SoundCloud look set to cave to the pressures of Major Labels through a proposed increase in copyright policing and refreshed label licensing on the popular sound discovery platform.
A couple of industry insiders who requested to remain anonymous, spoke to Digital Music News and explained the ‘serious licensing discussions with major labels and publishers.’ the career launching site was currently having after much pressure from the majors.
At the moment, SoundCloud currently operates under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) which essentially grants immunity to sites with third-party, user-uploaded content. Under this the main issue majors face is having to report each instance of another user hosting their copyrighted material, a long and almost daily practice if you really break it down as to what gets uploaded everyday ie originals, bootlegs, remixes and mashups
The discussions are said to have begun to avoid a similar on-going feud between the majors and platforms such as Youtube and Google that have seen a flood of recent DCMA takedowns and as the insider shared “Unlike Google and YouTube, they [Soundcloud] can be touched.”
An option is for Soundcloud to further update their fingerprint technology that will automatically detect and delete any unauthorised uploads.
It’ll be interesting to see how this one pans out, especially with the rise of dance stars signing on with majors and where and how their music will end up on Soundcloud.
For producers looking to get extra plays on their SoundCloud and open their audience up to a new community, check out Track Sift where a remix competition is running with Kilter and his new single ‘They Say’ on Ministry of Sound sub label etcetc.
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