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Demo (music)

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A demo (shortened from " demonstration ") is a song or group of songs typically recorded for limited circulation or for reference use, rather than for general public release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas in a fixed format, such as cassette tape , compact disc , or digital audio files , and to thereby pass along those ideas to record labels , producers , or other artists.

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74-670: Musicians often use demos as quick sketches to share with bandmates or arrangers , or simply for personal reference during the songwriting process; in other cases, a songwriter might make a demo to send to artists in hopes of having the song professionally recorded, or a publisher may need a simple recording for publishing or copyright purposes. Demos are typically recorded on relatively crude equipment such as "boom box" cassette recorders , small four- or eight-track machines , or on personal computers with audio recording software. Songwriters' and publishers' demos are recorded with minimal instrumentation, usually just an acoustic guitar or piano and

148-450: A chamber ensemble . A chamber ensemble made up entirely of strings of the violin family is referred to by its size. A string trio consists of three players, a string quartet four, a string quintet five, and so on. In most circumstances the string section is treated by the arranger as one homogeneous unit and its members are required to play preconceived material rather than improvise . A string section can be utilized on its own (this

222-456: A SoundCloud Go subscription will be more valuable to an artist, supposedly benefiting smaller independent artists with fans who listen to their music frequently. Little is known about how beneficial fan-powered royalties have been for artists, beyond SoundCloud's claims, over the traditional pooled royalties model, which most competing services such as Spotify continue to use. In December 2021, SoundCloud Chief Financial Officer, Drew Wilson, said

296-433: A SoundCloud artist, explained in a Rolling Stone article how the first songs he created and put on the platform were not recorded using a real microphone. The DIY nature of SoundCloud made it so millions of artists were able to put out their work without any studio equipment usually needed to make music. The freedom to upload on the platform allows for many SoundCloud rappers to post tracks impulsively or post many tracks at

370-478: A higher degree of diversity in its content. The Verge found that, excluding existing content uploaded by users, the service's initial library of songs is smaller than those of its closest competitors. The service was initially priced at US$ 10 per month. On 28 February 2017, SoundCloud renamed its main Go plan SoundCloud Go+ , adding a secondary tier titled SoundCloud Go at a US$ 5 price point, which does not include

444-414: A minor stake in the company, and its publishing division to collect royalties for songs they have chosen to monetize on the site; meanwhile, the other labels remained skeptical of the company's business model. By December 2014, SoundCloud had shared ad revenue with about 60 other Premier Partners. Concerns over the amount of revenue from the program led Sony Music Entertainment to pull its content from

518-579: A new or pre-existing composition is known as a head arrangement . Arrangement and transcriptions of classical and serious music go back to the early history of classical music . J. S. Bach frequently made arrangements of his own and other composers' pieces. One example is the arrangement that he made of the Prelude from his Partita No. 3 for solo violin , BWV 1006. Bach transformed this solo piece into an orchestral Sinfonia that introduces his Cantata BWV29 . "The initial violin composition

592-424: A new pay model for artists, entitled "fan-powered royalties", which went into effect on 1 April 2021. Under this new model, royalties come directly from the subscription and advertising revenue that listeners earn for SoundCloud, instead of allotting a certain portion of the total "pool" of revenue earned by SoundCloud to each artist based on streams. This means that a fan who listens to more advertisements or pays for

666-473: A new program known as "On SoundCloud", which would allow "Premier" partners to monetize their content through pre-roll audio ads, channel sponsorships, mobile display ads, and native content. The company announced deals with a number of content partners (including Comedy Central and Funny or Die ), independent labels, and YouTube multi-channel networks , and that it was in "active and ongoing, advanced discussions" with major record labels. In December 2014, it

