Alex Ljung of SoundCloud (photo: Stuart Isett/Fortune Brainstorm Tech)
SoundCloud CEO Alex Ljung is battling back against persistent shutdown rumors. That includes information pointing to a near-term shutdown of the entire operation within 50 days. Just last week, the company laid off 173 employees and shut down two offices. Lavish offices, pricey employee perks, and expensive licensing deals with persistent losses were blamed.
Just this afternoon, the embattled chief issued this official statement.
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SoundCloud is here to stay.
Hey everyone,
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.
Peace,
Alex
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Unfortunately, Ljung’s war against publications like the Financial Times and TechCrunch have sharply eroded his credibility. That includes a blistering attack against the Financial Times as ‘fake news,’ despite the publication’s information about the platform being accurate.
Just this week, Ljung blasted back against a Techcrunch story that now seems spot-on.
Separately, Ljung has apparently reached out to Chance the Rapper, assuring him with the site isn’t shutting down. But exactly why Chance was getting involved remains uncertain.
Inside the remaining offices, employees are reportedly weighing all of their options as the future remains highly uncertain.
Here’s the latest from Digital Music News’ breaking coverage of the worsening situation:
Thursday (July 13th): SoundCloud Has Just 50 Days to Live…
Friday (July 14th): How to Protect Your SoundCloud Collection Before It Goes ‘Poof’
Friday (July 14th): Is Chance the Rapper About to Save SoundCloud?
Wednesday (July 12th): Here’s a Spreadsheet of 150 Ex-SoundCloud Employees
And of course, stay tuned for more breaking details and developments!
I hope he’s right. I’d like to see them stick around.
It would be a shame. We run a great page with upcoming talent and over 2 million plays.
If you don’t know why Chance wanted to save SoundCloud then you shouldn’t do this article
https://m.soundcloud.com/jared-learn/so-stop-playing
I think he more meant about how Chance was trying to help, as in was it morale building, connections, or straight financial investment? All we actually know is that he had a call with the CEO, which tells us nothing.
http://www.papermag.com/chance-the-rapper-saves-soundcloud-2459334752.html
Actually an interesting place in the world to setup a super tech compound would be Christchurch in New Zealand..
I spent a year down in NZ and definitely think there is a solid base of talent within the Pacific South-West.
You MUSIC is SAFE!
Safe for freeloaders to enjoy it for free?
Insine, non-business activity, operated by clueless Obama lovers.
will the real remi swierczek please stand up?
You wouldn’t know business if it slapped you in the face, trumpslut
Is that Pirate Bay still going?
https://m.soundcloud.com/jared-learn/so-stop-playing
Still wondering what are those hundreds of people for. There is no social platform working within soundcloud. As a user I cannot understand that totally dumb tagging system. My son found listening to pirated music on soundcloud. Let’s face it : it’s just a repository , and legal actions may take over anytime concerning copyrights violations. Unbelievable they spent so much money on a repository thinking to go IPO as quick as they could.
Your company has helped my music immensely & because of that, I have a major release coming out very soon. THANKYOU stick around awhile 🙂
Since Soundcloud is going by the wayside you need a platform for your music. You also need to get paid for it. Here’s Zodiac Entertainment. Place your content on ZodiacEntertainment.tv for a small fee then for each download receive portion of the revenue? Doesn’t that sound like a winning musician and winning company? Contact us [email protected] #ZodiacEntertainment #revenuesharing #music #winning #artists #getpaid #download #upload
Sometimes I would have nothing against Soundcloud shutting down. Since I am in there with my (classical) compositions, I get more complimentary messages from women seeking sexual contacts than for about what it should be. I think it is going out of control – and Soundcloud’s responsibles should only allow serious postings!
Haha, When I herd about soundcloud shutting down I was like daym like is earth still werking the way it should and stuff like that. Myn we came a long way with this soundcloud $hit.
The only reason I want soundcloud to die is, that there would be space for a much better project. Soundcloud is not developing at all, it is stuck and I think that really sucks! I wrote to Soundcloud six years ago about stuff, that needs to be updated, but until today most things are still outdated. Idk why, but I also don’t care why.