SoundCloud could sell for a billion dollars

The Future. SoundCloud is hitting the sales block sometime this year. If the company manages to secure the ambitious price tag, it may signal that the potential buyer is looking to not just keep SoundCloud alive but also position it for longevity… and double down on its mission as a user-driven discovery platform.

Check out my SoundCloud financials
SoundCloud’s leadership is looking for a $1 billion acquisition in an exit years in the making.

• The sale would make good on an emergency $170 million majority investment made by The Raine Group and Temasek in 2017 that kept the company afloat.
• Since then, company insiders say that many of SoundCloud’s moves — multiple rounds of layoffs, the introduction of creator tools — have been to help the company eke out a profit.
• Reportedly, most of the interest for SoundCloud seems to be coming from private equity firms, as opposed to traditional music companies or a takeover by a bigger competitor.

Although SoundCloud hosts roughly 375 million tracks from 40 million artists, the sale shows how difficult it is for mid-level streamers to compete with the Spotifys and Apple Musics of the world. TIDAL was saved by Jay-Z’s buddy Jack Dorsey when Square acquired it in 2021, while Epic offloaded Bandcamp to Songtradr late last year.

Streamers need to make a lot of noise to survive on their own.