740-439: A number of large-ensemble arrangements in the late 1950s and early 1960s intended for recording sessions only. Other arrangers of note include Vic Schoen , Pete Rugolo , Oliver Nelson , Johnny Richards , Billy May , Thad Jones , Maria Schneider , Bob Brookmeyer , Lou Marini , Nelson Riddle , Ralph Burns , Billy Byers , Gordon Jenkins , Ray Conniff , Henry Mancini , Ray Reach , Vince Mendoza , and Claus Ogerman . In

814-437: A part of Fletcher Henderson 's orchestra in the 1920s. Redman's arrangements introduced a more intricate melodic presentation and soli performances for various sections of the big band. Benny Carter became Henderson's primary arranger in the early 1930s, becoming known for his arranging abilities in addition to his previous recognition as a performer. Beginning in 1938, Billy Strayhorn became an arranger of great renown for

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888-473: A partnership venture with the company prior to the rebranding. As SoundCloud evolved and expanded beyond its initial user base, consisting primarily of grassroots musicians, many users complained that it had sacrificed its usefulness to independent artists in an attempt to appeal to the masses, perhaps in preparation for public sale. Such criticism particularly followed the launching of a revamped website in 2013 which, according to former CEO Alexander Ljung,

962-408: A piano introduction that conveys "unflagging energy" from the start. The arrangement of this song by Hector Berlioz uses strings to convey faithfully the driving urgency and threatening atmosphere of the original. Berlioz adds colour in bars 6–8 through the addition of woodwind , horns , and a timpani . With typical flamboyance, Berlioz adds spice to the harmony in bar 6 with an E flat in

1036-463: A rule two stringed instruments together create a slight 'beat' which does not give a smooth sound." Different music directors may use different numbers of string players and different balances between the sections to create different musical effects. While any combination and number of string instruments is possible in a section, a traditional string section sound is achieved with a violin-heavy balance of instruments. SoundCloud SoundCloud

1110-452: A small jolt to the rhythm of the opening bar, reinforcing the bare octaves of the strings by playing on the second main beat. Unlike Berlioz, Liszt does not alter the harmony, but changes the emphasis somewhat in bar 6, with the note A in the oboes and clarinets grating against rather than blending with the G in the strings. "Schubert has come in for his fair share of transcriptions and arrangements. Most, like Liszt's transcriptions of

1184-410: A typical ear for clarity and transparency in rewriting for an ensemble. Below is the original piano version of the closing bars of the second song, "Gieng heit' Morgen über's Feld". The orchestration shows Mahler's attention to detail in bringing out differentiated orchestral colours supplied by woodwind, strings and horn. He uses a harp to convey the original arpeggios supplied by the left hand of

1258-477: A very low price. Amateur (and some professional) musicians may choose to make demos available to interested listeners through websites such as SoundCloud or Bandcamp in order to share new ideas, receive feedback and/or provide fans with "behind the scenes" access to the songwriting process. In 1977, punk band the Sex Pistols released an album of demos called Spunk , which has been comparared favourably to

1332-525: Is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG . The service enables its users to upload , promote , and share audio . Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming services in the world and is available in 190 countries and territories. The service has more than 76 million active monthly users and over 200 million audio tracks as of November 2021. SoundCloud offers both free and paid memberships on

1406-408: Is also a stringed instrument, but is not a member of nor homogeneous with the violin family, and is not considered part of the string choir. Samuel Adler classifies the harp as a plucked string instrument in the same category as the guitar ( acoustic or electric ), mandolin , banjo , or zither . Like the harp, these instruments do not belong to the violin family and are not homogeneous with

1480-428: Is available for US$ 99 per year, and is available globally. In October 2022, SoundCloud announced a new program known as "SoundCloud For Artists", which is a rebranding/merger of Jeff Ponchick's Repost Network which was acquired by SoundCloud in 2019. The company formerly had two divisions of Repost By SoundCloud, Repost and Repost Select. Repost was a paid distribution platform available to the public while Repost Select

