Got a spare billion lying around? Streaming music service SoundCloud may be looking for a buyer, reports Bloomberg. Bloomberg says the company’s founders and investors, as well as investment firm Doughty Hanson & Co., are looking for potential buyers. So far though, the Berlin-based SoundCloud hasn’t had any luck, perhaps because the company was valued at only $700 million during its most recent funding round, which included a $70 million investment from Twitter.
SoundCloud uses an ad-supported freemium model and has approximately 175 million users who listen to music, share songs and who record music on the platform, says Bloomberg. Earlier this year the streaming music service launched SoundCloud Go, a premium subscription that gives users an ad-free experience, access to over 125 million tracks, and the ability to listen offline. The subscription is available for $9.99 a month after a 30-day trial.
The challenge, of course, is converting free SoundCloud users to the new premium product. According to Billboard, one source says that SoundCloud has only brought in paying subscribers in the “tens of thousands,” a very low conversion rate. With rivals like Spotify and Apple Music offering similar features for the same price, it will be difficult for SoundCloud to attract new subscribers, says Newsy and a 2015 Nielsen music report supports that assertion.
According to the Nielsen report, the top 3 reasons for selecting a streaming service are:
The top 3 reasons not subscribe are:
- Services are too expensive (46 percent)
- Streaming music is available for free (42 percent)
- Consumer won’t use the streaming service enough (38 percent)
The likelihood of the study’s participants purchasing streaming music in the next 6 months is not promising either:
Insider Take:
So why does SoundCloud want to sell? Our guess: finances and competition. As a privately-held company, SoundCloud is not required to publicly disclose its financials. However, earlier this year it released figures from 2014 which revealed that revenue grew 53.9 percent that year (about $19.7 million U.S.), but it reported a loss of $41.8 million, according to Billboard. Essentially, SoundCloud spent $63.8 million to generate $19.7 million. The company is expecting losses for the next three years as it signs more licensing deals and invests in its platform.
Competition is also a major factor. SoundCloud was founded in 2007 and has built a huge following of free fans, but since that time, Spotify has grown, gaining 75 million listeners, and Apple Music launched a year ago, amassing 10 million paying subscribers. Tidal, under new ownership since 2015, continues to grow, and Pandora, which is also suffering financially, is trying to differentiate itself as well and is looking to beefing up its ad offerings to further diversify its revenue streams.
Bottom line: The streaming music business is a tough one, even with periodic infusions of cash. The industry has some significant issues, including payment of licensing fees and royalties but also overcoming the belief that music should be free. SoundCloud is not alone.
We don’t know if SoundCloud will find a buyer at $1 billion, but it seems unlikely if the company’s financials follow 2014 patterns and its valuation remains substantially below $1 billion. Maybe new management and a radical shift in strategy are in order.