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Twitter confirms investment in SoundCloud

By | Published on Wednesday 15 June 2016

SoundCloud

So, Twitter may have bailed on plans to buy SoundCloud two years ago – just when the streaming platform could really have done with a big buyer taking it over – but the social media firm has now pumped a reported $70 million into the streaming company.

To be fair to the tweet-overseers, SoundCloud is in a better position now it has deals in place with most music rights owners, rather than potential and – at one point – actual litigation from the music industry. Though, as much previously noted, the long-term future of the streaming firm is far from assured as it tries to nurture new advertising and subscription revenue streams.

Of course, Twitter knows all about the challenges involved in turning a free-to-use platform with a massive audience into a decent revenue generating business, so SoundCloud’s current position will be familiar to it. It’s just a shame Twitter isn’t so experienced in actually meeting that challenge. Though its share price did rally a little yesterday; but only because Microsoft’s big purchase of LinkedIn sparked new speculation that Twitter might be bought.

Anyway, back to SoundCloud. Twitter has confirmed it now owns a slice of the streaming platform, with boss man Jack Dorsey telling reporters: “Earlier this year we made an investment in SoundCloud through Twitter Ventures to help support some of our efforts with creators. They’ve been great partners of ours over the years and their community-supported approach mirrors ours in many ways”.

SoundCloud added in a statement: “We can confirm that Twitter has made an investment in SoundCloud. Both companies facilitate and inspire contemporary culture to happen in real time while reaching millions of people around the world. This investment will enable SoundCloud to remain focused on building value for creators and listeners alike, and to continue the global rollout of many company initiatives such as our recently launched subscription service, SoundCloud Go”.

News of Twitter’s investment into SoundCloud will, of course, lead to speculation about the two companies more closely collaborating. Imagine that! More facilitation and inspiration for contemporary culture to happen in real time! I’m not sure the world could cope with that.



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