep coming back,” Seton said. “Fans are coming to find the next great artist. And, those artists are coming to find their fans. And that, that flywheel is the lifeblood of SoundCloud.
Seton was compelled to build a platform for artists in part because of his own history in music: His grandmother was a professional opera singer, and he and his now-husband met when they were in an a cappella group at Harvard together.
The 43-year-old joined the SoundCloud team in 2021, after working for more than a decade at Warner Music, where he rubbed shoulders with artists such as Macklemore and top brass like Steve Cooper, Len Blavatnik, Lyon Cohen, and Julie Greenwald
It was a risky move jumping from a major label to an online company that had almost run out of money in 2017. But Seton recognized that traditional labels were losing their dominance and welcomed a new challenge.
“I could see that while the history of music lived with content owners, the future of music was going to live elsewhere and that innovation was taking place elsewhere and that was SoundCloud,” he said.
These day, many musicians are discovered by fans online rather than being discovered by agents and labels. More than 50% of listening on SoundCloud is to new music, and artists are willing to pay for such valuable exposure.
“Technology upended [the traditional music labels],” Seton said. “And in the last ten plus years, the content owners have kind of yielded the center of gravity in music to streaming platforms.”
In 2023, he was installed as CEO, and, that year, the company turned a profit for the first time ever.
Seton has found innovative new ways to connect artists and fans — and bring in more money.
New features, including the ability for artists to promote music to listeners or for subscribers to get early access to new music — both at an additional cost — helped get SoundCloud in the black.
“[There are things] that major labels and independent labels can’t do because they don’t access fans. It’s something that streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple can’t do because they don’t have a direct relationship with the artists. For us, we are a day one for artists who are looking to start their career, find their fans, build their fan base and take off and get discovered,” he said.
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SoundCloud has also introduced new programs such as “Ascending,” which formally launched earlier this month and features artists who have gained organic traction on the platform and are on the brink of a breakthrough.
This story is part of NYNext, a new editorial series that highlights New York City innovation across industries, as well as the personalities leading the way.
In addition, the platform is using AI to better understand subscribers’ tastes and listening habits, so that SoundCloud can introduce them to new tunes they’re likely to like.
“We’ll playlist them on what we call buzzing playlists. And those buzzing playlists allow us to really surface talent in a way no other platform can,” Seton said. “We’re looking to really break artists.”