SoundCloud is set to introduce direct-to-fan music sales.
The streaming platform announced the change in an announcement on August 26. The feature will be trialled on select US-based Artist Pro creators, with the company expanding to further regions soon. SoundCloud will take no commission on any purchases, excluding fees and taxes.
Currently, artists are also able to keep 100 per cent of their distribution royalties, and earn money through vinyl and ticketing services.
Speaking about the decision, CEO Eliah Seton said: “Artists should be able to build their audience in one place, on one platform. SoundCloud has always been where artists find their first fans and build real communities. We’re continuing to bring more of what they need to grow their careers into that same experience, while letting fans directly support the music they love.”
SoundCloud joins other platforms to offer direct-to-fan sales like Nina Protocol – who they acquired in July – and Bandcamp, who host Bandcamp Fridays.
Previously, Seton responded to backlash against the company’s stance on AI.
In 2025, Futurism reported that SoundCloud “quietly” updated its terms and conditions in February 2024 that would involve users “explicitly agreeing” by using the platform to having their content used to train AI.
In response to criticisms about the policy, Seton claimed that “SoundCloud has never used artist content to train AI models,” and that “we don’t allow third parties to scrape or use artist content from SoundCloud to train them either.
“Our position is simple: AI should support artists, not replace them,” he added. “Any use of these tools on SoundCloud will continue to reflect that.”
He shared that the policy reflected how “we may use AI internally” to improve SoundCloud for its users, including “powering smarter recommendations, search, playlisting, content tagging, and tools that help prevent fraud”.
SoundCloud has since changed its Terms Of Use to explain it will only use AI-training on content uploaded to the platform with users’ consent.
