SoundCloud, a German music streaming platform, has been eyeing a sale and actively pursuing initiatives internally because the second half of 2022, in response to Billboard. In the meantime, Drew Wilson, COO and CFO of SoundCloud, is getting ready to go away the corporate after practically three years within the function, in response to a workers memo obtained by Billboard.
In line with Sky Information on Sunday, SoundCloud is gearing up for a sale in 2024. Sky studies that they’ve realized of two funding banks readying a possible public sale of SoundCloud. The American Raine Group and Singaporean state funding fund Temasek Holdings have been interviewing funding banks for a potential public sale later this yr.
The potential sale follows the success of SoundCloud’s new chief govt, Eliah Seton. Seton took over final yr after the platform struggled to show a revenue after years of trying to monetise their enterprise mannequin.
SoundCloud started launching subscription providers for each listeners and artists to boost their choices and create new income streams. With Seton taking the helm final yr, the corporate reduce 8 p.c of its workforce to boost profitability.
In line with Billboard, SoundCloud’s management had beforehand thought of the bold objective of reaching a $2.5 billion valuation for the corporate, with executives expressing optimism about signing artists who might generate main chart hits. Nevertheless, the extra sensible valuation goal was generally cited as round $1 billion.
Tracy Chan, Senior VP of Creator, emphasised a “billion-dollar-plus alternative” at an all-hands assembly in 2022. Regardless of these aspirations, sources on Billboard point out that the majority curiosity in SoundCloud’s valuation got here from personal fairness companies relatively than music firms. As of now, the corporate has not achieved the hoped-for main chart hits from its signed artists in 2022.
In December 2023, SoundCloud projected annual revenues of €288 million, up 7.% yr on yr. Music Enterprise Worldwide revealed that SoundCloud was set to achieve its first yr of annual profitability in 16 years because it launched, in mid-December.
