14 DAY TRIAL // SoundCloud, the popular music sharing platform that wants to become the YouTube of audio, is making a move that puts it one step ahead of YouTube, it signed a deal with Getty to enable users to license music or whatever sounds they have uploaded and get paid for it, with SoundCloud getting a cut of course.
The partnership makes it easier for users to set up a deal, everything is provided, and it also makes it easy for advertisers, media creators and anyone interested to license the sounds they want.
"SoundCloud’s partnership with Getty Images Music creates a powerful offering to our community of professional and casual creators," SoundCloud CEO Alexander Ljung said.
"Now through Getty Images Music, songwriters and audio creators can broaden their exposure and potentially monetize sounds they’ve shared on SoundCloud," he added.
Creators will have several types of publishing deals available. They get 35 percent of the licensing fee along with 50 percent of performance royalties. If the music is broadcasted, authors get 100 percent of the writer's royalty and 50 percent of the publishing share, depending on the type of deal they choose.
The simplicity of it all is the important part here, creators only need to set up the deal on their SoundCloud account. Similarly, people interested in licensing the music are only a few clicks away from getting it.
The big news in this case is the fact that it's now feasible for even small and relatively unknown artists to get a publishing deal and make money off the things they create.
"Whether you’re a professional or casual creator, if you have sounds up on SoundCloud, you’ll be able to offer them for licensing to media, advertisers, designers and creatives," SoundCloud explained.
"And you’ll benefit from Getty Images’ global sales and distribution teams: they’ll help you to market your sounds and offer their expertise and experience in digital content rights and clearances," it said.