1554-599: Is less common due to the expense involved. Popular music arrangements may also be considered to include new releases of existing songs with a new musical treatment. These changes can include alterations to tempo , meter , key , instrumentation , and other musical elements. Well known examples include Joe Cocker 's version of the Beatles ' " With a Little Help from My Friends ", Cream 's " Crossroads ", and Ike and Tina Turner 's version of Creedence Clearwater Revival 's " Proud Mary ". The American group Vanilla Fudge and

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1628-407: Is limited to the assignment of notes to instruments for performance by an orchestra , concert band , or other musical ensemble . Arranging "involves adding compositional techniques, such as new thematic material for introductions , transitions , or modulations , and endings . Arranging is the art of giving an existing melody musical variety". In jazz , a memorized (unwritten) arrangement of

1702-474: Is referred to as a string orchestra) or in conjunction with any of the other instrumental sections. More than one string orchestra can be utilized. A standard string section (vln., vln 2., vla., vcl, cb.) with each section playing unison allows the arranger to create a five-part texture. Often an arranger will divide each violin section in half or thirds to achieve a denser texture. It is possible to carry this division to its logical extreme in which each member of

1776-516: The Duke Ellington orchestra. Jelly Roll Morton is sometimes considered the earliest jazz arranger. While he toured around the years 1912 to 1915, he wrote down parts to enable " pickup bands " to perform his compositions. Big-band arrangements are informally called charts . In the swing era they were usually either arrangements of popular songs or they were entirely new compositions. Duke Ellington's and Billy Strayhorn 's arrangements for

1850-460: The Lieder or Berlioz's orchestration for Erlkönig , tell us more about the arranger that about the original composer, but they can be diverting so long as they are in no way a replacement for the original". Gustav Mahler 's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen ("Songs of a Wayfarer") were originally written for voice with piano accompaniment. The composer's later arrangement of the piano part shows

1924-668: The piano has frequently undergone this treatment, as it has been arranged for orchestra, chamber ensemble, or concert band . Beethoven made an arrangement of his Piano Sonata No. 9 for string quartet . Conversely, he also arranged his Grosse Fuge (one of his late string quartets ) for piano duet . The American composer George Gershwin , due to his own lack of expertise in orchestration, had his Rhapsody in Blue arranged and orchestrated by Ferde Grofé . Erik Satie wrote his three Gymnopédies for solo piano in 1888. Eight years later, Debussy arranged two of them, exploiting

1998-452: The 21st century, the big-band arrangement has made a modest comeback. Gordon Goodwin , Roy Hargrove , and Christian McBride have all rolled out new big bands with both original compositions and new arrangements of standard tunes. The string section is a body of instruments composed of various bowed stringed instruments. By the 19th century orchestral music in Europe had standardized

2072-504: The British group Yes based their early careers on radical rearrangements of contemporary hits . Bonnie Pointer performed disco and Motown -styled versions of " Heaven Must Have Sent You ". Remixes , such as in dance music , can also be considered arrangements. Arrangements for small jazz combos are usually informal, minimal, and uncredited. Larger ensembles have generally had greater requirements for notated arrangements, though

2146-578: The Duke Ellington big band were usually new compositions, and some of Eddie Sauter 's arrangements for the Benny Goodman band and Artie Shaw 's arrangements for his own band were new compositions as well. It became more common to arrange sketchy jazz combo compositions for big band after the bop era. After 1950, the big bands declined in number. However, several bands continued and arrangers provided renowned arrangements. Gil Evans wrote

2220-572: The EP Sunday Jams . The event of a demo tape appearing on eBay has happened in the past, with the recordings being leaked onto the internet. In rare instances, a demo may end up as the final released recording of a song, as was the case with Foster the People 's " Pumped Up Kicks ". The version of "Pumped Up Kicks" that was released as a single and subsequently became a hit was a demo recorded by frontman Mark Foster alone, before he had formed

