Shout Out To SoundCloud

At the Grammy’s last night, Chance The Rapper, one of the night’s big winners, gave props to SoundCloud in his acceptance speech for Best Rap Album:

Chance talked about the importance of artists staying independent and his shoutout to SoundCloud was a well deserved acknowledgement of the power of platforms like SoundCloud in helping artists get discovered independently of the traditional music system and staying there.

Here’s the Best Rap Album of 2016, in case you missed it.

And if you didn’t know, SoundCloud is a USV portfolio company.

#Music#streaming audio

Comments (Archived):

  1. JimHirshfield

    You blogged about the future of labor the other day. Seems like this is (part of) the future of arts/creative. Yes?

    1. awaldstein

      I think music is unique, as are each of the arts.For example in the visual arts, aka, painting/prints, no one was been a winner or found a formula that works though few have tried creatively and hard.Music is data with value based on access, visual arts are for the most part objects with value based on scarcity.

      1. Lawrence Brass

        This is interesting. If scarcity is rooted in materiality, where does value originates in the case of digital visual arts where getting a copy has no materiality associated? I would say it comes from uniqueness, quality and originality.

        1. awaldstein

          The value of art is as broad a topic as there is of course.I was referring to actual material, scarcity-based art which is the core of the traditional art world. And great entrepreneurs like 20 x 200 have been trying to crack for years.Tough one. Bigger discussion. As it is market scarcity priced..

          1. Lawrence Brass

            be scarce.be unique.be scarce and unique.be unique and plentiful.be plentiful.

        2. JamesHRH

          There is none.

      2. JimHirshfield

        Interesting. Hadn’t thought about it that way.

      3. JamesHRH

        Bang on.Different media have different distribution models based on how they are consumed.

    2. fredwilson

      we have a bunch of bets in this area (platforms for creators) and yes i think this is part of the future of work

  2. David Noël

    Well deserved. That was awesome to watch.

    1. fredwilson

      must have felt good David

      1. David Noël

        It did indeed. Thank you for posting.

  3. William Mougayar

    … and staying there is a key part. Congratulations.

  4. Lawrence Brass

    Congratulations Chance and Soundcloud, let’s hear some modern rap..

  5. ewchaikin

    Ah, Fred. About that ending. How bout we go with “SoundCloud is a USV portfolio company. And if ya don’t know, now ya know.”

    1. fredwilson

      that would have been better

  6. LE

    This is great. Not just that he mentioned soundcloud but more importantly that he felt that whatever they did for him was enough to move him to call them out. Soundcloud could do an entire campaign based on this. How they ‘hold you down’. An expression that I never heard before but apparently means ‘have your back’ per urban dictionary.http://www.urbandictionary….Those niggas wanted to kick my ass in the club, but DeMontrell was there to hold me down.

    1. fredwilson

      i had to look up “hold you down” too

      1. creative group

        FRED:hysterically laughing thinking Fred who self-admitting listens to Hip Hop or Rap genre would need to look that up. Continues to show how culturally apart the two streets really are.EPMD (Eric and Paris Making Dollars)-Hold Me Down!https://www.youtube.com/wat…Those who always embraced the Hip Hop culture before it was monetarily appropriate.

        1. creative group

          The term was swiped and used to allow the cool kids to embrace it in a different genre. The usual.Halsey-Hold Me Downhttps://www.youtube.com/wat…

  7. LE

    Not sure whether @kirklove knows this but the company that he worked for for many years, Discmakers, was who self published Lisa Loeb. And in a sense was the soundcloud of their time.http://www.lisaloeb.com/bio/https://en.wikipedia.org/wi…To this day, she is still the only artist to have a Number 1 single while not signed to a recording contract, a remarkable and unparalleled feat for an unsigned artistAt the time when I congratulated the head of Discmakers who I knew (Morris Ballen) [1] he said “who is Lisa Loeb???”.[1] Great guy. Revived and reinvented his fathers record pressing company after taking it through bankruptcy in the 80’s.

    1. ewchaikin

      As a both Lisa fan and trivia nerd, I would note that Macklemore recently joined Lisa on this perch with Thrift Shop.

