Thoughts on SoundCloud and its Licensing Deal with Universal Music Group

For those in the market for a streaming service, paid subscription platforms like Spotify, Tidal, Pandora, and Apple Music are most attractive due to their massive 20 to 30 million song libraries, Tidal's High Fidelity sound quality, or other perks like Beats 1 Radio on Apple Music.

However, the streaming market may begin to shift after yesterday The New York Times reported that streaming site SoundCloud inked a deal with Universal Music Group. The agreement is a licensing deal that gives SoundCloud access to Universal's musical catalog and songwriting rights that the record label controls through publishing.

Currently, SoundCloud has reached licensing agreements with two of the three major record labels: Universal and Warner Music Group, which occurred in November of 2014. According to The Nielsen Company and Billboard, the big three labels, adding Sony Music Entertainment and Sony/ATV Music Publishing to the group, controlled 82% of the total albums sold in 2012. Universal made up 37.7% of the US Market share.

Also, Merlin, a group of independent labels, National Music Publishers Association, and PRS for Music, a British copyright collection, and performance rights organization, have all completed deals with SoundCloud.

One of SoundCloud's founders, Alexander Ljung, said to TNYT in an interview, "We've got the majority of the music industry partnered with us now." 

Due to all of the licensing agreements SoundCloud has reached, it can prepare to launch a paid subscription plan for streaming services to its 175 million monthly users worldwide.

If SoundCloud makes the move to a paid subscription streaming service, what separates it from the rest of the market? What makes SoundCloud unique?

Here is the kicker: SoundCloud is special for its new music discovery and its social media interface.

Mainstream and underground musicians, artists, and creatives across the globe are able to upload and showcase their audio work to mass audiences using SoundCloud. From there, the mp3 files can be "liked," shared to other social media platforms like Facebook, reposted to other SoundCloud profiles, and embedded into independent websites. Users can also create playlists compiled of tracks already listed on SoundCloud or uploaded files and share them with followers. This is how artists, like Young Thug, Little Simz, and Drake, debut singles and mixtapes to their fans.

Robert Wiesenthal, Warner Music Group's chief operating officer, said in 2014 after the label agreed to terms with SoundCloud, "SoundCloud is a platform built on music innovation and it has a rare ability to drive music discovery while enhancing the connection and collaboration between an artist and their following."

The beauty is that any individual can share content on SoundCloud, and build a fanbase. Entrepreneur, event promoter, and social media influencer YesJulz post her podcasts, with names like Ronnie Fieg and Joe Budden, on SoundCloud.

While Apple Music claims to link artists to their fans with Connect profile pages, the average Joe cannot make a Connect account of his own. The service is not person-to-person interaction, rather more celebrity observation and behind the scenes visuals.

SoundCloud challenges other streaming services because its social networking capabilities offer promotional value to SoundCloud users. The licensing deals SoundCloud has struck allows the shareable content to be more extensive.

Choo Jackson - Go Home

Photo by ForgetBrennan

Natively from Vero Beach, Fla., musically Choo Jackson places his origins in Pittsburgh, Pa.

After touring with Pittsburgh comrade Mac Miller during his GO:OD AM tour, granted by Jackson's REMember Music affiliation, success from his debut album Broken Hearts Make Money, and singles like "Tony Anthony Freestyle," the rapper is steadily building his mainstream audience.

Rapper Jackson entices listeners because his music is genuine. Lyrics like, "I don't wanna die all alone. I thought you was mine I was wrong. And I don't wanna ball all alone," speak to companionship. In the aforementioned "Tony Anthony Freestyle" and the song "Family First," Jackson explains how family life drives his music career saying, "For my family i do what i can yea!"

Jackson makes it apparent he pours his soul and hard work into his cultivated sound. People do not have to search far to find relatable messages from the artist, a fact that shall aid Jackson as he offers new material.

Next month, Feb. 9 specifically, Jackson will release a project titled Anime mixed by Pittsburgh fellows bradley Atom and Christo. In promotion for the record, Jackson drops off a new single, "Go Home." While fans should anticipate more introspection from the rapper, "Go Home" alludes to Jackson's entertaining and motivational enthusiasm. Listen to the track below.

InTheRough Style - "Listen To The Kids, Bro!" (Playlist)

Photo by Alex Young

In an effort to represent the new age of hip-hop, R&B, soul, electronic-house and pop InTheRough Style delivers its latest playlist, "Listen To The Kids, Bro!" The collection of music, appearing on SoundCloud, draws inspiration from Kanye West's famous 2015 VMA Vanguard Speech. West says,

“I’m confident. I believe in myself. We the millennials, bro. This is a new mentality. We’re not gonna control our kids with brands. We not gonna teach low self-esteem and hate to our kids. We gonna teach our kids that they can be something. We gonna teach our kids that they can stand up for theyself! We gonna teach our kids to believe in themselves!”

While some found his declaration for presidential candidacy in the speech absurd, his words capture an "impossible is nothing" type attitude. When he exclaims, "Listen to the kids, bro!" it is a call to action for youths to do anything and everything they set their minds to.

Contemporary artists in the mix like Justin Bieber (Journals > Purpose), Choo Jackson, Mick Jenkins and Cal Scruby are testaments to the fact that millennials are self-made go-getters. Plus, thanks to platforms like SoundCloud and Bandcamp, more young artists are able to showcase their work to large audiences.

New flavors from lauded artists, like 50 Cent's "Too Rich," reminds the youngsters out there to respect their elders.

