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Mixcloud launches channel-based subscriptions

By | Published on Tuesday 4 December 2018

Mixcloud

Mixcloud this morning launched a new service called Mixcloud Select which, it says, is a “pioneering fan-to-creator subscription service that brings listeners closer to the creators they love”. Basically users will be able to subscribe to individual channels on the Mixcloud platform, with subscription money split between the channel owner and the labels and publishers who control any music it features.

At launch, 47 Mixcloud channels will be part of the Select scheme, while other mixers, podcasters and programme makers currently publishing on the platform will also be able to apply to take part. The channel owner will set the monthly subscription rate, though there will be a £2.99 minimum. Where a channel features music in its content, Mixcloud will sort out paying the music industry its cut of the money by employing its own audio ID technology.

Launching the new subscription set-up, Mixcloud co-Founder Nico Perez says: “Mixcloud Select is our pioneering move toward building a fair and sustainable ecosystem that works for audio creators, artists and listeners. We want to enable fans to get closer to the culture and communities they care about, while ensuring that everyone involved in the creative process is recognised and rewarded accordingly”.

Although in some ways a competitor to SoundCloud – it being an audio-based user-upload platform for creators – Mixcloud always limited uploads to full mixes or radio-style programmes, rather than allowing individual tracks to be posted. This originally meant that Mixcloud could, unlike its competitor, license both the songs and the recordings featured in uploads via the collective licensing system in the UK, working with PRS and PPL.

However, the company has been slowly shifting over to direct deals with the record companies and music publishers, as well as continuing to work with the collecting societies on the songs side where they control the relevant rights. The company says it now has deals in place with all three majors and Merlin on the labels side, and with Warner/Chappell and copyright hub ICE on the songs side.

By linking subscriptions to individual channels – rather than the platform at large – Mixcloud will be hoping that its creators will help sign up subscribers, it providing a way for podcasters and DIY radio programme makers to monetise their content, while also legitimately using any music that they feature in their shows. Listeners who pay a subscription fee get extra functionality and access to extra content.



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