Why SoundCloud Matters.

Written by Mitch Santell
Producer / Co-founder

One of my favorite guilty pleasures is enjoying an excellent web interface.

Do you remember Rdio? The company had the most intuitive interface and easy to navigate. There was something special about Rdio's live stream that popped out of the speakers.

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Rdio was purchased by Pandora and shut down.

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Oh if you haven't guessed yet, Rdio which was purchased by Pandora and then shut down, was so much fun to use!

I've tried Pandora, don't like it. Spotify feels to Corporate to me like the next Apple, Inc. trying to take over the streaming business. Spotify wants to morph into a record label (mark my words on that one) and YouTube the old stand by for music reference checks. (We have to track new artists all the time).

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Here is some interesting background I found on Rdio:

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Rdio was launched by Skype founders Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis on August 3, 2010. At the time they had to compete with services such as Deezer, MOG, Napster, Rhapsody, and Spotify. On September 27, 2013, Rdio added a music recommendations feature that delivered personalized albums, stations, and playlists.[10] On January 16, 2014 Rdio introduced some free streaming options, supported by audio advertisements.[11]

On November 16, 2015, Rdio filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and reached a deal to sell certain assets and intellectual property to a competitor, Pandora, for $75 million, pending approval by the bankruptcy court. As part of this transition, the Rdio service was discontinued effective December 22, 2015,[12] and some employees were transferred to Pandora, which will introduce an "expanded" experience incorporating this IP in late-2016.[13][14]

Read more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rdio

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SoundCloud is a great platform with a beautiful interface. The quality of the streaming is top shelf, and it seems that as soon as you click play, boom, there you go!

SoundCloud continues to add additional features to the service. You can start out at just 1.00 per month to try it or at least that is the offer that came in my email box.

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It is very important that this company remain in business ladies and gentleman.
Here is an example of a recent change at SoundCloud.

The folks at SoundCloud are making the process of finding new music easier than ever. Today, the brand revealed The Upload, a new music discovery feature that delivers users a list of “the freshest new music uploaded” to SoundCloud. Making the new feature even more useful is the fact the list is “personalized to your taste on a daily basis.”

The new feature is available through the discover tab on the web, while on IOS and Android it’s available through the search tab. The new feature recommends tracks uploaded to SoundCloud everyday, using your past selections to dictate which songs you might like to listen to next. With this in mind, the more you use SoundCloud, the more accurate The Upload will be. Sounds legit.

This news comes about a month-and-a-half after SoundCloud announced DJ’s and producers would be able to make money off the mixes they upload to the platform. “Beginning today, DJs and producers who create sets, remixes and other forms of creative works will now be invited to join our SoundCloud Premier program, and earn revenue for the tracks they share on SoundCloud,” reads a press release SoundCloud distributed in mid-March.

Read More: SoundCloud Launches New Music Discovery Feature Called The Upload - XXL |

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