SoundCloud could have new owners by the end of 2024, according to a new report.
According to Sky News, the investment funds that manage the alternative streaming giant – Raine Group and Temasek Holdings – have started chatting to investment banks about auctioning the company off.
SoundCloud reps refused to comment on the (potential) sale, but it keeps in line with recent happenings: last year, in a bid to reap an annual profit for the first time in its 16-year history, the company laid off a little under ten percent of its staff. This week’s report claims that Raine and Temasek are eyeing a jaw-dropping $1 billion for their prospective sale – a figure that would absolutely put their bottom line in the green.
The two investment funds acquired SoundCloud in 2017, some ten years after it was founded independently. At the time, the company was supposedly nearing collapse, having been absolutely bodied by competitors like Spotify and Apple Music. It’s currently headed up by chief executive Eliah Seton, who took charge in the role last year.
SoundCloud continues to thrive with independent artists. In the 2010s it was fertile grounds for the emo-rap and mumble rap genres to thrive, and in recent years, it’s become home to a host of up-and-coming hyperpop, EDM and indie figures.
Last March, SoundCloud started testing a music discovery feature inspired by TikTok’s algorithmic ‘For You’ page.
