Sony Pulls Adele, Kelly Clarkson Music from SoundCloud
Sony Music has reportedly broken off negotiations with SoundCloud and pulled music from a handful of high-profile artists, citing a “lack of monetization opportunities”. Among the artists whose music was pulled from the site are Adele, Kelly Clarkson and Passion Pit, plus others. The company even pulled the music of newcomer Leon Bridges, an artist that landed his record deal because of exposure on SoundCloud. Sony has so far declined requests for comments on this story. SoundCloud has said they are sorry to lose Sony as a partner, but also claims to have paid out more than $2 million to advertising partners on the site, essentially refuting Sony’s claims that they couldn’t make money on SoundCloud.
SoundCloud does have partnerships with several major labels, including Warner Bros. And Universal, and was in negotiations in recent weeks with Sony. Neither party has responded to inquiries as to when or if negotiations would begin again.
