SoundCloud eyeing $1bn sale

Founded in 2007, SoundCloud, an artist-first platform, is led by CEO Eliah Seton, who assumed the role last year. The company boasts more than 40 million artists and a catalogue of more than 320 million tracks.

The report suggests that SoundCloud’s ownership might change by the end of 2024. Raine Group and Temasek Holdings, the investment funds that acquired the streaming giant in 2017, are said to be in discussions with investment banks to explore the potential auction of the company and are targeting $1bn for the prospective sale.

The new development aligns with the company’s recent actions, such as laying off nearly 10% of its staff last year to achieve its first annual profit in its 16-year history, amounting to a positive €2m (about $2.2m).

Seton attributed this success to projected annual revenues of €288m, a substantial improvement from the negative €29m reported in the previous year.

Commenting about the layoffs, Seton said: “Making this challenging decision is essential to safeguard the health of our business and achieve profitability for SoundCloud this year. By doing so, we are ensuring the company’s future for the millions of artists who depend on us for their livelihood and creative expression, as well as the millions of fans who turn to SoundCloud for the joy of music.”

In December, SoundCloud partnered with Helix and Payday Records to offer expanded global artist services, leveraging SoundCloud’s extensive global platform and Helix and Payday Records’ expertise to discover, nurture and invest in emerging electronic and hip hop artists.

Last March, SoundCloud also initiated testing for a music discovery feature inspired by TikTok’s algorithmic For You page.