SoundCloud, a streaming service, is laying off around 20% of its worldwide personnel. In a business message, CEO Michael Weissman said that the move is mostly due to the present economic circumstances. Employees who might be impacted will be contacted over the following several days.
SoundCloud laid off almost 40% of its workers in 2017, stating it as vital for the company’s “long-term, autonomous growth.”
SoundCloud implemented a new payout system in March 2021 that directs funds paid in by subscribers or advertisers to the artists fans choose to stream, rather than pooling subscription and advertising money together and dividing it based on which artists contributed the most streams, as competitors Spotify and Apple Music do. They signed a license agreement with Warner Music Group in July to use the same royalty scheme.
SoundCloud is just one of several digital businesses that have lately announced layoffs or changes in employment plans (Tesla, Substack, Coinbase, and OpenSea, to name a few). Spotify said in a workplace letter in June that it will be decreasing recruiting by 25% and “examining” business “headcount growth.” Other businesses, like Google, Twitter, and Meta, have lately announced hiring slowdowns and freezes, while Apple is apparently planning to halt recruiting in 2023.
