Soundcloud In Showdown Talks With Major Labels

'Copyright infringement notice' –  aaaaahhhhhh how we at Ransom Note love to read those cold, unyielding words following a Soundcloud upload. In recent times the website has got increasingly stressy about copyrighted material, now it seems with good reason. Digital Music News has reported that the company is in crisis talks with labels and publishers, alleging that

"According to a pair of sources now speaking with Digital Music News, SoundCloud is now engaged in serious licensing discussions with major labels and publishers.  The sources will remain confidential."   

Soundcloud currently operate from within a loophole in the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, which allows sites hosting 3rd party generated material to evade prosecution, as long as they have a system in place to remove copyrighted material at the content owners request. Digital Music goes on to explain that the majors are currently dismayed by Soundcloud's less than comprehensive response to breaches of copyright.

"Sources insist there are serious steps that labels can take, and according to one of the sources, major labels are not at all comfortable with the “DMCA funny business” arrangement anymore.  ”Their [catalog] is all over SoundCloud, and it’s essentially too hard to police but that doesn’t mean they won’t start,” the source relayed.  ”If you look at what’s happening over at Google and YouTube, you have [groups like] the [British recording trade group] BPI flooding Google and YouTube with takedown notices.”

“SoundCloud doesn’t want to start that because they could get completely flooded [with DMCA takedown demands].  And that’s just one way [the major labels] will start a war.”

Much as we'd hate to suggest that the major labels are drowning, thrashing rats, ineffectively- albeit viciously- snapping at the tidal waves of modernity consuming them, they do seem intent on shitting on literally anyone who comes up with an effective way of spreading music in the digital age. We definitely haven't heard the last of this, and whether it predicates a mass exodus from soundcloud depends largely on what happens next.