If you ever wondered why music from some of the biggest artists is not available on SoundCloud that’s because the streaming service didn’t have a licensing deal with Universal Music Group, which happens to be the largest label in the music industry. According to a new report, SoundCloud has finally inked a deal with UMG which will bring major artists like Sam Smith, U2, The Weekend and Katy Perry to the service.
Soundcloud is on the rise, it has more than 175 million listeners every month, aside from a vibrant community of contributors and aspiring artists that share music and covers on the online service.
It already has licensing deals in place with labels like Warner Music Group as well as smaller independent labels. It did lose Sony’s catalog last year and so far the companies have not been able to come to an agreement on licensing music.
Even though their label wasn’t on Soundcloud several artists signed with Universal Music Group have already released music using the service, the likes of Kanye West and Drake have released singles through Soundcloud.
The report from The New York Times also says that Soundcloud is going to launch a paid subscription option later this year which will help the service pay royalty fees on the music that it’s licensing from major labels.
Filed in . Read more about Music Streaming and Soundcloud.