When was soundcloud started

SoundCloud claims to have around million listeners who can tune into listen to more than million pieces of content. For most of its life, it was completely free and had no revenue stream. The deals with the major labels are what allowed Spotify to launch its premium service. That essentially means the company was forced to give away chunks of equity to launch its music streaming service. But ultimately, SoundCloud remains unprofitable. One major point of contention is the fact that SoundCloud hired a number of people into roles over the last few months knowing full well that they were going to have to make large redundancies, according to TechCrunch.

Developer Vojta Stavik and his girlfriend were planning to pack up their lives in Prague and move to Berlin where Stavik was planning to take his dream job at SoundCloud.

He and his girlfriend were planning to let go of their apartment, say goodbye to their friends and family, and relocate to the German capital. Stavik was due to start on July 17 but his engineering role was axed on July 7. He told Business Insider on the day he was due to start: "I'm moving there this week by my own without having any particular job. Stavik applied for the job at SoundCloud in April. In May, after a minute Skype call and a remote coding assignment that he spent 20 hours on, SoundCloud flew him to Berlin for a series of interviews and tests.

He was offered a job at SoundCloud two days after his trip to Berlin. SoundCloud told Stavik that it would provide him and his girlfriend with temporary accommodation for their first few weeks in Berlin. They were supposed to get the keys on July On July 6, Stavik saw a report about the job cuts at the company. He immediately sent an email to the recruiter asking whether they affected him. On July 7, he received an email from the relocation agency saying it had paused his relocation process and it was waiting for SoundCloud HR to provide it with more information.

The company also told him that everyone at SoundCloud had been given a day off to process the news. Finally, at 8pm that evening, SoundCloud chief technology officer Artem Fishman called him up and told him his job has been cancelled.

I also asked him about the possible compensation. The response was negative. Stavik claimed that Fishman said SoundCloud wanted to act like his application never happened. On Monday of last week I started that job. By Thursday evening I, along with of my new colleagues, was officially being laid off. Healey had secured a lease on an apartment and sold many of his belongings in order to move to Berlin to work for SoundCloud. It was a ridiculous start to a new job. First, there was the obligatory branded swag: a t-shirt, a water bottle, a pair of headphones, all in a branded tote bag.

Then there was the office itself: an incredible space where every detail had been considered, with free snacks and drinks, and an espresso machine.

Around the office, people were telling us it was the biggest intake in months. Stavik, Healy, and many other SoundCloud staff have added their names to an open spreadsheet of SoundClouders for hire. Recruiters that are interested in hiring the laid off SoundClouders are also adding their names and details to a separate page on the spreadsheet. Several top tier executives left SoundCloud in the months leading up to the job cuts, possibly because they knew they were on the way.

During a fireside chat with TechCrunch editor at large Mike Butcher in Berlin on July 12, Ljung carefully dodged questions that staff would no doubt love to know the answers to. In some countries it takes a long time for people to be hired. The company's current cash reserves will only last until the end of the fourth quarter, according to TechCrunch sources. Ljung repeatedly said during his interview with Butcher that he was adamant on building a strong and independent music streaming platform and refused to comment on Google and Spotify acquisition rumours.

He highlighted how SoundCloud was the twentieth most-downloaded app in the US App Store on the day before the interview. Very good engagement too. Everything in terms of the business and user metrics is growing. We're taking more control of our own future and ensuring our independence. On July 13, as rumours circulated that SoundCloud was close to running out of money, hip hop artist Chancelor Bennett a. SoundCloud is here to stay. What was said on the call isn't known.

Some people speculated that Bennett's mysterious tweet meant that he had given SoundCloud some money, while others speculated that he might be buying the service. It wouldn't be the first time a solo artist has bought a music streaming platform — Jay Z acquired Tidal in A representative for SoundCloud reportedly told Variety that the rapper is "essentially spreading good vibes about the company during a challenging time.

Shortly after Bennett's tweet, a post from Ljung appeared on SoundCloud's blog. It read:. There's an insane amount of noise about SoundCloud in the world right now. And it's just that, noise. Not in 50 days, not in 80 days or anytime in the foreseeable future. Your music is safe. Last week we had to make some tough decisions to let go of some of our staff, but we did this to ensure SoundCloud remains a strong, independent company.

With tools like SoundCloud, you can easily upload your music, follow other people who are uploading theirs, and connect with other artists. So take some inspiration from these five artists, who used SoundCloud as an integral step in their path to success.

They all proved that people can come out of nowhere and make a huge impact, using the modern tools available to us all today. Image credit: GQ. It became a viral sensation, racked over a million plays within a month , and brought Post Malone attention from labels. He soon got a record deal and signed with Republic Records. Image credit: Billboard. A year can change a lot for a rap hopeful like Don Monique. Hailing from Brooklyn, she went from being an aspiring rapper to one of the most talked about rappers.

Her popularity comes from her engaging live performances and the consistent stream of new material she puts out on her SoundCloud page. Still a rookie, she started her SoundCloud career in early and had a million total plays by the end of the year. It just goes to show that a few music uploads can bring the hype that might catapult a musician's career. Nick Cannon called her after hearing the song , and set her up with some studio time in Los Angeles.

Image credit: thesource. It was commercially released as a single in and made it to the top 13 on the US Billboard Hot