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Fan-powered Royalties FAQs

What are fan-powered royalties?

Fan-powered royalties are a more equitable and transparent way for independent artists who monetize directly with SoundCloud Monetization to get paid. The more fans listen on SoundCloud, and listen to your music, the more you get paid.

Under the old model, money from your dedicated fans goes into a giant pool that's paid out to artists based on their share of total streams. That model mostly benefits mega stars.

Under fan-powered royalties, you get paid based on your fans' actual listening habits. The more your dedicated fans listen to your music, the more you get paid. This model benefits independent artists.

 

Who is eligible for fan-powered royalties?

Independent artists who are monetizing via SoundCloud for Artists. Artists monetizing through SoundCloud’s legacy Premier Program are also eligible.

 

When does fan-powered royalties roll out?

Fan-powered royalties replaced the old model on April 1, 2021.

 

Why is the fan-powered royalties model a fairer system than the industry norm?

Fan-powered royalties are a more equitable and transparent way for independent artists to get paid. With fan-powered royalties, each listener's net subscription or advertising income is distributed among the artists they actually listen to, rather than being pooled. This new model benefits independent artists and empowers fans to play a larger role in the success of their favorite artists. It also encourages the growth of local scenes and the rise of new genres.

 

How do fan-powered royalties work?

SoundCloud Monetization pays royalties on the basis of a fan's plays, i.e., the total amount of money generated by a fan for the artists they listen to is based on several factors: 

1. How much the fan plays the music of that artist relative to all of their listening in a given month

2. How many advertisements the fan has consumed

3. Whether the fan has a paying subscription to SoundCloud Go+, Go, or DJ

4. The SoundCloud platform’s (i.e., website and apps) share of gross advertising and Go/Go+/DJ subscription income

Fan-powered royalties benefit independent artists whose fan bases are dedicated to listening to their music frequently. So if a fan only listens to an early-stage rapper from Detroit or an emerging singer from France, most or all of the net subscription or advertising income received by SoundCloud Monetization as a result of such activity will go to those exact artists. 

 

How do fan-powered royalties address fraud? 

In a pooled royalties model, it’s easy to game the system with vanity accounts that exist to blindly play certain tracks over and over, commonly supported by bots. In contrast, fan-powered royalties tie royalties directly to the contributions made by real listeners. Fan-powered royalties are attributable only to listeners’ subscription revenue and ads consumed, then distributed among only the artists listeners streamed that month. No pooled royalties means bots have little influence, which leads to more money being paid out on legitimate fan activity.

 

How can I qualify for fan-powered royalties? 

You can monetize under the Fan-powered royalties model by joining SoundCloud for Artists.

SoundCloud’s paid Artist Subscriptions give you access to the SoundCloud for Artists dashboard: these plans are for artists who want to reach fans everywhere by distributing their music to every major music service. You can purchase an Artist Subscription here.

 

SoundCloud Premier users can also monetize under the Fan-powered royalties model. However, please note SoundCloud is no longer offering new Premier contracts. Existing Premier users will remain in the program unless opted out. We suggest subscribing to one of our paid Artist Subscriptions to monetize and distribute your content via the SoundCloud for Artists dashboard.



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