2294-555: The Rapper is an example of a SoundCloud artist who broke the mould of the industry; he released his debut mixtape, 10 Day , on SoundCloud. In a Vanity Fair interview Chance explained how he decided against signing to a major label and felt it was better for him to give his music "without any limit on it". Through SoundCloud, a sub-genre of rap was created. Artists such as Lil Pump , XXXTentacion , Juice Wrld , Nav , Lil Uzi Vert , Playboi Carti , Trippie Redd , 6ix9ine , Ski Mask

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2368-628: The Slump God , Suicideboys and Lil Peep originated from SoundCloud and have since risen to the Billboard top charts. The sound created was different from the mainstream, with a grittier and darker sound that results from a lack of production. SoundCloud rap is a lo-fi, melody driven, distorted sound with lyrics that usually focus on repetition and less on content. The SoundCloud artists themselves are known to have exaggerated appearances that include bright colored hair and face tattoos. Smokepurpp ,

2442-600: The album Demolicious by Green Day . Other demo versions have been unofficially released as bootleg recordings , such as the Beatles ' bootleg demos and the Beach Boys ' Sea of Tunes series. Several artists have eventually made official releases of demo versions of their songs as albums or companion pieces to albums, such as Florence and the Machine (" What the Water Gave Me ", among others) and Cults on

2516-427: The amount of music released every day has skyrocketed. With over 100,000 new songs released on Spotify every day, the level of quality required for demos to convince record labels has also increased, and the limits between demos and actual finished recordings have become blurrier. Demos are seldom heard by the public, although some artists do eventually release rough demos in compilation albums or box sets , such as

2590-418: The artist to provide sketches for sharing ideas with bandmates, or to explore several alternate versions of a song, or to quickly record many proto-songs before deciding which ones merit further development. Demos may include as few as one or two songs or as many as would be contained on a full-length album. With the evolution of the access to software allowing musicians to produce high quality music on their own,

2664-461: The artist will be signed onto the label's roster and allowed to record a full-length album in a professional recording studio . However, large record labels usually ignore unsolicited demos that are sent to them by mail; artists generally must be more creative about getting the demos into the hands of the people who make decisions for the record company. Many signed bands and artists record demos of new songs before recording an album. The demos may allow

2738-633: The company had acquired the Singapore based music AI company Musiio, with the aims of increasing features on the site such as discovery features. A new APN was released in December 2012 which improved mobile device support and added features such as concurrent listening, site navigation, and the ability to create personal collections. At this time, SoundCloud was reported to be "reaching 180 million people per month", with 10 hours of content being uploaded per minute. SoundCloud offers two mobile apps ;

2812-425: The company have claimed this to be "bogus," arguing that the right to manage and delete accounts should be reserved to SoundCloud itself, not to an outside company. SoundCloud first entered the music streaming industry as a new way for artists to share and promote their music. As an online platform, artists can release music without a record label or distributor. SoundCloud users are both listeners and artists, using

2886-466: The company is "at the doorsteps of break-even" and said the company expects to generate a net profit by 2023. The rise in popularity of SoundCloud Rap (a.k.a. "mumble rap") and ability for new artists to gain popularity helped SoundCloud gain enough users to continue business. Compared to other streaming services, SoundCloud is an interactive platform, which contributes to the artist being able to gain popularity. In August 2014, SoundCloud announced

2960-420: The deal would give the company an option to require certain content to be restricted to paid subscribers, a statement suggesting that SoundCloud was preparing to launch its own subscription streaming service. In February 2017, SoundCloud launched a mid-range subscription tier named SoundCloud Go, that allows users to remove ads and listen offline for $ US5 per month through the site. The original version, which

3034-449: The early Count Basie big band is known for its many head arrangements, so called because they were worked out by the players themselves, memorized ("in the player's head "), and never written down. Most arrangements for big bands, however, were written down and credited to a specific arranger, as with arrangements by Sammy Nestico and Neal Hefti for Count Basie's later big bands. Don Redman made innovations in jazz arranging as

