SoundCloud is now allowing its artists to keep the full amount of their distribution royalties.
It comes as part of a new addition to the Artist and Artist Pro subscriptions, and will see the company remove its distribution revenue share by the end of the month, meaning that artists on the platform will be allowed to keep the full amount of their royalties going forward.
The company has described the move as the “most artist-first subscription on the market”.
While artists who make royalties directly on SoundCloud have always kept all of their royalties, this new addition will mean that those rules will extend to distributions on all other major streaming platforms including Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music and TikTok.
CEO of SoundCloud, Eliah Seton, said in a new statement: “SoundCloud has always been about putting artists first. With this launch, we’re taking that mission further by giving artists a truly all-in-one subscription, including distribution without detours, community without barriers, and monetisation without compromise, including direct support from their fans.”
As highlighted by MusicWeek, in the US exclusively, the company will now offer free fan-to-artist support. This will allow artists to add a support button to their page to give fans the option to contribute to them directly.
Those who choose to donate to their favourite artists will be given a shoutout with a new Fan Support spotlight. Visit here to find out more.
#d0llywood1 says it best: being an independent artist is better with SoundCloud🤝. Finally, you can do it all in one place: receive direct fan support, sell merch, distribute, and keep 100% of your earnings. #blessed https://t.co/aW2DsvX8Pa pic.twitter.com/kpNAeaRVbx
— SoundCloud (@SoundCloud) November 7, 2025
The new feature comes at a vital time for artists, as figures over the past couple of years have continually highlighted an uphill struggle for artists to afford to exist, let alone play live.
It also arrives following news last year that Spotify had made profits of over €1billion (£860million), but at the expense of staff being laid off, artists struggling to make any income from streaming, and subscription prices rising.
Artists faced even more trouble trying to make any money from their music when Spotify officially demonetised all songs on the platform with less than 1,000 streams. The policy was launched on April 1 2024, but had been planned for some time.
Among those pushing for better conditions for musicians in 2025 is Kate Nash, who joined forces with Music Venue Trust earlier this year to call for more intervention from the government.
The singer has been very vocal about the tough conditions that most artists face regularly; taking to OnlyFans for her ‘Butts For Tour Buses’ campaign to protest the industry, and telling those in the House Of Commons that touring is becoming “increasingly more difficult to do.”
