SoundCloud to be first music app with ‘fan-powered’ artist payments

PARIS: SoundCloud announced Tuesday it would become the first streaming service to start directing subscribers’ fees to the independent artists they support, a move welcomed by musicians campaigning for fairer pay.

At the moment, streaming services like Spotify, Deezer and Apple put royalty payments into one big pot and dish them out based on which artists have the most global plays.

Many artists and unions argue this system is grossly unfair, giving a huge slice of the pie to mega-stars like Drake and Ariana Grande while leaving almost nothing for lesser-known musicians.

From April 1, SoundCloud will start directing royalties due from each subscriber only to the artists they stream.

However, this will only…