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3108-416: The group. In 1982, Bruce Springsteen recorded ten demo songs in his bedroom that he intended to later record with his E Street Band , but he subsequently decided that he preferred the acoustic demos and released them as the 1982 album Nebraska . In more underground forms of music, such as noise music , black metal or punk rock , demos are often distributed by bands to fans as self-releases or sold at

3182-495: The horn part, creating a half-diminished seventh chord which is not in Schubert's original piano part. There are subtle differences between this and the arrangement of the song by Franz Liszt . The upper string sound is thicker, with violins and violas playing the fierce repeated octaves in unison and bassoons compensating for this by doubling the cellos and basses . There are no timpani, but trumpets and horns add

3256-470: The investment, veteran digital media operators Kerry Trainor and Michael Weissman joined the SoundCloud team respectively as chief executive officer and Chief Operating Officer. Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss remained with the company—Ljung as chairman of the board, and Wahlforss as Chief Product Officer until 2019, when Wahlforss transitioned into an advisory role. In May 2022, SoundCloud announced

3330-517: The licensed music library but still offers ad-free and offline playback. SoundCloud Go+ offers mix tracks for certain DJ apps, has a complete catalogue, and has 256 kbit/s streaming. SoundCloud offers premium services for musicians with their Next Pro service. With Next Pro, subscribers can upload unlimited audio files, access enhanced analytics, distribute their music to other streaming platforms, and access tools to reach larger audiences. This service

3404-525: The main SoundCloud app is oriented towards streaming, with music discovery, playlist, and sharing features. In November 2015, its separate app known as SoundCloud Pulse was released for Android and iOS; it is primarily oriented towards content creators, allowing users to upload and manage their uploads, reply to comments, and view statistics. By the end of 2016, SoundCloud Pulse had over 100 million downloads. In July 2020, SoundCloud introduced Insights into its mobile app, discontinuing SoundCloud Pulse. Through

3478-451: The matter of unauthorized, copyrighted material regularly appearing on the platform. The announcement followed a round of funding in which US$ 60 million was raised, resulting in a $ 700 million valuation. According to media sources, the negotiations were initiated in an attempt to avoid similar problems faced by Google , which had been forced to handle a large number of take down notices on its YouTube video-sharing platform. In May 2015, it

3552-404: The new Insights portal all users can see their top listener, top city, top country and top 50 tracks, while Pro Unlimited subscribers have access to their top 50 everything (listeners, cities, countries, and tracks). In April 2017, Chromecast support was added to the main SoundCloud iOS app. On 29 March 2016, SoundCloud unveiled SoundCloud Go, a subscription-based music streaming service ;

3626-411: The piano part. He also extracts a descending chromatic melodic line, implied by the left hand in bars 2–4 (above), and gives it to the horn. Popular music recordings often include parts for brass horn sections , bowed strings , and other instruments that were added by arrangers and not composed by the original songwriters . Some pop arrangers even add sections using full orchestra , though this

3700-586: The platform and facilitate either takedowns or ads being run against it. In July 2016, SoundCloud notified registered users via email that it would be "phasing out" groups because they "were not a strong driver to help users share their new tracks to the most users effectively". This announcement was met with alarm and concerned responses from numerous artists, who deemed the change unacceptable because it would eliminate their only effective means of sharing music on SoundCloud. SoundCloud has also been criticized for changes in service. The anti-piracy algorithm — which

3774-455: The platform together, creating a community focused space. Features that enable users to comment, like, and share songs allows the platform to operate as a social media site rather than a streaming service. In 2018, the Grammys began to recognize artists and their music on SoundCloud. The shift from The Recording Academy was thanks to the popularity of the platform and their artists. Chance

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3848-459: The platform, available for mobile , desktop and Xbox devices. SoundCloud has evolved from a traditional online streaming platform to an entertainment company. SoundCloud was established in Berlin on August 27, 2007, by Swedish sound designer Alexander Ljung and Swedish electronic musician Eric Wahlforss, and the website was launched on October 17, 2008. Later that year, Rapper Kid Cudi posted

