With SoundCloud being such an undeniable force in the music industry, this was bound to happen.
The New York Times is reporting that the ultra-popular streaming music website has struck a licensing deal with the Universal Music Group. This partnership is huge, considering Universal is home to big-time artists such as U2, Sam Smith and the Weeknd, and it may pave the way for SoundCloud to be more accepted by the music industry as a whole.
The collaboration, which is expected to be formally announced Wednesday, will give SoundCloud access to Universal's catalog, while allowing those artists to earn advertising money each time their songs are played.
SoundCloud's free service is currently used by 175 million people worldwide on a monthly basis, with artists such as Miley Cyrus and Kanye West openly embracing it to launch their own new music.
In fact, on each of the past two Fridays, West has released a new song on SoundCloud — each delivering a deluge of listeners to the platform.
SoundCloud adds Universal to record companies such as the Warner Music Group, Merlin and the National Music Publishers Association, with which the streaming service had previously reached agreements.
"We've got the majority of the music industry partnered with us now," Alexander Ljung, one of the founders of SoundCloud, told the Times.
Sonic boom.
