SoundCloud Hits Play on Using Trolley for Artist Payments

SoundCloud, streaming platform and the world’s largest A&R source has chosen to leverage Trolley to enhance and streamline artist payouts, fostering trust and enabling new revenue streams for the global music community.

TORONTO, CANADA – Tuesday, Feb 6th, 2024 – Trolley, the payout platform for the music industry, is proud to announce it has been chosen by SoundCloud, a leader in the streaming space, to provide payouts for their SoundCloud for Artists program. 

SoundCloud’s Product Director for the Creator product, Stephen Shirley, highlighted the gravity of selecting a payouts provider for their streaming platform, and its community of 40 million music creators and library of 375 million tracks.

“We pay out millions of dollars to artists every month and getting this right is a responsibility that we don’t take lightly. Trolley enables SoundCloud to have confidence that royalties will be handled with the care that they deserve. Overall this builds trust between SoundCloud and the artist community which is vital to SoundCloud’s future.”

Tim Nixon, CEO of Trolley, expressed enthusiasm about the deal, stating, “Our mission is to build the payout platform for the internet economy. SoundCloud shares this vision by unlocking the economic opportunity for musicians and artists around the world.”

SoundCloud’s fan-powered royalties put artists in control

SoundCloud is the only streaming platform that also amplifies the reach of artist releases as a distributor to all major platforms and social networks, including Spotify, Apple Music, and TikTok.

“At SoundCloud, we’re driving a more equitable and exciting future for all artists—big or small. SoundCloud continues to be a creator-first company, focusing on what artists need to build their careers and thrive,” said Shirley. “We believe that artists, producers, and songwriters are the driving force that continues to push what’s next. We believe that what’s next isn’t determined by algorithms and gatekeepers, but that the true path toward a long and successful career is best achieved by cultivating deep fan relationships and community.”

“And we believe that artists should be rewarded directly by their fans, which is why we launched Fan-Powered Royalties, a revolutionary new model that allows artists to be paid based on fans’ actual listening habits.”

Fan-Powered Royalties are a more equitable and transparent way for independent artists who monetize directly with SoundCloud to get paid. The more fans listen to a particular artist’s music on SoundCloud, the more that artist gets paid.

Redefining SoundCloud’s payout infrastructure for a new era

As the music industry undergoes transformative changes, the partnership between SoundCloud and Trolley signals a pivotal moment in shaping the future of artist payouts.

Tim Nixon, Trolley CEO, commented on the strategic partnership, stating, “As Trolley becomes the backbone of SoundCloud’s payouts infrastructure, it not only streamlines their financial workflows, but also empowers them to accomplish more for artists.”

Shirley shared his insight into spinoff benefits including more opportunities to strengthen the relationship with artists, saying, “With a solution for payouts in place, we can focus on how to best connect artists and fans in ways that generate more revenue for artists beyond just streaming royalties.”

If you’re a business seeking cutting-edge solutions for paying music royalties, Trolley is your partner in this transformative journey. Explore Trolley’s Music Royalties page to discover how our platform can revolutionize your artist onboarding, offload compliance, automate global payouts, streamline workflows, and manage tax compliance—all in one platform.

About SoundCloud

SoundCloud empowers artists and fans to connect and share through music. Founded in 2007, SoundCloud is an artist-first platform empowering artists to build and grow their careers by providing them with the most progressive tools, services, and resources. With over 375 million tracks from 40 million artists, the future of music is SoundCloud.

About Trolley

Trolley is the end-to-end payouts platform built for the internet economy, helping businesses make and manage payouts to contractors around the globe. Finance and product teams across hundreds of organizations—including SoundCloud, Envato, Downtown Music, Bugcrowd, GoTo, & Viral Nation—use Trolley to automate processes and enable payouts at scale. Annually, Trolley sends billions of dollars in 210+ countries & territories, with over 2.5 million total recipients on the platform. Trolley is on a mission to unlock the collective economic opportunity of the internet.