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SoundCloud Says Fan-Powered Royalties Are Working — and Not Just for Big Artists


Music economist Will Page cites three case studies to examine the merits of SoundCloud’s approach to calculating royalties.

User-centric royalties turn a big pool into smaller silos by splitting a listener’s subscription or advertising revenue based on only the tracks they streamed. For SoundCloud, a well-known springboard for young musicians’ entry into the big leagues, a model that benefits independent artists over major-label superstars would help cement that platform’s credentials in the creator community. In 2022, Rapper Lil Uzi Vert opted into fan-powered royalties and gave SoundCloud an exclusive on the track “Space Cadet” from his Red & White EP.

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