【Randy Spears Archives】

There's another digital horse in Australia's online music subscription race.

On Thursday,Randy Spears Archives SoundCloud Go launched in Australia and New Zealand where it will face off against market incumbents like Spotify and Apple Music.

SEE ALSO: Uber's Scheduled Rides launches in Australia, but drivers won't get more pay

For A$11.99 or NZ$12.99 a month, users will get access to more than 135 million tracks. Like its rivals, SoundCloud Go offers offline, ad-free listening and a free trial period.

---

You May Also Like

---

---

SoundCloud's free service, long beloved by independent and emerging musicians, will now also be supported by ads and promoted profiles. The company is building a local sales team to manage Australian ad sales.

Already up and running in the U.S., the UK, Ireland and France, the new SoundCloud subscription service can be seen as an attempt by the company to find some kind of business model to satisfy the big end of town, without annoying fans.

Launched in 2008, the platform gained a reputation for being user-generated and artist-friendly, and did little to make money of its user base besides minimal ads. The "YouTube for Music" had become the target of legal action in recent years, however, thanks to hosting a fair portion of copyrighted music uploaded by users.

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

CEO of SoundCloud Alexander Ljung speaks during the Digital Life Design conference in Germany. Credit: Getty Images

Shortly before it launched SoundCloud Go in the U.S. in March, the company signed a major agreement with Sony Music. The studio had yanked the catalogues of artists like Adele and Miguel from the platform in mid-2015 amid a breakdown in negotiations on its way to a subscription deal.

According to Billboardat the time, the collapse had something to do with "a lack of monetization opportunities" on the platform. Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group had previously signed up.

With SoundCloud Go, the company can now presumably pay per stream like Spotify. And on the free version, "Each time an ad is heard on SoundCloud, an artist will get paid," according to Sonia Flynn, SoundCloud’s Vice President of International. That should make the studios happy.

In a nod to the ongoing controversy about how little Spotify, Apple Music and the like pay artists per stream, Alexander Ljung, SoundCloud cofounder and CEO, said in a statement creators were "at the centre of everything we do."

"The launch of SoundCloud Go and the introduction of ads to the free service enables us to continue to build the most progressive artist remuneration system in the world," he added. "While offering listeners everything from emerging creators, new tracks from indies, global hits as well as hits in the making, all in one place."

The company declined to provide further information to Mashable, saying it does not disclose specifics on the deals it has in place with the record labels or around artist payments.

Since anyone can upload songs to SoundCloud, it has an army of fans who love the depth of music discovery it allows. But for free. Whether its subscription play works out remains to be seen.

• Shopping
• Games
• Tech
• Social Good
• Entertainment
• Deals
• Science
• Life

• The strangeness of Japan's decision to start openly hunting whales
• This health and fitness startup is now a Harvard case study
• Elon Musk's rant on aliens and chemtrails is your April Fools' Day science treat
• Apple ends deal with Imagination Technologies, share prices tumble
• 13 Good Games You Can Play on Laptops and Budget PCs
• Dad celebrates cancer
• Hey Crayola, quit dragging on this elaborate crayon saga. We've had enough.
• 10 simple pranks for April Fools' Day
• Boeing's new VR simulator immerses astronauts in space training
• Airbnb wants you to wear this ring until LGBTQ people can get married

• Sportscaster Dale Hansen's take on the #TakeAKnee protests is an absolute must
• After almost a year, the video game voice actors strike is over
• The BDSM underworld of the most disturbing 'World of Warcraft' sex dungeon
• Everything you need to know about the cartoon villain who is Roy Moore
• We know what Ataribox will cost now, but the numbers don't add up
• Marine biologist captures 'blue hole' in the Great Barrier Reef
• Say 'Alexa' to the Amazon Echo 2
• 6 reasons Trump should stay away from longer tweets
• Apple opens up about Face ID's security
• 'Kevin Can Wait' killing off its lead actress was the most WTF thing on TV

• The best day to book your flight, according to Google
• Things we wish our pets could say
• Dubai's sky turns black after another skyscraper bursts into flames
• Chance the Rapper announces new arts and literature fund for Chicago students
• A Typical Wall Street Republican
• Twitter kills egg avatar instead of hate speech and no this is not an April Fools' joke
• Dad celebrates cancer
• Everyone's convinced Beyoncé's latest Insta video is filled with baby clues
• Best robot vacuum deal: Save $140 on roborock Q7 Max Robot Vacuum
• This health and fitness startup is now a Harvard case study

• 'Thunderbolts*' mid
• Trump walks out of executive order signing ceremony without signing executive orders because help
• People applied to work for Hub, a fake startup whose smart home device doesn't do anything
• The teens will save us all. This adorable Google Doodle is proof.
• Robin Triumphant
• Mark Hamill is narrating a Hulu show all about internet horrors
• Chance the Rapper announces new arts and literature fund for Chicago students
• Kendrick Lamar's lyrics about photoshop and stretch marks are sparking a lot of feelings
• Norrie vs. Diallo 2025 livestream: Watch Madrid Open for free
• Fancy cats make their owners give them food by ringing bells