  8. jason wright

    Does SoundCloud defy the power law of distribution observed on other content platforms?

    1. JamesHRH

      No, and that’s the issue with them as a company.

  9. Owen

    I have been waiting a while for you to post something about SoundCloud. I use it to listen to rap, EDM, and podcasts through the mobile app all the time, but I have some issues with the app that seem like an intern could have fixed during a summer project a longggg time ago:1) App forgets channels/artists I have liked all the time2) Can’t search through my liked songs or playlists3) When searching for items, how come the artists/channels I have liked aren’t among the first results shown?4) No song info or tracklist info, which is annoying when listening to hour long music mixes with multiple songsOverall I really like the app now that it has gotten rid of the comments popping up, but it really seems like with the popularity and funding Soundcloud has they could have a much better mobile app.

    1. creative group

      Owen:you couldn’t even wait until they finished slapping each other on the back and drinking Chateau Margaux 2000? Shame on you for interfering with this celebration.Now give us more tips on how to make it better. (It will not be heard until a cool kid lets them know it will bring in more money) Each suggestion will equal each new update. Thank you for the suggestions.

  10. jimmydddd

    Fred, Apparently, due in part to a change.org petition, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences updated their rules at the end of last year, to keep up with the current realities of the digital music world, so that unsigned artists and streaming music are now both eligible for Grammy’s. [hat tip Joshua Bryce Newman].So I guess SoundCloud benefited from this change as well.

  11. Paul Goldman

    I love this trend. It also proves what’s been coming for years. Major labels are finally losing their grip. For years people have been clamoring about the rise of the Indie artist. Well here it is. It’s taken some time for technology and the indie markets to learn how to leverage it but finally it’s working. Sound cloud needs to take a serious look at how it handle millions of undocumented and unlicensed music on it’s platform. This issue isn’t going away.

  12. Antoine

    Well deserved for Soundcloud. I have become addicted to Soundcloud in the past two years, it is by far the best platform for music discovery in my opinion.

  13. bsoist

    Called it!I looked over at Terri and I said “well, I know what Fred is posting tomorrow”I would have done the same. Excellent!

  14. creative group

    CONTRIBUTORS:While SoundCloud a USV portfolio company (Perpetual plug was receiving a shoutout (So hip for the Cool Kids to highlight, SoundCloud is cool now) a guy who was born on Reservoir Avenue in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on March 12, 1940 and was the fifth of six children passed away yesterday February 12, 2017. This guy won six Grammy’s, sung the theme for a Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd sitcom in the 1980’s. This guy earned a bachelor of science degree in psychology and a Masters degree at the University of Iowa.One of the many tracks we will highlight from this artist is one of our many favorites….RIP After all!https://www.youtube.com/wat…The guy (Amazing Artist) is Al Jarreau and now you know the rest of the story in Paul Harvey fashion.

    1. creative group

      Al Jarreau- We’re in this love togetherhttps://www.youtube.com/wat…

      1. creative group

        Al Jarreau-Roof Garden(Who could understand him? Very catchy tune)https://www.youtube.com/wat…

          1. creative group

            Al Jarreau-Boogie DownAn Anthem for all schools… Educators swipe this song with permission of course…… I can be what I want to and all I need is to get my boogie down. You can be what you want to and all you need is to get your boogie down….https://www.youtube.com/wat

  15. pointsnfigures

    Chicago kid!!

  16. creative group

    CONTRIBUTORS:What we come to realize what is deemed cool has always been our normal.

  17. creative group

    David Noël :are you able to share the country of this home, the amenities, if it is green, etc. thankshttp://david-noel.com/image…

  18. adam valkin

    I definitely noticed that last night, and it made me think back to my first meeting with Alex in Berlin in 2010 when he laid out a grand vision that became real. impressive.

  19. Frank W. Miller

    Soundcloud f&*king rocks

  20. creative group

    Charlie Crystle:that suggestion should appear in three years on the third update in 2020. Your patronage is appreciated. Thanks for the suggestion.