3922-499: The platform. The initial evaluation of SoundCloud at $ 700 million did not hold as strong to investors after their financial shortages. In July 2017, SoundCloud announced layoffs and the closure of two of its five offices in San Francisco and London in an effort to manage costs. In August 2017, SoundCloud announced it reached an agreement on a $ 169.5 million investment from The Raine Group and Temasek . In connection with

3996-523: The production of their only studio album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols . Arranger In music , an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition . Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization , melodic paraphrasing , orchestration , or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestration in that the latter process

4070-490: The range of instrumental timbres available in a late 19th-century orchestra. "It was Debussy whose 1896 orchestrations of the Gymnopédies put their composer on the map." Pictures at an Exhibition , a suite of ten piano pieces by Modest Mussorgsky , has been arranged over twenty times, notably by Maurice Ravel . Ravel's arrangement demonstrates an "ability to create unexpected, memorable orchestral sonorities". In

4144-534: The second movement, "Gnomus", Mussorgsky's original piano piece simply repeats the following passage: Ravel initially orchestrates it as follows: Repeating the passage, Ravel provides a fresh orchestration "this time with the celesta (replacing the woodwinds ) accompanied by string glissandos on the fingerboard ". A number of Franz Schubert 's songs, originally for voice with piano accompaniment, were arranged by other composers. For example, his "highly charged" and "graphic" song " Erlkönig " ("The Erl King") has

4218-585: The service entirely in May 2015. In June 2015, SoundCloud announced that it had reached a deal with the Merlin Network , a group representing 20,000 independent record labels, to monetize their content through the Premier partner program. In January and March 2016, SoundCloud reached respective deals with Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment. A UMG spokesperson told The New York Times that

4292-421: The service provides an ad-free experience, offline playback, and integrates licensed music from major labels into the existing, user-uploaded content of the service. Co-founder Eric Wahlforss stated that this aspect would help to differentiate SoundCloud Go from other music streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music , as it technically provides a larger total library of songs than competing services, with

4366-414: The show's instrumentation; a benefit was the creation of more space in the pit for an expanded percussion section. George Martin , producer and arranger for the Beatles , warns arrangers about the intonation problems when only two like instruments play in unison: "After a string quartet, I do not think there is a satisfactory sound for strings until one has at least three players on each line . . . as

4440-404: The string choir. In modern arranging these instruments are considered part of the rhythm section. The electric bass and upright string bass—depending on the circumstance—can be treated by the arranger as either string section or rhythm section instruments. A group of instruments in which each member plays a unique part—rather than playing in unison with other like instruments—is referred to as

4514-413: The string section into the following homogeneous instrumental groups: first violins , second violins (the same instrument as the first violins, but typically playing an accompaniment or harmony part to the first violins, and often at a lower pitch range), violas , cellos , and double basses . The string section in a multi-sectioned orchestra is sometimes referred to as the "string choir". The harp

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4588-513: The string section plays his or her own unique part. Artistic, budgetary and logistical concerns, including the size of the orchestra pit or hall will determine the size and instrumentation of a string section. The Broadway musical West Side Story , in 1957, was booked into the Winter Garden theater; composer Leonard Bernstein disliked the playing of "house" viola players he would have to use there, and so he chose to leave them out of

4662-644: The video for his track " Soundtrack 2 My Life ", then got replaced to YouTube in 2012. It was originally intended to allow musicians to collaborate by facilitating the sharing and discussion of recordings, but later transformed into a publishing tool for music distribution. According to Wired magazine, soon after its inception, SoundCloud began to challenge the dominance of Myspace as a platform for musicians to distribute their music. In April 2009, SoundCloud received €2.5 million Series A funding from Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures . In May 2010, SoundCloud announced it had one million users. In January 2011, it