ITR also continues its spotlight on London rap including Piers James and Adian Coker. Both artists recently debuted projects, Green Screen In-Visible View - EP and Time Out of Mind - EP respectively.

Explore and enjoy new music under "Listen To The Kids, Bro!"

lineformation (M.I.L.F) presents 10 Beers Deep

Cover art by Israel Acosta

The DMV music scene is more than the commercial success of Wale, GoldLink, Shy Glizzy, and even  Fat Trel.  For whatever reason, the music propagating from the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia has remained just that--regional.  A new wave of sound and artists are coming though, it's only a matter of time.

Washington D.C. has a rich culture of subgenres of music that have come to define our Nation's capital and its people. Take for example, a subgenre of funk, Go-Go music, which emerged in the mid 60s to late 70s.  The unique regional fusion of percussion, horns, and R&B that has been a staple on District street-corners and block parties is representative of the diverse African and African American cultures and communities that take a back seat to the Federal operations of the Capital.  Straight Up Go Go, a documentary produced and directed by Shuaib Muhammed Kedar and Shuaib Mitchell explores the roots of the music while providing a different perspective on the recent history of Washington, D.C.  I recommend watching this film not only for the historical context, but also because it encompasses what the music of D.C., Maryland, and Virginia embodies--movement, expression, and soul. 

The hip hop music that is being created within the region is reminiscent of the Go Go style not necessarily because of the sound, but because of its enthusiasm and impulsivity.  Listen to lineformation (M.I.L.F) and you'll understand the kind of energy I am referring to.  You can't just stand there and listen. 

Mitch, Phlegm, Avi Twat, Big Trees, Tedy Brewski, Mexico, and The Sleaz, AKA "Lil' Boogie",  make up the ensemble that is lineformation (M.I.L.F), a rap group based out of Washington, D.C.  Operating on SoundCloud and Bandcamp, these guys just keep creating new projects after another.  In the past four years, M.I.L.F has produced twelve major EPs or tapes, some focusing on a single member of the group, like M.I.L.F Mitch: Pink Panther EP, while others illustrate the sonic range of the entire team.

The description of M.I.L.F's most recent project, 10 Beers Deep, claims that the mixtape is, "a culmination of drunk songs," but I believe this to be an over simplification.  10 Beers Deep is a conceptual piece of music about the Navy Blue crew's hedonist lifestyle of sex, drugs, and rock & roll.  You might ask, 'What's so novel about a tape that sensationalizes those types of activities, especially when every other song being played on the radio is regurgitating the same topics?'  10 Beers Deep distinguishes itself from these other songs because of its varied approach.  Typically when you hear a turn-up song, there is a common thread of production: the rapper shouts over the very heavy bass while the trap twists and reverbs fill the background.  These tracks are called "bangers" for a reason; those consistent booms and bangs are relentless.   lineformation (M.I.L.F) essentially discusses the same things, but sonically they are not one-dimensional. 

One thing you'll note about 10 Beers Deep is the level of melody and chanting that is prevalent in songs like "This Guy That Guy", "Thottie Juice", and "Global Guts".  The repetition of the phrases and individual words--"Guts, guts, global guts..."-- creates a rhythmic flow that evokes the same infectious swaying that you'd experience with a song, like "Sloppy Toppy" by Travis Scott. Moreover, the hollow sounds of "Cocaina", produced by RobSmokesBands, is an appropriate representation of the kind of empty euphoria one might feel under the influence of drugs.  

The group's range and musicianship is evident in two of the mixtape's most radical songs, "10 Deep" and "Pussy Was Tight", produced by Trip Dixon/Gucci Luey and Maada respectively. The saxophone, which begins "10 Deep", is a refreshing addition to the heavy bass and snare hits, enabling the track to balance on moments of melody and much colder, hard-core moments where you can envision the mosh-pits in full affect.   In no other song is M.I.L.F's drunkenness more apparent than in "Pussy Was Tight."  The funky chords and pleading/droning you hear in Tedy Brewski's voice are evocative of the drunken motivations that creep up in your mind during the wee hours of the morning. 

10 Beers Deep is effective because of the collaborative efforts lineformation (M.I.L.F) heavily believes in.  In twelve tracks, six different artists were heard against the production of ten different producers.  Multiple minds are greater than one.  M.I.L.F's ability to play off one another's lyrics and beats as well as solicit input from outside creators yields a final product that is unique and dynamic, no matter how trivial a topic.

Check out lineformation's 10 Beers Deep above, and it can be downloaded along with their full discography on Bandcamp. 

Rudimental featuring Ed Sheeran, Big Sean & Vic Mensa - Lay It All On Me

Via teddysphotos

Listeners may have heard "Lay It All On Me" upon its debut on BBC Radio 1 back on Sept. 24, 2015, or on Ed Sheeran's album, X (Wembley Edition). With Sheeran as the song's feature artist, it gave UK band Rudimental plenty of exposure and air time on radio waves across the world.

"Lay It All On Me" served as a promotional single for Rudimental's third studio album, We The Generation. Now that the album's October release is behind us, rappers Big Sean and Vic Mensa deliver a refreshing remix to "Lay It All On Me." Rudimental supplied The FADER with a statement:

“We did a remix for Big Sean and when he was next in London we hooked up a session. We wanted to collaborate on something and he really felt ‘Lay It All On Me’ so we changed the beat a bit so it suited a rapper. Vic Mensa is one of our favourite up and coming rappers so we got really excited when he agreed to jump on for a verse and felt like a good fit with Big Sean.”

Listen to the new version of "Lay It All On Me" below.

Source: HYPETRAK