Sony removes music by Adele, Hozier and others from Soundcloud

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/may/07/sony-removes-music-adele-hozier-miguel-soundcloud

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“You could have had it all,” Adele sang – and the people at Soundcloud might want to give that line a closer listen. Adele is one of a handful of artists signed to Sony in the US whose music has been pulled off the streaming platform, reportedly because Soundcloud does not generate enough revenue for the label.

As well as those by Adele, original recordings by Hozier, Kelly Clarkson, duo MS MR, Miguel, Passion Pit and recent signing Leon Bridges have been removed from the artists’ Soundcloud profile pages.

Representatives from Sony Music and Columbia Records have not released an official statement about the music’s disappearing act, though “a lack of monetisation opportunities” is believed to be at the root of the problem, according to an anonymous executive quoted in a Billboard report.

Related: SoundCloud confirms licensing deal with Warner Music Group

Soundcloud’s battle to appear legitimate in the eyes of major label executives continues. Though the platform boasted more than 175m monthly listeners in 2014, it still does not pay royalties to the majority of labels and music publishers.

Last year saw the beginning of a shift, however. Soundcloud introduced its ad-supported tier On Soundcloud in August, initially for a “small group of creators” based in the US. Then, in November, Warner Music Group – one of the three major label groups – became the first record company to sign a licensing deal with Soundcloud.

“We are in on-going conversations with major and independent labels and will continue to add partners to the program,” a Soundcloud representative told Billboard, in a statement. “We’ve always put control in the hands of creators, and anyone who makes music and audio can decide when and how they want to share it with fans.”

In this case, not sharing might be one strategy – one that Taylor Swift used elsewhere last year, when she took her music off Spotify and other services. At the time of writing, Soundcloud has not issued a statement about the music removed from the profiles of the listed Sony artists.