SoundCloud announced today a major development aimed at enabling creators to sell their music directly to listeners without relying on intermediaries. The feature will undergo a pilot rollout across select U.S.-based Artist Pro creators, before the company expands to additional global markets. Notably, soundcloud will charge no commission on individual purchases, though standard processing fees and applicable taxes remain in place.
Artists have long retained full ownership of their distribution royalties, and the platform continues to generate income through its curated vinyl catalog and integrated ticketing services.
“It makes perfect sense for creators to assemble their audience within a single, unified ecosystem,” said CEO Eliah Seton. “SoundCloud has historically been the nexus where independent artists discover their earliest fans and cultivate authentic communities. This expansion ensures that the resources required to advance a career remain contained within the platform itself, while offering listeners straightforward pathways to purchase the music they love.”
The strategy aligns with broader industry shifts, positioning SoundCloud alongside established direct‑artist channels such as Nina Protocol—acquired in July—and Bandcamp, which regularly hosts its iconic Bandcamp Fridays.
In the wake of the announcement, Seton acknowledged growing scrutiny surrounding the company’s stance on artificial intelligence. Earlier in 2025, Futurism reported that SoundCloud had quietly updated its terms to require explicit user consent whenever content was employed for AI model training, potentially exposing user works to being fed into machine learning systems without prior approval.
Responding to criticism, Seton clarified, “SoundCloud has never authorized the use of artist content to train AI models,” and added, “Third parties are strictly prohibited from scraping or repurposing content hosted on SoundCloud for the purpose of training AI.”
“Our fundamental principle is that AI should enhance creativity rather than supplant human artistry,” he continued. “Any adoption of these tools on SoundCloud will perpetuate that philosophy.” He further noted that the company does utilize AI internally for improving user experiences—ranging from smarter recommendation algorithms and advanced search functionality to automated playlists and content tagging—while implementing controls to guard against fraud.
Following the discourse, SoundCloud has revised its Terms of Use to specify that AI-driven training is permissible solely on material uploaded to the platform when explicit consent is obtained from the contributing artist.
