I’ve had a pro SoundCloud account for over 7 years, since their inception, built a large following and built my brand around my SoundCloud URL, in the last 2 weeks it has all been taken from me because of this war. I received 3 copyright infringement strikes in a row, all for remixes of artists on Sony label, they weren’t official remixes, but they were also discussed with Sony and the artists prior to posting, all were happy about them being online, promoting the artists to different audiences.
The “authorization” SoundCloud demands for posting a track is almost impossible to get, I have friends who are A.R. reps and cannot do a thing about it, and their copyright team is almost impossible to hear back from. SoundCloud’s copyright team just provides copy & paste responses.
Taking down tracks is one thing, removing accounts of hard working artists is another, SoundCloud has put themselves in this position as well as Sony. Sony could’ve built an online delivery system for music 10 times over by now and for way cheaper than trying to battle those that did built one.
This is a horrible move on behalf of Sony, the only thing worse is the way SoundCloud is handling it. Even YouTube, a free service does not terminate ones account or hold strikes for life, they last 6 months and if you’ve shown you’re not a repeat offender the strikes are removed.
You can’t just remix a song, you need the acapella or songs stems in order to have something to work with, labels release acapellas of certain songs, that’s why you hear a lot of remixes of certain songs and no remixes of others, they never released the acapella.
Labels release the acapella in order for DJs to use them, to remix them, to add to their performances and to promote the artists to different audiences then their genre spreads to. It’s a win-win-win situation for all involved. Nobody, nobody, is sitting at home listening to acapella versions of some song, they are released with the intention of being remixed. These songs are all being reported because of this lawsuit and it’s affecting the careers and established trademarks of many established DJs.
Not to mention, you have to start somewhere as a producer, you can’t just approach labels and ask to remix their content, you will never get a response. Most DJs and producers get known from remixing known songs and then get to move onto getting official remix contracts.
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