SoundCloud is reportedly gearing up to sell in 2024, Sky News reported first. Raine Group and Temasek Holdings, the investment funds belonging to the Singapore government, took majority stakes in the streaming platform in 2017, a decade after it was founded, for a collective $170 million USD.
In 2020, SiriusXM invested its own $75 million USD, but SoundCloud has still continuously struggled to be profitable, even after multiple waves of company layoffs. The funds have begun interviewing investment banks for a potential sale, according to Sky News. Current talks reportedly suggest SoundCloud could sell for upwards of $1 billion USD.
According to Billboard, who spoke with two company employees, SoundCloud has been eyeing a sale that would “increase the valuation of the company” since at least the second half of 2022. The publication also reported that COO and CFO Drew Wilson was planning to leave the company after three years in the role.
It’s unclear whether CEO Eliah Seton, who was just appointed in May 2023, would remain as CEO.
SoundCloud’s alleged plans to sell are perhaps indicative of a larger, downward trend of independent music streaming platforms. In September 2023, Bandcamp was sold to its third owner in 18 months, along with laying off roughly half of its workforce.
