Things have gone from bad to worse at SoundCloud, the ubiquitous and eternally struggling music-streaming platform that launched in 2008 as a platform for DJs and producers to upload tracks and mixes.
Yesterday the company announced it is cutting 173 jobs (40 percent of its staff) and will shutter its London and San Francisco offices via a blog post penned by co-founder Alexander Ljung.
SoundCloud has struggled to pay royalties to record labels and publishers, and its paid service hasn’t taken off as it had hoped.
In his post Ljung stated that the company has “more than doubled our revenue in the last 12 months alone. However, we need to ensure our path to long-term, independent success. And in order to do this, it requires cost cutting, continued growth of our existing advertising and subscription revenue streams, and a relentless focus on our unique competitive advantage — artists and creators.”
He added, “By reducing our costs and continuing our revenue growth, we’re on our path to profitability and in control of SoundCloud’s independent future.”
In March, the company confirmed the latest in a series of financial infusions, $70 million in debt funding from Ares Capital, Kreos Capital and Davidson Technology. However, it incurred a 51 million Euro loss in 2015 on revenue of 21.1 million Euros.