A week after SoundCloud laid off 40 percent of its staff (143 employees, to be exact) and shuttered its San Francisco and London offices to put the company on the “path to profitability and in control of SoundCloud’s independent future,” TechCrunch published a scathing article this week countering many of the company’s assertions about its self-imposed austerity.
Sources at SoundCloud told TechCrunch that founders Alex Ljung and Eric Wahlforss confessed the layoffs only saved the company enough money to have runway “until Q4.” It also painted a picture where staffers were kept in the dark about the drastic cuts.
On Friday, SoundCloud countered the article with a statement asserting its financial health and positive future. The rub? Haters, we’re here to stay.
There’s an insane amount of noise about SoundCloud in the world right now. And it’s just that, noise. The music you love on SoundCloud isn’t going away, the music you shared or uploaded isn’t going away, because SoundCloud is not going away. Not in 50 days, not in 80 days or anytime in the foreseeable future. Your music is safe.
Along with each of you, we’ve built this incredible creative community of artists, podcasters, DJs, producers and more who are the driving force in pushing culture forward in the world. That’s not going to change. Last week we had to make some tough decisions to let go of some of our staff, but we did this to ensure SoundCloud remains a strong, independent company.
Thank you for the outpouring of love and support. Some of you have asked how you can help–spread the word that we’re not going anywhere and keep doing what you’re doing–creating, listening, uploading, sharing, liking, and discovering what’s new, now and next in music. SoundCloud is here to stay.
So who do you believe? SoundCloud users, are you worried about your music? Are you looking for an alternative resource? Let us know in the comments section.