4736-541: The vocals. Both Elton John and Donovan gained studio experience early in their careers by recording publishers' demos for other artists since their managers also handled music publishing, as did Garth Brooks , who was so impressed when recording the demo of " Friends in Low Places " that he asked to release the song himself. Many unsigned bands and artists record demos in order to obtain a recording contract . These demos are usually sent to record labels in hopes that

4810-435: Was considering to buy SoundCloud. On 8 December 2016, Spotify was reported to have abandoned its acquisition plans. In February 2019, SoundCloud reported having surpassed 200 million sound tracks, four times as many as Myspace had. In May 2019, SoundCloud bought artist distribution platform Repost Network. In January 2020, a US$ 75 million investment by Sirius XM was announced. On 2 March 2021, SoundCloud announced

4884-431: Was implemented for the purpose of increasing SoundCloud usage. On 3 July 2014, TorrentFreak reported that SoundCloud offered unlimited removal powers to certain copyright holders, allowing those copyright holders to unilaterally remove paid subscribers' content without recourse. In April 2015, SoundCloud announced a new partnership with Zefr, a content tracking company that works with YouTube to help identify songs on

4958-411: Was in E major but both arranged versions are transposed down to D, the better to accommodate the wind instruments". "The transformation of material conceived for a single string instrument into a fully orchestrated concerto -type movement is so successful that it is unlikely that anyone hearing the latter for the first time would suspect the existence of the former". In particular, music written for

5032-612: Was increasing by 1.5 million users per month. In March 2014, Twitter announced it would partner with SoundCloud in developing its first integrated music app. However, the project never moved forward because SoundCloud was unable to accommodate licensed music due to a lack of necessary arrangements with music labels. In July 2013, SoundCloud had 40 million registered users and new users were joining at 20 million per month. SoundCloud announced in January 2014 that it had commenced licensing negotiations with major music companies to address

5106-466: Was put into place to combat the number of illegal music downloads — has often been criticized for taking down music that was not illegally submitted or downloaded. Also, Universal Music Group has the right to take down any files on SoundCloud. Uploads can be taken down directly by Universal Music Group outside of SoundCloud's anti-piracy policy. Other than uploads, Universal Music Group has the ability to take down accounts, both premium and free. Customers of

5180-422: Was renamed to SoundCloud Go+, allows access to (at the time) over 150 million songs, offline playback, no ads, no previews, and premium music tracks for $ US10 per month through the site. Both subscriptions were categorized for listeners, with separate subscription services provided specifically for creators. In Spring 2017, SoundCloud initially faced being sold after not raising the $ 100 million needed to support

5254-442: Was reported that SoundCloud could potentially raise approximately US$ 150 million in new financing, resulting in a valuation surpassing one billion dollars. The major label issue became prominent again when the new financing information was released, as the lack of monetization was presented as an issue—SoundCloud signed an agreement with Warner Music Group as part of the new Premier program that allows both Warner Music, which also has

5328-410: Was reported that SoundCloud had raised US$ 10 million Series B funding from Union Square Ventures and Index Ventures . On 15 June 2011, SoundCloud reported five million registered users and investments from Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary 's A-Grade Fund, and on 23 January 2012, it reported 10 million registered users. In May 2012, it was announced that SoundCloud had 15 million users, and site usage

5402-555: Was reported that Twitter was considering the acquisition of SoundCloud for approximately US$ 2 billion. However, the prospect of acquisition was discounted by the media, with one report stating that "the numbers didn't add up", and Bobby Owsinski hypothesizing on the Forbes website in July that SoundCloud's ongoing inability to secure deals with the major music labels was the foremost culprit. On 28 September 2016, Spotify announced that it

5476-413: Was the dedicated label services department that provided label services such as marketing, funding and music distribution for artists that signed with SoundCloud directly/independent labels that have partnerships with SoundCloud. In July 2022 SoundCloud A&R Cameron Cox carried out a distribution deal with Sohaib Ali and Alontae Lloyd's BlondeWorld Label which is the first independent label to enter into

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